Advertising Kindles Ongoing Love Affair With Cadillac

From the beginning, advertising has played a crucial role in kindling consumers' love affair with Cadillac. By chronicling technological advances and associating Cadillac with luxury and elegance, advertising helped make Cadillac a brand that generations of consumers have aspired to own.



Looking back, Cadillac advertising provides a window into the last 100 years - a view of boom times, the Great Depression, wars and profound social changes. Looking ahead, Cadillac is preparing a new high-energy advertising campaign that captures the spirit of renewal sweeping through Cadillac, exemplified by the new 2003 CTS luxury sedan.

"Advertising is one of the keys to building successful brands," said Kim Kosak, Cadillac director of advertising and promotions. "Through the years, advertising put the Cadillac name and image in front of the world, helping to fashion consumers' dreams of one day owning a Cadillac."

EARLY DAYS
In the early days of the automotive industry, advertising was a critical tool enabling inventors to sell their vehicles to provide the funding to make more cars. So in November 1902, soon after Henry M. Leland created his first one-cylinder Model A Cadillac, the first Cadillac ad appeared in The Motor World. "Enter the Cadillac," headlined the ad. "It's just good all over," the ad proclaimed, listing the sale price as $750.

One of the most successful early automotive copywriters was Theodore F. MacManus. MacManus' most famous ad for Cadillac - "The penalty of leadership" - ran just once, on Jan. 2, 1915 in The Saturday Evening Post. Without ever mentioning Cadillac in the copy, the ad defended the company against critics of its new V8 engine.

The ad expressed the problem of the pioneer in almost every field who breaks with tradition and is subjected to the "fierce denial and detraction" of his competition.

"In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity," the ad said. It concluded: "That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live - lives."

"The penalty of leadership" was widely disseminated, and was translated into dozens of languages. In 1945, readers of Printer's Ink voted it the greatest ad of all time. It also earned a spot on Advertising Age's "Top 100 Advertising Campaigns" of the 20th century.

SATURDAY EVENING POST ADS
In the 1920s, Cadillac ran a series of single-page ads in The Saturday Evening Post. Some of these ads quoted automotive enthusiast publications of the day, an ad tactic that is now widespread. For example, a 1920 ad quoted The Motor - The National Motor Car Journal of Britain, which wrote, "The workmanship and finish on the Cadillac are equal to anything extant, whether it be a product of Europe or America."

Later in the 1920s, Cadillac began four-color advertising that emphasized imagery and artistry, replacing the black-and-white, straightforward ads of earlier years. A four-color 1929 ad for the LaSalle, "Companion car to Cadillac," showed several elegantly dressed people descending stairs toward a parked LaSalle. "In true taste and elegance, but lenient on the purse strings," said the ad, which lists the LaSalle price at $2,385.

Ads during the 1930s consistently identified Cadillac with success and status. A characteristic Cadillac ad headline boasted, "He's driving his letter of introduction."

Elegant backgrounds and language helped convey prestige and status. "Cadillac shows the world how truly magnificent a car can be" was the headline of a 1937 ad in which the chauffeur waits for the Cadillac owner outside a theater. A 1939 ad brings in an additional element, the joy of driving. Against the backdrop of a vacation resort, the owner of a Sixty Special tells his chauffeur, "I won't need you today - I'm driving."

WAR-TIME ADVERTISING
With the beginning of World War II, Cadillac factories were converted to the production of military equipment such as the M-5 light tank, and critical parts for the Allison engines that powered the P-38 and other U.S. fighter aircraft.

Cadillac advertising turned to patriotic themes, while boosting the brand's image by citing Cadillac's role in war production. "In peace or war there is no substitute for quality," said one ad, proclaiming that Cadillac engines provided "peacetime power with a wartime job." Another, depicting a P-38 in combat, declared, "Craftsmanship is still our stock in trade."

The end of the war released tremendous pent-up demand for Cadillacs. "Improved even more in war than in peace!" proclaimed one 1946 ad, which cited improvements to the V8 engine and the Hydra-Matic transmission during their military career. By the end of the model year, there were nearly 100,000 back orders for Cadillacs.

'JEWEL' SERIES
Cadillac in the 1949 model year began a "Jewel" series of prestige ads, associating the brand with the finest in luxury. As part of each ad, an elegant necklace with a precious stone formed a Cadillac "V" that framed the wreath and crest. The ad format also included a rendering of a Cadillac model and a short block of copy.

A 1949 "Jewel" ad for the new Coupe de Ville said the car was "designed for those who seek the low-swept lines and open-airness of a convertible - combined with the comfort, convenience and safety of a closed car." A 1950 model year "Jewel" ad, headlined "Where Cadillacs outnumber them all," observed the popularity of Cadillacs "on the approaches to any of America's most exclusive vacation spots."

In 1956, Cadillac began an image campaign featuring fashionable settings to evoke elegance, richness and quality. The campaign used fashion photographer Arik Nepo rather than traditional automotive photographers. A 1957 model year ad depicts two women dressed in formal fashions to illustrate how "regal" they feel, "surrounded by beauty and luxury and elegance."

FOCUS ON SUBSTANCE
During the 1960s, Cadillac advertising tended to talk more about the car and its features. For example, a 1967 ad - headlined, "First choose the Cadillac, then choose the year" - pointed to the high resale value of Cadillac, making it a smart investment. A 1968 ad, with the headline, "The only real choice in luxury motoring," showed the Fleetwood Brougham and the Eldorado, referred to in copy as "the world's finest personal car."

Long a holdout against television advertising, Cadillac used the medium for the first time as sponsor of The Masters golf tournament in 1969. Cadillac continued to sponsor the telecast of the tournament every year through 2001.

Cadillac began to target more diverse audiences beginning in the mid-1970s. A 1976 campaign sought to reach women in a unique environment, combining the Seville with high-fashion models and fashion creations from I. Magnin & Co. and Saks Fifth Avenue. In conjunction with the ad campaign, Cadillac dealers staged fashion shows. Targeting younger buyers, a 1978 ad asked, "Haven't you promised yourself a Cadillac long enough?"

REDEFINING LUXURY
Concern about oil embargoes and fuel economy led Cadillac to design smaller, more fuel-efficient models beginning in the late 1970s. The 1979 Seville was pitched as "The American car that redefined luxury." A 1983 Seville print ad showed two businessmen sharing an umbrella, heading to a Seville parked on a tarmac in front of a small plane. "Best of all it's a Cadillac" was the ad theme.

A new lifestyle-oriented campaign, themed "Cadillac style," debuted in 1988. Television commercials featured upbeat music and showed Cadillac owners as young and stylish men and women participating in upscale activities such as polo and yachting. In conjunction with the advertising emphasis on active lifestyles, Cadillac took a title sponsorship position in golf's Senior PGA Tour and twice sponsored sailor Dennis Conner's campaigns to win the America's Cup.

When the 1992 Seville won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award, advertising said of the Seville, "It could change the way you think about American automobiles."

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
In the late 1990s, Cadillac pursued a new design direction and with it, a new advertising campaign - one that focused on bringing bold designs and innovative technologies together in its vehicles. The result was a campaign beginning in late 1999 that articulates Cadillac's commitment to being a leader in "the fusion of design and technology."

The theme was applied first to advertising for the all-new 2000 DeVille, which showcased the "technology" side of the equation with high tech features such as Night Vision, the Northstar System, StabiliTrak 2.0 and OnStar.

Connecting Cadillac's storied past to its exciting future is a recent 60-second television commercial called "Moments." While a female singer croons the Cole Porter tune, "From This Moment On," the commercial shows classic Cadillacs as part of the fabric of life in the Fifties and Sixties - at Hollywood previews, ticker tape parades and drive-in movie theaters. "Every American who ever had a dream, dreamed of driving a Cadillac. It's time to start dreaming again," says voiceover, as the scenes shift to the present with views of bold new Cadillac designs, such as the Escalade EXT (luxury sport utility truck) and CTS (sport sedan), the Le Mans Prototype race car and the Imaj, Vizon and Evoq concept cars.

The commercial points to a new era of luxury leadership for Cadillac - one in which advertising will continue to help frame and communicate the Cadillac story.