New York move opens up Cadillac's world

Editor's note: The title for Uwe Ellinghaus, Cadillac's global CMO, was misstated in one reference in the original version of this story. 

Cadillac's New York journey has taken it on helicopter rides to the Hamptons, virtual-reality expeditions at auto dealerships, and forays into the worlds of art and fashion.

It's just the kind of unbound adventure that Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen and global CMO Uwe Ellinghaus envisioned when they decided to move the brand's headquarters out of General Motors' staid Renaissance Center in Detroit and into a trendy neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side.

Two years after that move, Ellinghaus believes Cadillac is where he "intended" it to be, plugged into global luxury trends, capitalizing on new opportunities in urban mobility, lagging in the U.S., but celebrating rising global sales, led by breakneck growth in China. Not far off is an infusion of fresh product that will put the quintessential American brand more in line with the very American trend toward crossovers.

"It's fair to say that we couldn't grow more in the U.S. lately because we just simply didn't have enough SUVs, and we were maybe a little oversubscribed of sedans," Ellinghaus said. "But this has long been addressed, and this is why I'm very optimistic that this is a marathon and not a sprint."

Ellinghaus, a 15-year veteran of BMW Group, has been in an uphill battle to change Cadillac's grandfatherly image since being recruited as global CMO in late 2013. It has meant finding ways to attract the attention of urban and coastal luxury customers who have long ​ preferred German brands or whose only exposure to Cadillacs has been in the back seat of an airport livery car.

"The best way to overcome skepticism about the brand is trying out just how good our new products are," Ellinghaus said in​ a phone interview. "That's why I spend a disproportional amount of our efforts on getting people into cars, but this is not the usual test drive experience necessarily."

The effort has led Cadillac in some unconventional directions. This year, it went to work for elite New Yorkers by partnering with Blade, an aviation-hailing company (think Uber for flying), to offer them complimentary helicopter rides from Manhattan to their summer playground in the Hamptons. Then, once on the ground, it offered some flyers a Cadillac XT5 to drive for the weekend.

Cadillac was "encouraged by the results" of the program, Ellinghaus said, but wouldn't commit to renewing it for next summer.

Meanwhile, Cadillac is deploying its Manhattan headquarters near the SoHo district as a year-round product showcase and event space to connect with potential luxury buyers and elevate the cachet of the brand.

Cadillac House, the 12,000-square-foot "brand experience center" on the ground floor of the building, has hosted fashion shows, concerts and public events such as art exhibitions. The space also includes retail space, a café and an exhibition area for Cadillac vehicles.

The brand plans to add Cadillac House locations over the next 12 to 18 months in Dubai, Shanghai and Toronto, and continues to explore other cities, according to a spokesman.

"We are definitely expanding the concept, given the success we have here," Ellinghaus said, adding that the New York location has attracted more than 170,000 visitors (who spent at least 20 minutes) since it opened in May 2016.

Another New York-born project is also primed for a wider rollout. Cadillac is evaluating opportunities to expand its Book by Cadillac vehicle subscription service, which gives subscribers on-demand access to Cadillac vehicles for $1,500 a month without the commitment of leasing, financing or purchasing. The pilot program started in March and has drawn global attention.

Cadillac had 8,000 people, including 1,500 in greater New York, interested in joining the pilot program, said Ellinghaus, who calls the program "leasing 2.0." Ninety percent of them had never owned or leased a Cadillac.

"This shows that we reach out to a target group that we didn't reach out to in the past," he said.

A "limited number" of those hand raisers are involved in the pilot program. (He declined to provide the exact number.) Subscribers use a mobile app to reserve vehicles that are then delivered to their location via a white-glove concierge service. They have access to the current-year models of platinum-level-trim Cadillacs, including the XT5, CT6, Escalade and V Series.

"Before we roll out other locations, which we plan, and before we expand our fleet in New York," Ellinghaus said, "I first want to show that we deliver up to the highest standards that these customers have when it comes to both the cars themselves … and the pickup and delivery service."

Cadillac dealers could play a major role in its expansion, Cadillac executives say. De Nysschen said the brand is in discussions with a working group of dealers to examine details of the program such as who owns the vehicles, costs and revenue sharing.

"As we move from the piloting and beta-testing phase of Book to commercial execution, our desire is certainly to leverage our dealer organization to have the widest reach," de Nysschen said. "The dealers have a lot to bring to the table," including space, vehicle fleet, service and maintenance.

Cadillac also recently launched its first virtual reality system at a dealership in the wealthy New York suburb of Greenwich, Conn., and debuted a national TV campaign for its semiautonomous Super Cruise system for the CT6, which the brand plans to stock in dealer courtesy fleets nationwide.

The initiatives are part of the brand's "Dare Greatly" campaign aimed at getting nontraditional customers into Cadillacs. The Super Cruise ads, for instance, call it "the world's first true hands-free driving system for the freeway," staking a claim to technology leadership that consumers might associate more with brands such as Tesla or Mercedes-Benz.

Ellinghaus launched the ad campaign, which will begin airing again as the technology launches in the fall, during the MTV Video Music Awards, because it's the brand's youngest audience of the year.

"There's no denying that the MTV audience is the one that will probably appreciate such technologies quicker than others," he said.