On Thu, 27 Jun 2013 11:07:45 -0400, Nate Nagel >
wrote:

>Just saw an ad for the Caddy ATS on TV late last night. Supposedly it's
>a really nice little car; I don't know, I haven't driven one. But all
>the reviews I've read/watched position it as a legitimate competitor to
>the BMW 3-series.
>
>The specific ad that I saw made a big deal out of the headlights that
>apparently swivel slightly to follow the road. Which is a great
>feature, I agree.
>
>Difficulty: the BMW 3er has had "adaptive headlights" since sometime in
>the middle of the E46 (two generations ago) production run.
>
>Now WHY if you are aiming a vehicle at a target market of owners of a
>very specific popular vehicle, would you advertise that *your* vehicle
>has a great new feature when your target market is going to see that ad,
>think "oh, really, my ten year old BMW has that" and immediately make
>the assumption that Cadillac is playing catch-up to BMW?
>
>I would really like to see the day where a friend of mine could roll up
>in a new Cadillac or Lincoln or whatever and I'd look it over and take
>it for a spin and then say "f**k yeah, America's back!" But with
>advertising blunders like this... never mind the merits of the car, how
>can you succeed when you're in effect acknowledging that you're playing
>follow-the-leader to your most direct competitor?
>
>Or does Caddy's marketing department not agree with what seems to be
>obvious to everyone else, namely that the ATS is specifically designed
>to win over current and potential 3-series drivers?
>
>nate

As you said, two markets, those who own BMW who might be talked into
switching, and those who don't but who might buy either a BMW or New
Caddy. So that ad would be aimed at the "those who don't" who
probably don't know if or how long either car has had that feature.
There really are very few new features of any substance on any of the
new cars other then electronic crap no one actually needs. So what
can you advertise? Bun warmers, bluetooth, powered lift gates.