The Cadillac Escalade’s “Bling-Bling” Appeal

The brand may be known as the amp8220Standard of Excellenceamp8221 but the Escalade in particular is also known for its popularity perhaps fading now among hiphop stars athletes and other African American celebrities Dr Dre had one amp8220Cadillac officials know they sell infinitely more Escalades to doctors lawyers and businessmen than the highprofile set but they also know that the amp8216blingblingamp8217 publicity generated by sports stars and music entertainers has been pricelessamp8221 wrote Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman for Motorway AmericaCapturing the magic That may be what led Cadillac to ask director Spike Lee to direct a twominute film about the Escalade first shown on February 4 Hereamp8217s a lookLee doesnamp8217t offer any actual information about the car just that you should be amp8220willing to look into the rearview mirror and see the futureamp8221 The video hasnamp8217t exactly gone viral with about 2000 views on YouTube as of this writing but it seems to be the association Cadillac wanted I asked Dauchy amp8220Why Spike Leeamp8221amp8220We sat around and talked about what we wanted swagger style versus attitudeamp8221 Dauchy said amp8220Spike Lee is an icon a pedigreed director a piece of the fabricamp8221Is it about hiphop amp8220Itamp8217s not about hiphopamp8221 he said Is the video a commercial amp8220Itamp8217s not a commercialamp8221 he addedSteven Posner CEO of Greenwich Connecticutbased Putnam Leasing has signed up a number of star athletes and he says that buzz can be fickle It went amp8220from Teslas to Escalades to the current favorite Mercedes GWagensamp8221 Posner saidDauchy informed me that Cadillac is the most frequently cited car brand on Lyricscom That well could be I found 3490 lyric mentions 16 artists using the name Cadillac eg The Cadillac Three Cadillac Blindside Djangoamp8217s Cadillac Rita Cadillac Cadillac Moon and 56 albums from Cadillac Daddy by Howlinamp8217 Wolf to Back Seat of Your Cadillac by CC CatchAs Dauchy points out the phrase amp8220the Cadillac ofamp8230amp8221 is part of our national discourse The New York Times Magazine looked at that phenomenon in 2009amp8220The Cadillac of suchandsuchamp8217 became such a popular form of praise in the late 1940s and 1950s that even advertisers of relatively smallticket items borrowed the brand name to bask in its reflected glory Hillquist sold amp8216the Cadillac of all trim sawsamp8217 a Huffy childrenamp8217s bicycle was amp8216the Cadillac of the sandpile setamp8217 RockOla was amp8216the Cadillac of phonographsamp8217 and so on GM didnamp8217t object to this appropriation since it only further boosted the status of the Cadillac brand After all according to a 1959 advertisement Cadillac was amp8216the worldamp8217s best synonym for qualityamp8217The phrase may not be as common as it once was but a version of it got into a New Yorker story on opioid addiction last week It was probably not the brandamp8217s favorite mention amp8220Mixing an opioid with the sedative Xanax was said to offer a amp8216Cadillac highamp8217amp8221 Paige Williamsamp160wrote on February 3Cadillac tapped an Oscarwinning African American actress Regina King Watchmen The Big Bang Theory for an Escalade spot that was part of the Oscars telecast this past Sunday Oddly enough she also uses the word amp8220swaggeramp8221 in talking about the caramp8220Cadillac has always represented successamp8221 she said amp8220There39s a swagger a sexiness to the vehicles There39s also a realness and a sense of ambition that I identify withamp8230 There39s a real connection for me with Cadillac and that is why I wanted to get involvedamp8221As Meachen and Biederman pointed out however the average Escalade buyer is most likely to be a businessman a doctor or a lawyer According to Dauchy the average family income of a Cadillac buyer is a whopping 235000 and the age a relatively youthful for Cadillac 51 amp8220Theyamp8217re very highly educatedamp8221 Dauchy said amp8220and theyamp8217re into fitness and finance Theyamp8217re pioneers who like advanced cuttingedge technologyamp8221And that preoccupation amp8212 shared by buyers in many age groups amp8212 is certainly a big part of the new Escalade and a huge emphasis in its marketing This is the second Cadillac model to get the companyamp8217s Super Cruise autonomousonthehighway system now with automatic lane changingThe new car also sports a curved 38inch OLED electronic dashboard with no less than three screens plus a firsttime playback system from speakermicrophone leaders AKG with 36 speakers three amplifiers and 28 channels The system is agnostic you can play amp8220Cadillac Daddyamp8221 by Howlinamp8217 Wolf or amp8220Cadillac Songamp8221 by Ariana Grande amp8220Ridinamp8217 round in my CadillacThinkinamp8217 amp8216bout the day that I first saw youamp8221When the Escalade was at the height of its hiphop appeal it became a regular on the hit TV show Entourage Cadillac loved it and amp8212 in the runup to the nonetoosuccessful Entourage feature film amp8212 sponsored a funny video called amp8220Ari is Backamp8221 costarring a sleek concept car the Cadillac Ciel fourseat convertible Hereamp8217s a lookCadillac also went wholehog on the movie with broadcast and digital media buys social media campaigns and sponsorship of the filmamp8217s premiere Unfortunately the film crashed and burned taking in only 104 million its first weekend in releaseCadillac is still a potent brand name The companyamp8217s challenge is figuring out exactly how to nurture it and pitch it to the right audiencePhoto courtesy of Jim Motavalli Phil Dauchy global head of brand strategy and international marketing at Cadillac with the new Escalade amp8220We wantedswagger style versus attitudeamp8221Don39t stop now Stay in the know on auto marketing with more from Jim MotavalliClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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The Cadillac Escalade’s “Bling-Bling” Appeal

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Jim Motavalli

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The Cadillac Escalade’s “Bling-Bling” Appeal

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