Reimagining Cadillac: An Icon of Success and Excellence
Tasked with bringing Cadillac’s appeal to the modern day consumer, Leo Burnett and SOUTH Music have worked on numerous campaigns that have transformed the brand’s image through culture-defining moments and an all-new fresh sonic identity that transcends the usual “car ad” feeling.
In this interview with LBB, Leo Burnett executive creative director Craig Crawford joins SOUTH Music creative director and partner Dan Pritikin to share how the team came together to craft this iconic identity, bringing Cadillac into the modern day.
LBB> Tell us about how your relationship with Cadillac first began.
Craig> I took the role of ECD on Cadillac about 18 months ago. Previously, I was an ECD on Lexus at Team One. As a creative with decades of car experience, much of that decision makes sense. However, I had never had the opportunity to work on a brand that was returning to its iconic status and that’s precisely what Cadillac is doing. In the product. In the marketplace. And in the advertising. It was a dream come true.
Dan> While we’ve had a good working relationship with the crew at Leo Burnett for years, our relationship with Cadillac started out with a singular project where the outcome and process were so successful that it led us here.
LBB> What was the brief from the client - the problem/challenge they were facing at the time and what initial ideas did you have?
Craig> Cadillac had a simple challenge: it was grandpa’s car. So, the question was how do we get more people who would not have considered us before to put us on their list? This is a pure brand challenge. Do I like this brand? Does it represent me? Can it be part of my personal brand?
Naturally, many younger people said “no.” So our job was to change their minds and have them fall in love with a brand they had previously dismissed. Basically, we had to reclaim our status as an icon of success and excellence.
Dan> Sort of two fold:
1, They were adamant about standing out in the automotive space sonically, particularly the luxury car space. So they were in search for what their musical voice could be. Premium-sounding but not stuffy or old fashioned. Cool, but not adolescent.
2. Looking forward, there was going to be a lot of content. Big broadcast spots, more dealer level stuff, and even short but noticeable online content. All of these were going to need to share the same tone visually and musically, so they were going to need a lot of music.
We used the initial projects to help explore and develop a sound that felt “Cadillac”. This ended up being pop/hip-hop/electronic inspired tracks, produced in a very contemporary and sophisticated way. Stuff that would hold up well on any 2020’s pop playlist. Stuff that sounded expensive to create. We also needed it to stand out and not just act as background support. Many of the spots they were producing had little to no VO (lots of supers and striking visuals) so the music was going to have a nice place to shine.
LBB> At the brainstorming stage, what particular parts of the brand stood out to you and how did you translate that into their brand sound?
Craig> Each of us are our own brand. We wear our deeply held beliefs on our sleeves with our choices in fashion, phones, and fascinations. Broadly, we are either followers or leaders. We are either comfortable being like everyone else, or we are mavericks who go our own way. Those who choose Cadillac are actively rejecting the conventions of BMW, Mercedes, or, dare I say, Lexus. They are declaring independence in pursuit of their own iconic status. That was truly inspiring.
Dan> Going into it, we knew that Cadillac was a luxury brand, so that had to be in the back of our minds the whole time. But in looking at the footage of a lot of these spots, you see very artistic and striking stuff. Visuals that obviously take a lot of talent and resources to create. The music has no choice but to live up to that bar. Also, there’s a freshness and coolness to what they’re shooting that is different from other luxury brands. It’s not just a bunch of well-off people driving down scenic roads to their impossibly manicured modern homes. These spots feature youthful, vibrant people engaging with life in a way that feels more exciting and less snooty or stiff. This is where the “hip-ness” of the music has to be apparent.
LBB> What’s the creative idea behind this brand sound and how does it help tell the message that the brand wants to stand for?
Dan> As I mentioned, the agency was not shy about wanting to push this brand to a unique space as compared to other luxury brands. There is an old formula of mixing rock elements with cinematic/orchestral elements to make the quintessential luxury car commercial soundtrack that everyone knows and everyone is tired of. It’s so great when a client is embracing where the trends are going as opposed to where they’ve been. It’s happening in the technology of the cars themselves, so it should absolutely be happening in the tones and styles of their advertising.
Cadillac understood this right from the jump, and that really took a lot of the creative shackles off for us. And of course once we were allowed to spread our wings and get some of the best pop producers creating for this brand, they took notice, and the spots naturally evolved further to allow music to have a very prominent role. This, of course, is also pretty forward thinking, as this is a space that likes to have a lot of VO and a lot of driving footage and sound, leaving music to be an afterthought all too often.
LBB> Music seems to be a big part of these campaigns, with some spots using the soundtrack on set to direct choreography. In your opinion Dan, how has this helped strengthen the work?
Dan> Anytime music is prioritised early in the production process the better the final product will be. The Spring Retail spot was basically one cool modern dance that had to be choreographed to music. This was an awesome opportunity for us to create ideas in more of a vacuum rather than being hamstrung by immovable visuals etc. This also allowed our client to zero-in on a “hit,” and it became a track that they played over and over again in the pre-production phase, falling deeper and deeper in love with it. Then once it came time to shoot and edit, the spot really became a music video, with the music being the main character. You just can’t duplicate that by writing a piece of music after everything is already shot and edited together.
LBB> And Craig, what was it like collaborating with SOUTH Music on this project?
Craig> In a word: incredible. Matt, and the team at SOUTH are wonderfully talented, passionately creative, collaborators. All of those elements guaranteed success. The brief was simple - write a track so brilliant and banging that we’d all want to add it to our personal Spotify playlists… then add a dash of renaissance. After all, the renaissance has its very own soundtrack. When you hear a harpsichord, or a lyre, you are immediately transported back centuries. They nailed it.
I want to celebrate them in one additional way. Mostly in advertising, music is added without much expectation that it will contribute to the concept. When you work with the best, it can be critical to the success of the concept. This was the latter.
LBB> Tell us about some of the most successful campaigns you have worked on with Cadillac and why they stand out to you.
Craig> All of them. Okay, in all seriousness, every time we lean into being part of contemporary culture, we change people’s minds about who we are and open their eyes to the idea that this is not the grandparents’ Cadillac anymore.
When we partnered with LABRINTH to launch the LYRIQ for the Colors of Emotion Campaign, while also launching the first single off his new album, we made culture.
When we celebrated the 120 years of Cadillac by partnering with Spotify to create our 120 Mixtape Campaign using a playlist of songs that include us in their lyrics, we made culture.
And, for our newest project, the EV Renaissance campaign, we told the story of Simu Liu going from an anonymous accountant to a Hollywood star, making culture once again. We also challenged and inspired the viewer to start their personal renaissance. Nothing could be more Cadillac or more iconic than that.
Dan> I think each has stood out in their own way. Early on we did a spot for LYRIQ that had such a legit hip-hop track on it that fans of a very popular artist were mistaking it for some unearthed hidden gem from their catalogue. And then of course this Spring Retail spot became so huge that I saw people joking online about how often they hear it and how much the music seeps into their heads. We get very close to our projects, but when the “outside world” begins to take special notice, that’s when you know you’ve done something special.
