"You've got to engage the consumer at every touch point along the way" states Jim Vurpillat (Global Marketing Director - Cadillac). Some of these "touch points" include things like television ads, point of purchases materials (brochures and pamphlets) and lifestyle events. Lifestyle events are events that segments are passionate about and include things such as golfing, cooking or even driving a performance vehicle.
Cadillac does a lot of primary marketing research; they want to learn about their potential segments and try to figure out what consumers in general are looking for in their next car.
Jim Vurpillat goes on to say that "opinion and cross-consideration are the two key factors of measuring the health of our brand". Thus it can be concluded that social factors play an important role in defining the success of the Cadillac brand.
The brand is well established, first offering vehicles in 1902, thus it is safe to say the name "Cadillac" is well known. The challenge for the company is more in the perception of the brand. A number of segments Cadillac wishes to pursue feel the car is not a brand they would buy; the brand is not part of the consumers' "consideration set" (evoked set). It was up to Cadillac to change that perception, making it more appealing to market segments Cadillac was desirous of.
One key way they accomplished this was through their lifestyle campaign events, giving prospects a chance to test drive a Cadillac on a closed race track. This was a great way to engage the customer and give prospects a chance to be exposed to the brand first hand. The hope of such events like this is to create positive feedback from the experience, not only to Cadillac itself but to a prospect's friends and family, providing positive word of mouth about the product and perhaps changing perception of the brand for other potential clients as well.
Cadillac has had a shift in ad exposure. Don Butler, VP of Cadillac Marketing, says it best when he says: "you adapt yourself to them (the consumer), their needs, their wants." By making these strategic changes, Cadillac could be in the driver's seat once again!
1. Why has Cadillac had to extend "lifestyle" events to its clients?
2. Why had the brand lost some of its sparkle?
3. Do social factors play a part in the success of a brand? How so?
4. View the following video, what is Cadillac trying to communicate to its prospects and consumers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAAkhYRONGk