The headline echo from Crain's is intentional. Two blog posts are labeled "Wrong move for Cadillac" to reinforce messages from company executive KC Crain and guest writer Tim Smith.
Each tells why he thinks the GM division hurts itself, as well as Detroit, by shifting the headquarters to the SoHo area of Lower Manhattan, as announced last Tuesday.
KC Crain: "They're missing an opportunity."
Crain, the 34-year-old son of longtime Crain Communications Inc. publisher and board chair Keith Crain, says Cadillac risks missing "the vitality of the resurgent Detroit creative vibe." The executive vice-president and director of corporate operations adds:
They're missing an opportunity. I know I'm biased, but I can't think of many cooler places to have a marketing office than Detroit. They don't have to be in the Renaissance Center. They could build a new space in Corktown or Eastern Market and take advantage of all the creativity that is exploding in the city right now. . . .
There is a reason why Shinola chose to have its headquarters in Detroit and not SoHo or Brooklyn. All the data and focus groups said they would sell more watches if they were stamped with "made in Detroit." I understand the difference in the brands, but you would have to think Detroit can do luxury, too.
Smith, the owner and CEO of the Skidmore Studio marketing agency in downtown Detroit, writes that the luxury division's exodus "could have significant negative impact." He scoffs at the official statement:
The claim that the Cadillac brand needs to be in New York to "develop attitudes in common with our audience" is ludicrous. . . .
Tim Smith: The move "is reinforcing a negative stereotype about Detroit."
Skidmore's top guy issues a creative community call to action, urging others to "tell Johan de Nysschen, the new head of Cadillac, that his comments are both insulting and inaccurate."
To say in the same breath that he is proud of Cadillac's Detroit roots, but that his marketing team can't understand the luxury market without being in New York, is reinforcing a negative stereotype about Detroit.
How can we compete in the world when we watch one of the largest and most recognizable global brands tell the world they want out of Detroit? . . . Where are our leaders telling GM that this is a mistake? Who's reminding them that Ford did this same move years ago with the Lincoln brand, but it lasted just a few years?
-- Alan Stamm
