Autoblog

UPDATE: Our man Matt sent us over this link to the media site for Caddy's new ad campaign "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit" which has the two ads, plus a making of. Enjoy and thanks Matt!



Modernista has officially taken the reigns of Cadillac's advertising campaign and the fruits of their labor have been beamed around the U.S. this past evening during an episode of 'Hell's Kitchen" and on several ABC stations.

See 'em? If not, fret no more (although it's doubtful that you have in the first place). The new ads, which should find their way onto YouTube or Google Video anytime now, are entitled "Heart" and "Crest."

"Heart" begins with a tastefully subdued techo-instrumental where a soothing voice proclaims, "The engine is connected to the tool, the tool is connected to the hand, the hand is connected to the body, the body is connected to the mind, the mind is connected to the heart." Deep, no?

The second ad, which we haven't seen (sorry no Grey's Anatomy or Without a Trace viewers were available to give the blow-by-blow) focuses on a detailed production of the trademark crest that has graced Cadillac hoods for decades.

When they hit the 'net, we want to know. Tipage can be sent here.

[Source: Automotive News]

It seems that a small, but vocal contingent of TV viewers found a recent ad for the Hummer H3 to be offensive enough to make some phone calls and in turn, cause some tweaking.

The ad in question, for those of you who didn't see the spot, depicts two gentlemen crossing each other's paths at the grocery store. One arrives at the checkout stand with tofu and the other arrives with large piles of dead animal flesh. After grimacing at his lack of intestinal dominance, our tofu-consuming protagonist leaves the grocery store and drops his hard-earned cash on an H3. The tagline displayed after our hero is wolfing down a burger behind the wheel proclaims, "restore your manhood." That final line is what seemed to get Modernista's minions into trouble.

To rectify the situation, GM has changed the final line to read, "restore the balance." What that means is open to debate and, well, that's why there's a comment section.

[Source: Automotive News]

By now we've all heard that Cadillac's new marketing agency, Modernista, is dumping the Led Zeppelin-themed "Break Through" campaign. Well, Automotive News is reporting that those boomer-targeted ads will be replaced by a campaign targeting "alphas," "hot moms" and "move-ups," as GM tries to "put a little lust back into the brand," in the words of Caddy marketing director Liz Vanzura.

Apparently, Vanzura is giving up on expanding Cadillac's share of the boomer market, saying "they are really stuck on Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW and see no reason to switch." Instead, she hopes to ignite some Cadillac lust in younger buyers. Vanzura says that Caddy execs were startled - startled! - by consumer research showing that the only Cadillac product familiar to younger consumers was the Escalade SUV. (I'll bet they're no strangers to Lexus and BMW products, though. Wonder why?)

Of course, "younger" is a relative term, especially in the Cadillac frame of reference, where the median age of buyers is 59 (down from 64 in 2002!).

Cadillac sales were down 9 percent in the first half of 2006, although sales of the redesigned Escalade were up 25 percent.

Expect the new ad campaign to hit print and television in August with the tag line "Life. Liberty. And The Pursuit." Can't wait to see how Modernista's creatives tackle the "hot mom" market...

[Source: Automotive News]