DETROIT -- General Motors' first work for Cadillac from new agency Modernista, Boston, aims to "put a little lust back into the brand."

Younger demo

So said Liz Vanzura, marketing director of the luxury marquee, in unveiling new print work from the agency, which replaced Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett, Detroit and Chicago. The car brand is dropping the former shop's "Break Through" ads after a four-year run. Vanzura said the new push aims to boost consideration of the Cadillac brand among three main targets younger than its current owners. She calls them "alphas," "hot moms" and "move-ups."

"Our mission is to reignite people's love affair with Cadillac," she said.

Cadillac still plans to keep its loyal older owners, and while it wants to attract more baby boomers, Vanzura said this group is the most difficult to reach because "they are really stuck on Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW and see no reason to switch."

Startling research findings

She said extensive consumer research earlier this year revealed some startling findings: Many younger consumers knew Cadillac's Escalade sport utility vehicle but were unfamiliar with other models. Many didn't see the brand as having a vehicle for them.

Vanzura said the new blitz will "romance" the brand's crested logo to show off its iconic nature. Gary Koepke, executive creative director and co-founder of Modernista, said the Cadillac print work has a three-pronged approach. Some work highlights the crest; other shows people, "to inject an attitude"; and the rest focuses on a single product to help build model awareness.

Print is rolling out in August magazines, and TV spots are expected later in the month. In mid-August Cadillac for the first time will use wild postings in key markets.

Vanzura declined to discuss spending but said it will be comparable to 2005. Cadillac spent $226 million in measured U.S. media last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

Age issues

The median age of Cadillac buyers across its lineup is 59, although Jim Taylor, the brand's general marketing manager, said it dropped from 64 since the 2002 model year, when the CTS sedan launched to replace the Catera.

But Cadillac has a dilemma in trying to retain its older buyers while chasing younger ones. Cadillac is "trying to split its image" by keeping the DTS and STS sedans that appeal more to retirees, said Wes Brown, auto analyst with Iceology.

Taylor said Cadillac has made good progress since 2002 in "re-establishing the heritage we had in our glory years." The 12 products launched since then brought back dramatic styling, improved quality and gone are the days of "large, floaty boats," he said.

Cadillac reported that U.S. sales in the first half of 2006 slipped by 9% to 110,620 units. The Escalade model was the only one to post a sales increase -- up 25% to 18,874 units. Cadillac launched the redone 2007 Escalade during the Super Bowl this year.

Many younger consumers knew Cadillac's Escalade sport utility vehicle but were unfamiliar with other models. Many didn't see the brand as having a vehicle for them.

General Motors Corp. will begin exporting Cadillacs to South Africa in the fourth quarter, along with a small number of Cadillac models to Australia in late 2007. The vehicles exported to South Africa will hail from the GM assembly plant in Lansing, Mich., and will be outfitted with right-hand drive to comply with South African regulations.

Jim Taylor, Cadillac general manager, said the push comes as part of Cadillac's continuing effort to build up its sales in markets in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere in the world. The effort will require patience, he said. Nevertheless, Cadillac sales in China, where GM started selling its luxury brand in 2005, have more than doubled this year. Taylor added Cadillac sales in Russia also have picked up significantly this year.

Taylor said GM is making a concerted effort to re-establish Cadillac as a global brand. European luxury brands are now all over the world and Japanese luxury brands, such as Lexus and Infiniti, also have been expanding into new markets. Cadillac's expansion into South Africa is being helped by GM's decision to build a South African assembly plant for right-hand versions of the HUMMER H3, he said. New Cadillac dealerships in South Africa have showrooms for selling HUMMERs as part of GM's strategy to sell both Cadillacs and HUMMERs in the same dealerships outside of North America, Taylor said. -Joe Szczesny

Back in my army days they used to tell us, "Take the high ground." It's better to be on top of the hill shooting down than on the bottom, climbing up.



I found this was true in the luxury car business, too. To succeed you had to take the high ground. Sell the higher-priced luxury car with the advanced technology, not the lower-priced one. Don't be worried about costing more. Glory in it.

Our Cadillac forgot this lesson long ago, went for volume, lost the high ground to Mercedes and Lexus and BMW, and really is no longer a luxury nameplate. It's what Buick used to be.

I recall long ago, a General Motors executive told me of his talking to a union leader at a now-shuttered Cadillac plant. The union man told the GM executive something like, "I hope you haven't raised the price much. I want to be able to afford another one."



The GM man told me he was thinking: "You SOB. You shouldn't be able to buy one in the first place."

Cadillac went for volume rather than exclusiveness. Now they pay the price.

Look at the new Lexus LS460 or the Mercedes CLS. They push past $70,000. Cadillac isn't there except with some of the "V" models, limited-volume cars to compete with the AMG and the S and the R and all the other special initial hot cars.

It's said but true. We all wrote about a Cadillac renaissance, but it's over. Look what's happened in the luxury field below. These figures count cars and SUVs.Lincoln is included as a laugh because Ford treats it like a joke.

2006-E 2005 2004 %
Cadillac 230,000 235,002 234,217 -2%
Lexus 325,000 302,895 287,927 +13%
BMW 275,000 266,200 260,079 +6%
Mercedes 245,000 224,269 221,366 +11%
Lincoln 118,000 123,207 139,016 -15%

BMW excludes MINI.

The estimates for this year may be off since the fourth quarter is an unknown and there are lots of new luxury models coming out. But the direction is clear. The foreign luxury brands are growing and Cadillac, at best, is standing still.

You could say that half of those Lexus models are "trucks," compared to only 35 percent of the Cadillacs. Or that more than 40 percent of BWW sales are the 3-Series while only a quarter of Cadillac sales are the CTS. But I'll stick to my guns. Its badge is getting a smaller share of the luxury badge group, and today's big money doesn't consider Cadillac in the luxury class - with one big exception - Escalade SUVs.

What's wrong with Cadillac?

For the most part Cadillac designs are boring compared to competitors. The Escalade is a huge exception, an "over the top" look that should have pointed the way, shown that Cadillac designs must be head-turning to win back customers. The CTS with its sharp edges was successful, too. But new models are designed to please - what? Even bankers want Lexuses nowadays. General Motors bureaucrats even eliminated Cadillac's own styling studio for a while, if you can image that. Pinching pennies and throwing away dollars. There was one exciting Cadillac design: the Sixteen show car. Of course, they aren't building it.



The Escalade and CTS were successful. But that's all. The SRX SUV sells around 20,000 a year; the STS rear-drive sedan is dropping toward 25,000. That's failure to me. The DTS, the renamed DeVille, sells around 65,000 a year, near the DeVille level. The Escalades are new this year and are holding their own. A new CTS is coming but it will be doing fine to match the success of today's model.

Cadillac failed to build a serious rear-drive large car. They did well by making the CTS rear-drive, but that's not a large car. Cadillac has two larger car models, the front-drive DTS and the rear-drive STS, which actually isn't so large. What they need is to do a great rear-drive car with take-your-breath-away looks. One model, not two. But GM isn't willing to invest. The fact is Cadillac never recovered from the GM decision to go front-drive, a mistake they have yet to correct.

I don't blame Cadillac's managers. They've done the best they can. GM's top management just hasn't been willing to create a real division, giving its leaders enough money and power to compete with Lexus and Mercedes and BMW. They went part of the way, but not nearly far enough. We still have Cadillacs using four-speed automatic transmissions.



What's sad is that Cadillac did have some momentum with the Escalade and CTS. But the moment is over and the division seems to be slipping farther behind the leaders as that chart shows. The luxury market continues to grow, but alas, our Cadillac isn't getting any of that growth.

Like John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:



For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been."