The rebirth of Lincoln. Those four words alone are some of the most daunting that anyone at Ford Motor Company can hear. Unlike the boys across the street at GM (with the refreshed Cadillac lineup) Ford has been struggling much more. Now, I do realize it takes a long time to relaunch an existing brand while attempting to incorporate a new image into what is perceived as a ‘boring’ brand, but even still, Cadillac did it better. I believe there are a couple main reasons why Cadillac has succeeded in the marketplace and Lincoln has not. But first, here are the similarities that Lincoln must first notice before they try anything new.
- Both brands are trying to capture a younger audience, one that is obsessed with smartphones and technology. They also need to regain strength (did they have any in the first place?) of the enthusiast community, something Cadillac has done with flying colors.
- Cadillac and Lincoln are both sub-brands of a larger manufacturer, a bigger corporate company with money to spend (at least as of right now).
So now that the similarities have been cleared up I think it is time for the most important difference between the two. Cadillac was already riding with an image of ‘cool’ or ‘swagger’ even when the cars they were building were less than cool. Musicians and oftentimes enthusiasts gushed about Cadillac’s of yore, not as much with Lincoln. Image is the name of the game in this segment.
Now people scoff at Lincoln’s new marketing campaign, with actors featured in their cars. But while Lincoln probably wants you to take their commercials seriously, at this point in Lincoln’s life, it needs to become profitable and as the phrase goes ‘any publicity is good publicity’. So while it might not be the reaction Lincoln was hoping for, at least people are talking about the brand.
In the end, though, can Lincoln pull it off?
I think the biggest chain around Lincoln’s neck right now is funding. Ford needs to throw money at the problem. Better marketing, more polarizing design, sportier cars, better cars. That will solve most problems in any business. Now it is just a matter of whether Ford has the cajones to get this revolution started.
Watch out Cadillac.
Cadillac pulled a complete U-Turn when it went from cars like this 2002 Eldorado (this is my car, I can rip on it!) to cars like the prime example below, a 2016 CTS-V. I can honestly get behind cars like these especially when they are pushing 640 horsepower! See? Get the enthusiasts excited!
(both credit to allcarseveryday)
