Not just a car company, Cadillac is a transportation company...

Victor and Terri Church with their Cadillac bicycles at their home in Rochester Hills. Cadillac has entered into licensing agreement with Kent Bicycles to create Cadillac line of bikes in hopes the vehicle brand will become more associated with younger folks. (The Detroit News/David Coates).

(The Detroit News/David Coates).

Today's online Detroit News reports, in "Cadillac spins new sales with branded bicycles: Two-wheelers sport sleek and sharp design, attracting more buyers who are younger" that Cadillac has licensed its logo for bicycles, and is selling them through some of its car dealerships. Now if we can only get rappers to use these bikes in some music videos to increase the street cred of bicycling, comparable to that of the "Slade" or Cadillac Escalade SUV. See "Escalade scores with athletes, rappers," from USA Today.

Photo by David L'Hoste.
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This is a take on Ted Leavitt's book Marketing Imagination. The book came out in the 1980s and for those in marketing, it's worth re-reading every year or two to encourage some rethinking. Anyway, he makes the point that GM forgot that it's a "transportation" company, not a car company.

In thinking about this, I think GM thought back then that it was a vehicle company, even if they didn't think they were in transportation. Back then GM made Terex construction equipment, buses, and locomotive engines in addition to cars.