Cadillac: No Longer Your Grandfather’s Brand

Cadillac is an iconic 111-year-old brand, which once represented the epitome of luxury. Cadillac was both a noun and an adjective. If you referred to something of the highest quality, it was, “The Cadillac of…”

Over time, Cadillac lost touch with the voice and demands of their consumers. Cadillac came to be viewed as a stuffy brand which made cars only your father or grandfather drove. The brand veered radically off course over the last forty years. The last time Cadillac was #1 in luxury market share was 1976 – 38 years ago. What happened?

Terrible choices were made at Cadillac. Design and quality suffered. General Motors went into bankruptcy. Would Cadillac disappear like its sister brands, Oldsmobile and Pontiac, or like Packard, which was once Cadillac’s formidable competitor?

C-Suite Goes to Cadillac

On C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett, Jeffrey Hayzlett met with members of the Cadillac c-suite. Mark Reuss, EVP and President of GM North America, told him since he joined GM in 1983, Cadillac never really competed with the German and Japanese luxury brands which took luxury market share away from Cadillac.

Why didn’t they compete? What were the executives doing at Cadillac?

A New Strategy to Bring Back the Cadillac Brand

Cadillac is now the fastest growing automotive brand in the world with 30% annual growth. The Cadillac CTS is Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2014. The Cadillac ATS was 2013 North American Car of the Year and is #3 in market share in its class. Twenty percent of the ATS buyers are in the key 18-33 year old demographic That’s incredible progress!

How has Cadillac accomplished this growth and recognition and brought the brand back to life?

Cadillac developed a primary strategy to appeal to younger and hipper customers. It could no longer afford to be relying upon an aging (and dying) customer base. It was imperative to build the right cars. They focused and got it done.

Five Keys to Success

1. Listening. The c-suite began to listen. They got out of Detroit and listened to what people were looking for when they bought an Audi, a BMW, a Mercedes or a Lexus.
2. Design. Executives used research to develop compelling designs people connected to on an emotional level. The designs needed to persuade customers to test drive and buy a Cadillac. The designs were better than anything Cadillac had ever had before.
3. Product Development. Cadillac executives told me design is a series of compromises and it was crucial to make the right choices in design and product development. They believed they had.
4. Beat the Competition on the Street. The c-suite believed every new class of Cadillac was beating the competition on the test track for the first time.
5. Telling the Story. Finally, the c-suite had to tell the new Cadillac story. They created a new tag line The New Standard of the World. They hired a new ad agency. They rolled out fabulous commercials like Garages and Moon. The ads are compelling and they are getting people to try Cadillac, and buy Cadillac, again.

It Doesn’t Happen Overnight

It doesn’t happen overnight, and there were bumps along the road. Cadillac sales were off in January 2014 by 13% from last year, but that number is improving. They are no longer out-of-date and out-of-touch. They went back to the fundamentals of great listening, great design, great product development, great materials, and great marketing. The Cadillac c-suite has turned the corner with a new energy and are recapturing the glory days of the iconic Cadillac brand.

To learn more about Cadillac, visit their website or watch the full episode.

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Jeffrey Hayzlett is a global business celebrity and speaker, bestselling author, Contributing Editor and Host of C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett on Bloomberg Television. He is the CEO of The Hayzlett Group, an international strategic business consulting company focused on leading change and developing high growth companies. Connect with Hayzlett on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or email.