Introducing Cadillac's Electric Escalade with Outkast’s Big Boi and DJ Jazzy Jeff

To introduce the new all-electric Cadillac Escalade IQ, the car company teamed up with Spike Lee’s Brooklyn-based creative advertising agency, Spike DDB, and Will Smith’s production company, Westbrook Inc., to make an iconic campaign featuring Big Boi from legendary rap duo, Outkast.

Thanks to over 30 years of lyrical references to Cadillac from artists like Big Boi, Cadillac is now celebrating its connection to the world of hip hop. The campaign involves a music video where Big Boi raps about all of the Escalade IQ’s features, as well as an interview series on the Genius YouTube channel hosted by noted Will Smith collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff.

With a 94% positive sentiment score, the campaign has racked up 53.4m+ impressions (93% via broadcast paid media and 7% from organic social) and over 3 million video views (87% from YouTube organic social). The car brand has also reported a 700 ACE score and 73% purchase intent among Black and Hispanic luxury intenders, following the campaign.

To discuss how the car brand is leaning into its connection with the culture, and the process of bringing this campaign to life, LBB’s Ben Conway spoke with Juanita Slappy, head of multicultural marketing at Cadillac, and Alex Tyree, creative and strategic director at Spike DDB. 

LBB> Cadillac has clearly made multicultural marketing a real priority - how have you worked together to develop this aspect? How has a multicultural approach influenced your campaigns?

Juanita> Cadillac's commitment to multicultural marketing is deeply embedded in our organisational structure and strategy, ensuring our brand resonates authentically with a diverse audience, with culture at the epicentre of our approach.

Alex> Cadillac has leaned on our agency, Spike DDB, over the past decade or more. The breadth of our work has been imperative in developing equity and justice initiatives, to creating culturally connective storytelling with African-American, Latin-American, Asian-American, LGBTQ+ audiences through platforms like www.cadillac.com/Audacity, and more. 

In 2021, our team led the reveal of the fifth generation of Escalades with Spike Lee at the helm as the director and featured talent in the campaign. 

As an artist-led team, it’s been our objective to continually inspire culturally forward ideas and creative that enhance the organically powerful Cadillac brand story. Cadillac and GM have been wonderful partners in recognising the importance and value of a multicultural lens. Client leadership, such as Juanita Slappy, understands the power of diversity as an internal company priority while equally recognising the necessary nuance of a multicultural external approach. Cadillac and GM leadership has given our team the trust to push, as the landscape of audiences continues to change.

LBB> What was the brief like for this campaign with Big Boi specifically? Was the plan always to have a hip-hop artist create a song for the spot?

Juanita> It was only after Big Boi participated in the branded content and experienced the vehicle that the idea was born - making this spot special and authentic. His enthusiasm and call to action ‘to get Cadillac on the phone’ sparked the collaboration. We picked up the phone, and the rest is history – three million plus views, with over 54 million impressions across social platforms, giving you the IQ of Big Boi.

Alex> Big Boi and OutKast’s 30+ years of iconic references, Cadillac lives as a symbolic southern staple. To bridge this moment with this exciting and electric Escalade just made sense and almost felt overdue. Over the decades it’s been artists and lyricists like Big Boi who have made Cadillac an affirmation in their music.

After five decades of unprecedented impact, we’ve seen how hip hop continues to evolve. Like the all-new EV Escalade IQ, hip hop has gotten more intelligent, more advanced, more sophisticated and in-tune consciously. It only felt right to co-create with another icon, Big Boi, whose lyrics have already created Cadillac lore. 

In honour of the moment and with the vehicle as a muse, our creative team, led by myself and Lemon Andersen, wanted to allow this master lyricist [Big Boi] the freedom to do what he does best. Write and perform. 

LBB> The film was produced by Westbook Inc. - how was the shoot and your partnership with the Westbrook team? What stands out as a particularly fulfilling or educational moment?

Alex> Partnering with Westbrook Inc. on this project made for an exciting collaboration all-around. Both Spike DDB and Westbrook Inc. are the brainchildren of icons, Spike Lee and Will Smith, respectively. It felt like just the right combination of ingredients to pull together standout work. We worked together from ideation to creative development, all the way through production in LA. 

We had a lot of fun with the Westbrook team—who came to us via Carat Media. Westbrook’s intrinsic understanding of hip hop culture and professionalism, it made it easy to trust we could create great work, and we did! 

Juanita> Collaborating with creative business extensions of icons like Will Smith and Spike Lee was a full-circle moment, reflective of the evolution of both businesses and hip hop culture. Their unique insights have added depth and authenticity to our campaign and culture. 

On-site during filming, the palpable energy after each cut signalled that something special was unfolding. From crew to production and partners like Westbrook Inc. and Spike DDB, we knew we were creating an iconic moment. Big Boi’s rhyme concludes with ‘truckin’ and by the end of the shoot, that was etched into our memories, symbolising the magic created. We still say ‘truckin’ when concluding conversations, it is a fun punctuation that sheds deep reverence on that moment. 

LBB> What were some of the main challenges throughout this process? How did you overcome them?

Juanita> The excitement of filming was heightened by the secrecy surrounding the first-ever all-electric Cadillac Escalade, adding an extra layer of confidentiality to the creative process.

Alex> Working with this not-yet-in-production vehicle, we had more peculiar creative and production limitations than usual. Not to mention, working around the schedule of our high-in-demand talent, Big Boi. 

Creatively we wanted to face the challenges of breaking and shaping new perceptions for Cadillac. In a short window, we landed on a simpler approach than other ideas. A creative approach that allowed the Escalade IQ to shine as the powerful muse, as we experience the authentically expressive performance from Big Boi. 

LBB> The campaign also involved interviews between DJ Jazzy Jeff and guests, MC Lyte and Big Boi. Why is this an important part of the campaign? And is longer-form branded content a significant focus for Cadillac?

Alex> We understand that hip hop is not only a genre, but a culture. A culture that’s emerged from a shared drive for an unimaginable dream - that is a quintessential American story. The longer-form content was developed in tandem with Carat Media. They did a great job driving the importance of Cadillac and hip hop’s connective history and electric trajectory in more depth with DJ Jazzy Jeff, MC Lyte, and Big Boi. These staples of the culture have embodied the iconicism and power of hip hop through the decades, inspiring the evolution of its future.

Juanita> The interviews, led by our Carat Media partners, provide an intimate connection with our audience. Longer-form content is crucial, offering a deeper narrative that resonates beyond traditional advertising. These voices, including Jazzy Jeff, MC Lyte, and Big Boi, have richly contributed to our brand's success, solidifying our impactful presence in culture.

LBB> Are there plans to expand this campaign? What does this continued partnership look like in 2024?

Alex> As evidenced by this campaign, Cadillac and GM are all-in on EV. Leading with vehicles like the Cadillac LYRIQ and Escalade IQ, we’re excited to be creating more powerful storytelling in revealing all-new electric vehicles arriving in 2024.

Juanita> Our commitment extends into 2024, with plans to evolve Cadillac's marketing by staying attuned to cultural shifts. Expect dynamic strategies resonating with diverse audiences, reflecting Cadillac’s all-electric future and innovative vehicle portfolio.