GM to move Cadillac brand to New York City

[Dan Wesson]

You know what I find interesting? I did a word search of the previous posts and the word China never came up.

Cadillac in NYC? Whatever...

[Jimaz]

FWIW, the cover of the Oct 6 hardcopy Time magazine features a lone image of GM CEO Mary Barra in a humble but prominent pose. The superimposed caption reads "The MECHANIC."

That's the kind of PR that could set her up to rocket her over the top if all the stars align.

Best wishes to her, GM, and Detroit!

Mary Barra’s Bumpy Ride at the Wheel of GM

[Willi]

Most people don't know their Cadillac came from Lansing Michigan --- not NYC
Escalade and Escalade ESV: Arlington, Texas;
Escalade EXT, Silao, Mexico

​yo no hablo español.............yeah Mexico ---but Cadillac doesn't blast that in the media

On September 16th, 2013, Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant
had produced its 1 millionth Cadillac vehicle, a 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan

[Gpwrangler]

Most people don't know their Cadillac came from Lansing Michigan --- not NYC
Escalade and Escalade ESV: Arlington, Texas;
Escalade EXT, Silao, Mexico

​yo no hablo español.............yeah Mexico ---but Cadillac doesn't blast that in the media

On September 16th, 2013, Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant
had produced its 1 millionth Cadillac vehicle, a 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan

Parts for these cars come from factories world wide. It is a global market.

[Willi]

Axles from China - with Chinese blueprints - for GM - seen with my own eyes while at GM NAO.
Just wish the public new that hype, marketing, and glitz don't transform the inner vehicle.
It's all about profit, always has been, and people are duped, hoodwinked and suckered daily.

[Bham1982]

Great question. And, do the majority of them know where a company's headquarters are?

I would say no, but in Metro Detroit, a little, because we're so close to the industry.

But to a random person in Texas or Florida or Maine, no way.

[swingline]

This is a difficult issue and I'm on the fence. Much of the argument from Mr. de Nysschen, Ms. Barra and the GM PR flacks makes good sense. Cadillac is making excellent cars and perhaps the HQ move will help boost sales and make a lot of money. I can't help but be skeptical though. Mr. de Nysschen is a gunslinger CEO for hire. It's been documented several times how over the past few decades executives of his ilk have been relentlessly concocting "business" reasons for moving HQ's and "coincidentally" landing them closer to their own homes. And there is this take from Richard Florida: http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/0...etroit/380692/ I'm leaning more toward Mr. Florida's viewpoint.

[anonJD]

Barra and the lifer rubes bamboozled by this foreign one trick pony – hiring him on the condition he get an all expenses paid vacation in SoHo Manhattan – need to be looking for work right now. Just a pathetic company.

[animatedmartian]

Johan de Nysschen defends his decision.

To all the indignant souls out there — this has nothing to do with Detroit. And certainly has nothing to do with where I choose to live. It has everything to do with creating an awesome car company. We must develop corporate processes, policies, mindsets, behaviors, attitudes, which are right-sized for Cadillac. … No distractions. No side shows. No cross-brand corporate considerations. … Just pure, unadulterated CLASS. ... And if we don’t move, nothing will change. …

“So Detroit fans, I love your city, the success of Cadillac will be your success, the majority of our jobs remain in Detroit, and as we grow, these will increase too. But other than that — don’t mess with me.”

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...t-mess-with-me

[bailey]

Johan de Nysschen defends his decision.



http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...t-mess-with-me

So basically he's going to do the same thing he did with Infinity and use the same reasoning for that move to HK. Ok Johan ....how'd that work out again?

It is amazing how people who continually fail at their jobs land new ones.

The issue is not "insulting" detroit... the issue its a stupid waste of money and effort that isn't going to get anyone out of Merc dealership.

You don't need to move to New York to end cross brand garbage that dilutes Caddy, YOU NEED TO END CROSS BRAND CORPORATE CONSIDERATOINS. Start by killing all the multi brand dealers. Audi doesn't park VW Bugs next to A8s.

[detmsp]

It is amazing how people who continually fail at their jobs land new ones.

It sure is *cough* congress *cough*. But what does that have to do with this guy?

http://fortune.com/2012/06/27/can-in...-audi-miracle/

[bailey]

It sure is *cough* congress *cough*. But what does that have to do with this guy?

http://fortune.com/2012/06/27/can-in...-audi-miracle/

because this isn't what he did at Audi and this move didn't work at Infinity....and he's using all the same talking points today about Caddy he was spouting about Infinity in January this year.

Infiniti sales have vastly underperformed de Nysschen’s expectations of making rapid improvements after taking the helm of the struggling brand 18 months ago. So far de Nysschen hasn’t been able to effectively apply his old magic, and Infiniti’s growth has stalled while other premium marques have continued to accelerate.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dalebuss...upper-echelon/

What worked at Audi was this:

After hitting rock bottom in the early 1990s, Audi sales slowly began to recover. But the franchise didn’t really take off until 2004 to 2005, when De Nysshen and his team changed the business model, reducing the number of units available. He also did away with deep discounts in the form of incentivized leases. Pricing and prestige improved, which eventually brought more buyers to showrooms and lifted sales. A raft of well-timed new models didn’t hurt either; Audi unveiled a series of glitzy new vehicles that culminated in the 2006 release of the R8, a steroidal sports car that seemed a capstone on the brand’s turnaround.

Not moving it's HQ to some exotic EU city. Look, you can't walk into a Cadillac dealership and be sitting near a guy buying a Buick or a pick up truck. Nobody is going to think your product is aspirational if they just need to wait until some major holiday or event to get "special" discounts or incentives. Most importantly, build a product that doesn't share anything with the rest of GM that the customer can see. Caddy has made some great strides in all those areas. Caddy needs to slash dealerships and focus on making the ones that survive the culling an actual luxury experience for the consumer as well as ensuring the product is worth all the fuss.

[detmsp]

because this isn't what he did at Audi and this move didn't work at Infinity....

Ok first, you need to re-read what I said. I said he didn't fail. I didn't say anything about whether moving cities was responsible for that or whether this move is a good idea.

Just about every industry analyst would agree with that he didn't fail at Audi. In fact most would say he did a fantastic job. Infiniti might not be looking so hot right now, but he's been there two years. So the cars they are selling now all started development 2-6 years before he got there. It hardly seems fair to blame their woes on him. It's too soon to see the results of his plan and tell whether it's working or not.

So yes, I stand by my assertion that he has not "continually failed".

And you're wrong about him not moving Audi. He moved them from Detroit to Virginia.

[bailey]

Ok first, you need to re-read what I said. I said he didn't fail. I didn't say anything about whether moving cities was responsible for that or whether this move is a good idea.

Just about every industry analyst would agree with that he didn't fail at Audi. In fact most would say he did a fantastic job. Infiniti might not be looking so hot right now, but he's been there two years.

He was there long enough to move the HQ to Hong Kong and slap a Q on everything. Read his talking points on Infinity and the ones on Caddy. They are virtually identical. Again, how's that working out? per the reports when he jumped for Caddy, he was leaving Infinity in "chaos".

So the cars they are selling now all started development 2-6 years before he got there. It hardly seems fair to blame their woes on him.

It's fair when he was the one setting the performance metrics. If that's going to be the excuse, then we can expect the same when he bolts from Caddy after 18 months?

Its too soon to see the results of his plan and tell whether it's working or not.

by his own stated metrics and timeframe it wasn't working.

So yes, I stand by my assertion that he has not "continually failed".

you're right, "continually" isn't the right word. recycling failed ideas?

And you're wrong about him not moving Audi. He moved them from Detroit to Virginia.

ALL of Volkswagon of America moved to Fairfax county. And it wasn't to be near the heartbeat of luxury and style, but to be in the middle of where they sold the most cars.

[Scottathew]

http://www.freep.com/story/money/car...wald/19899525/

Cadillac has moved its advertising account to Publicis Worldwide, which replaces Detroit-based Lowe Campbell Ewald that had the account only since mid-2013.
The switch is effective immediately, according to a Cadillac statement.

[bailey]

http://www.freep.com/story/money/car...wald/19899525/

going to be some premium, nicely built out, gently used space available at Ford field soon.

the Cadillac deal is believed to have been in the works for several months, and the likelihood of a contract may have been the impetus for Campbell Ewald to ink a much-publicized 11-year lease in Detroit, where it will be moving from its Warren, Mich., headquarters. -Ad Age, 3/14

[stinkytofu]

going to be some premium, nicely built out, gently used space available at Ford field soon.

Eh, accounts shift around ad agencies all the time. Obviously this sucks for them [[both image and $), but hopefully they'll be able to pick up some accounts quickly to help keep folks employed.

[Lowell]

Good coverage by Crains here.

It has to be glum day for them.

"The loss of the $280 million Cadillac account raises the obvious “what’s next?” question for Detroit-based advertising agency Lowe Campbell Ewald, which moved its 500 employees to office space inside Ford Field in January to work on the General Motors Co. luxury brand.

Specific answers are not yet available."

Lowe Campbell Ewald CEO Jim Palmer was blunt in a statement issued this afternoon about the change.

“While it’s the nature of our business for clients to move to other agencies, this decision was still unexpected, not to mention very hard on those of us who have poured our love of the brand and our nonstop hard work into this partnership for the past 18 months,” he said.

“Fortunately we have a talented pool of employees, a diverse roster of more than 35 clients and a number of exciting new business opportunities that will allow us to move forward with determined resilience and a commitment to continued success. We wish all our friends at Cadillac the best of luck going forward.”

Cadillac spent $280 million in measured media in 2013, according to New York City-based data firm Kantar Media.

[animatedmartian]

It couldn't have been that unexpected when Johan kept saying they were moving to NYC for new creative talent.

[DetroitBoy]

In a desperate attempt to resurrect the brand's imagine, Cadillac is moving their advertising from Campbell Ewald to Publicist and relocating to NYC in order to survive in the luxury market segment. Cadillac will enjoy access to some of the most talented and creative people in the world while becoming immersed and influenced by the culture of a world class city. It will also gain a broader reach due to Publicist's international perspective as a Paris based company. The brand is dying after years of appealing strictly to a white, middle class customer base. It is finally getting the product mix overhauled to emphasize style and performance and distancing itself from the other GM brands. It needs an agency with broad intellectual and creative skill. It could never get that from a bunch of white bred yahoos at a firm from 12 mile and Van Dyke in Warren. Surprisingly, most of the world doesn't think a person with a U of M or Michigan State degree, who considers Tiger games cultural events and believes being well traveled means taking their kids to Disney World is sophisticated and worldly enough to create campaigns and brand messaging needed for success.

[Gistok]

In a desperate attempt to resurrect the brand's imagine, Cadillac is moving their advertising from Campbell Ewald to Publicist and relocating to NYC in order to survive in the luxury market segment. Cadillac will enjoy access to some of the most talented and creative people in the world while becoming immersed and influenced by the culture of a world class city. It will also gain a broader reach due to Publicist's international perspective as a Paris based company. The brand is dying after years of appealing strictly to a white, middle class customer base. It is finally getting the product mix overhauled to emphasize style and performance and distancing itself from the other GM brands. It needs an agency with broad intellectual and creative skill. It could never get that from a bunch of white bred yahoos at a firm from 12 mile and Van Dyke in Warren. Surprisingly, most of the world doesn't think a person with a U of M or Michigan State degree, who considers Tiger games cultural events and believes being well traveled means taking their kids to Disney World is sophisticated and worldly enough to create campaigns and brand messaging needed for success.

You could have left off all your condescending crap... but then again "maybe we're not your kind of people, if you know what I mean..."

As for whether this pans out... we'll just have to see if they fare any better than the Lincoln move to LA.... and we all know how well that went....

[detmsp]

Cadillac's ads have been terrible. dancing robots? a guy in an ugly shirt thinking women are checking him out? I don't know why people are so upset. It's not like Cadillac has had a long history of working with Detroit ad agencies. In the last few years they've also been with Fallon [[Minneapolis) and Modernista [[Boston), so it's not like this some huge departure from the way things were.

[bailey]

Cadillac's ads have been terrible. dancing robots? a guy in an ugly shirt thinking women are checking him out?

oh c'mon... that one with Stephen Merchant walking down the street was funny. Especially the slight nod to teh gheys in there when he mistakes the admiring looks of guys as directed toward him too. Made me chuckle.

[bailey]

In a desperate attempt to resurrect the brand's imagine, Cadillac is moving their advertising from Campbell Ewald to Publicist and relocating to NYC in order to survive in the luxury market segment. Cadillac will enjoy access to some of the most talented and creative people in the world while becoming immersed and influenced by the culture of a world class city. It will also gain a broader reach due to Publicist's international perspective as a Paris based company. The brand is dying after years of appealing strictly to a white, middle class customer base. It is finally getting the product mix overhauled to emphasize style and performance and distancing itself from the other GM brands. It needs an agency with broad intellectual and creative skill. It could never get that from a bunch of white bred yahoos at a firm from 12 mile and Van Dyke in Warren. Surprisingly, most of the world doesn't think a person with a U of M or Michigan State degree, who considers Tiger games cultural events and believes being well traveled means taking their kids to Disney World is sophisticated and worldly enough to create campaigns and brand messaging needed for success.

Feel better now? cuz you really sound like you fit in with the characture you're trying to paint. And if you weren't so eager to condescend you'd note that NONE of the design or manufacturing is leaving. The C suite, the marking guys and the ad agency are moving..that is all. MAYBE if they took the whole damn thing with them you'd almost be making a salient point. But, as it is, the move is clearly to pull the wool over low information morons such as yourself. Chalk one up to DeNuysschen for knowing how dumb the american consumer is.

[stinkytofu]

In a desperate attempt to resurrect the brand's imagine, Cadillac is moving their advertising from Campbell Ewald to Publicist and relocating to NYC in order to survive in the luxury market segment. Cadillac will enjoy access to some of the most talented and creative people in the world while becoming immersed and influenced by the culture of a world class city. It will also gain a broader reach due to Publicist's international perspective as a Paris based company. The brand is dying after years of appealing strictly to a white, middle class customer base. It is finally getting the product mix overhauled to emphasize style and performance and distancing itself from the other GM brands. It needs an agency with broad intellectual and creative skill. It could never get that from a bunch of white bred yahoos at a firm from 12 mile and Van Dyke in Warren. Surprisingly, most of the world doesn't think a person with a U of M or Michigan State degree, who considers Tiger games cultural events and believes being well traveled means taking their kids to Disney World is sophisticated and worldly enough to create campaigns and brand messaging needed for success.

Wow. As someone who graduated from MSU with an advertising degree - and have many friends in the field [[though I'm not) - I just want to congratulate you for sounding like a complete and utter dick.