Target Market of General Motors, Cadillac and Chevrolet

With the advent of new technologies and the Internet, humanity has achieved significant advances in real-time communication across the world. People living in different parts of the continent can learn about a particular company very quickly. General Motors Corporation is one of the companies that has a strong brand image worldwide. The company is engaged in manufacturing, designing, and selling different types of vehicles, such as cars and trucks. General Motors owns famous brands such as Cadillac, Chevrolet, Maven, Holden, Onstar, Wuling, and others. This article discusses Cadillac and Chevrolet one by one to understand whom these brands choose as their target market.

Let’s first have a quick look at the overall marketing strategy of General Motors.

Through its marketing strategies, General Motors serves as an example of a company that can address the automotive industry’s opportunities. The company offers a variety of products mainly targeting upper-middle-class and upper-class consumers. Also, as the company has headquarters in several places, it has maintained a global presence. The company invests in various types of promotions and advertisements to expand its network.

Beginning with Cadillac, let’s look at one of its campaigns and discuss marketing strategies the company implements.

This automobile company uses various tactics to promote its product. Despite focusing on its customers’ needs and preferences, Cadillac invests in various mediums, such as Television, print, and media, to promote its products.

What is more, this automobile company believes that celebrities and other famous people impact society, which is why one can usually see famous actors and singers in their advertisements.

Cadillac also promotes its products by becoming sponsors for entertaining and exciting events, such as Golf, Ricing, etc.

Here is a video that represents “Rise Above” campaign.

This advertisement introduces several examples of women who have different professions and characters; but one thing they all have is common which is Cadillac. Cadillac has chosen famous women and one of them is Yalitza Aparicio, who earned an Oscar for her film “Roma.” So, the commercial represents women’s power and breaks the stereotype that women are only housekeepers.

This advertisement’s creator has chosen famous rapper Childish Gambino’s song called “Me and Your Mama,” which creates a dynamic atmosphere.

Moreover, after watching this advertisement, one can notice that this leading automobile company as a target segment has mostly chosen females, who always strive for their goals. This is because this advertisement aired throughout the 91st Oscar ceremony, and statistics have shown that the majority of Oscar viewers are females.

At the end of the video, a gentle voice of a woman states, “May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be at your back. Rise above in the uncompromising Cadillac.”

“Rise” gives life to the spirit of perseverance that has always been part of Cadillac,” said Deborah Wahl, who is the chief marketing officer of Cadillac.

Now, let’s understand the company’s communication strategy through analyzing one of its slogans.

“Standard of the World” is the slogan of the company. This way, Cadillac positions itself as a creator of “quality” standards. Standard is a level of quality or/and achievement that is thought to be acceptable. With this slogan, this automobile company wants to state that their products are so good that the world accepts them. 

In that sense, they are talking about the reputation which they gained over time. Cadillac’s adopted slogan, “Standard of the World,” dates back to winning the 1908 Dewar Trophy, in its day “Nobel Prize” of engineering for proving the precision interchangeability of its cars.

Now let’s understand the target audience that Cadillac has chosen.

Firstly, let’s take a look at a commercial example.

So, the commercial is about a young boy Edgar, who has scissors for his hands. This young boy faces many challenges while striving for his dreams. As a pattern, when he was standing in the yard, and one of the boys passes the boll, Edgar takes the ball to pieces.

Another example where the boy was scolded for doing the wrong thing is at his workplace, where the manager asks Edgar to stick to the menu and properly cut the products. Despite all these difficulties, Edgar does not stop and puts effort to move forward and be respected by others. That is the reason why his mother makes a present for him: All-Electric Cadillac LYRIQ. This car offers the first truly hands-free system, which allows the driver to enjoy their journey. After watching this commercial, one can understand that Cadillac cares for every person and strives for equality.

It is essential to note that the main character Edgar is one of the representatives of the target segment, whom the company has chosen: Breakouts.

Now, let us learn some facts about this target group.

Lifestyle and Values:

People belonging to Breakouts target segment always want to be respected and move up in life. These people are very hardworking and seek to achieve all their dreams.

Breakouts are risk-takers and adventure lovers. They focus on themselves and want to enjoy every single moment of their lives. Moreover, these people give massive importance to their appearance.

However, this target group’s representatives are not interested in cultural events and are not worried about environmental issues.

Brand Usage:

Breakouts are risk-takers in any field, and shopping is not an exception too.

The people belonging to this target segment like to try new things, and they are considered spontaneous shoppers. On the other hand, they are not loyal to one brand and change their preferences from time to time.

Additionally, Breakouts will not pay much money on artificial food and environment-friendly products.

Other Interesting Facts:

The target audience’s representatives are TV lovers, and they always turn the TV on when arriving home. These people mostly prefer fun topics, such as shopping, fashion, films, cars, horoscopes and the rest.

16 Personalities (Which one is for your business?)

General Motors stayed on the Mount rushmore of automobile business by following a distinct tactic of targeting. The strive of acquiring material goods, moving up in life and being respected are treats of the main target segment of General Motors: Breakouts.

By targeting people who value the presence of materialistic goods in their life, they adjusted both products and marketing campaigns to fit their ideal customers. 

These key characteristics are typical to Breakouts.

• Focused on self and personal enjoyment, seeking adventurous and joyful life.
• Spend a large chunk of their time hanging out with friends, visiting active places like pubs, bars and discos.
• Are spontaneous shoppers prefer quality brands and spend a lot on clothing, but cannot afford premium brands.

Targeting Breakouts brought to long-lasting success in the harsh automobile manufacturing industry. Every marketing activity has a perfectly planned and executed targeting strategy behind it.

There are various other personalities suited for different brands, which helps companies identify their ideal customers and work on satisfying them at best.

For uncovering more on this, be sure to check out our book 16 Personalities, where you can find thorough analysis of target personalities, their values, attitudes, and priorities in life.

It is time to move on to Chevrolet and get an insight into the company’s marketing strategy by analyzing one of its campaigns.

The company, which is indeed one of the most prominent automobile brands globally, spends pretty much money creating entertaining promotional techniques. Chevrolet puts much effort into its advertisements and social media posts to inform society about its offerings and values.

Let’s discuss one of their commercials and analyze  its impacts and some of the main points.

After watching the campaign called “Just Better,” one can notice that in the beginning of the ad, the creators have made a comparison between the dog and the car. This is a beautiful metaphor and an interesting marketing strategy creating an illusion that their car is as loyal as dogs. Moreover, the company represents its target audience as people who like to focus on themselves but are easy to talk to and open to make new friends.

In addition, the commercial conveys a message that the company’s products are the bests and can make everyone’s life “Just Better.”

To understand communication strategies that Chevrolet uses, let’s look at this particular slogan. 

Slogan: “Find New Roads”.

The slogan of a company plays a huge role because if the slogan is catchy, it can quickly gain popularity and respect.

Chevy’s new slogan “Find New Roads embraces the spirit of ingenuity that has been in Chevrolet’s DNA since the beginning and it will continue to guide every aspect of our business moving forward,” said Mary Barra, senior vice president of Global Product Development.

These three words are straightforward and easy to remember. Through the choice of these three words, the company wants to say that their products are long-lasting and qualified as one can go on a long and new trip with their cars. What is more, the slogan also means that the company can help one to explore new places and roads.

Also, Chevrolet has its logo on the top of its slogan, which is a tricky marketing strategy to make others remember their logo.

Moving forward, let’s understand what target audience the company has chosen.

To do so let’s discuss a commercial example.

The creators of this commercial have chosen different young people as its participants. As a pattern, at the beginning of the video, one can see two friends and two couples who go on a ride with Chevrolet Trailblazer.

While these people face some challenges in their paths, such as the meeting with the bear, the dirty paths, they still enjoy their ride. By representing these scenes, the authors of this commercial seek to state that their car can help one get wherever they want.

Even though these people have different choices in their lifestyles, all of them choose Chevrolet Trailblazer “as a friend of their path.”

Simultaneously, a man’s voice in the background describes the company’s goal by making comparisons:

Still a selfie- just happier;

Still a car wash- just more fun;

Still Sunday- just sunnier;

Chevy Trailblazer- making lives just better.

The company ends with the words “just better,” which definitely catches the watcher’s attention.

Chevrolet’s choice of these young people, as participants, who are happy, funny, action lovers, and risk-takers shows that they are the representatives of Chevrolet’s chosen target segment which are mostly similar to a target segment called Hedonists.

Now, let’s get deeper and learn some interesting facts about them.

Lifestyle, Values, and Brand Usage

• The representatives of this target segment Hedonists believe that “We only live once, and we should enjoy every moment of it.” That is the primary reason why these people prefer to be surrounded by the people they love and buy the things that can make them happier.

• Although Hedonists like to focus on themselves, they are very easy to talk to and highly open to making new friends.

• People belonging to this target group like to spend money on the latest things, and even if they get a low salary or do not have money, they will still get what they want.

• On the other hand, when it comes to relationships, Hedonists do not keep them long and can change their partners pretty often.

• “Real men should not cry, and women’s place is at home” is a life motto that Hedonists always have in their minds during their lifetime.

• The primary motivation for the people belonging to this target segment is money, and they are even believed to be lottery lovers.

• If one wants to meet with these people, clubs, pubs, cinemas are the right places.

Other interesting facts

• The people that belong to this target segment are usually not interested in media, and they mostly use it just for their entertainment.

• These people do not want to waste their time, which is why they prefer to spend more time reading magazines online.

• Hedonists are not really music lovers, and one can rarely find them watching TV.

• While this target segment does not tend to hang out with their family members on weekends, the family always stays as their priority.

This article was about Chevrolet and Cadillac-two leading automobile companies in the world. This post mainly focused on the marketing and communication strategies that these companies use as they are key components of every company’s success. Besides, we also included two advertisements that could describe the target segments these companies have chosen. To read more posts like this, check the main page of our website.

Your Complete E-book.