Why Does my Cadillac have a General Motors Badge?

During my time in the Cadillac CTS I noticed a peculiar little badge in between the driver side door and the front wheel arch that really got me thinking. The badge was small (1 sq. in), silver, and embossed with the letters GM (for General Motors). I thought to myself, "What the F is a GM badge doing on my Cadillac?" Being the nerdy MBA that I am, I have actually thought a lot about this little silver badge and have come to this conclusion: that GM badge is just really stupid and should be removed. Hopefully after you read the below you will agree.

After doing a bit of research, I discovered that the GM badge is actually a fixture on each vehicle produced and sold by General Motors in North America and has been since Mark LaNeve initiated the "Mark of Excellence" program in 2006. Keep in mind that GM has 8 brands (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer, GMC, Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn) under their corporate umbrella, and each vehicle has this little badge on it.

All I ask is, "Why?"

I hate to call out a fellow Virginia alum, but this is just inexcusable (though I am starting to consider myself more of a Michigan Man, which does ease the pain). Mark LaNeve (UVA '81), current GM North American Vice President, stated that the reason for the GM badge is because "research tells us that many of our most outstanding segment-leading vehicles are not associated by the customer to be part of the GM portfolio." Wow.it is a good thing I was not in the room for this comment, because I would have monopolized the airtime more than I did in BA 523.

Here is the thing: if a company is correctly branding its products, consumers will associate the product with the brand, i.e. Cadillac. The only rationale to institute an umbrella branding strategy is to help brands that cannot operate on their own. It is kind of like your Dad calling the company to get you your interview because your credentials just don't cut it. Furthermore, General Motors is the name of the company that manufactures and markets the Cadillac brand of vehicles. The consumer has no love for General Motors. They love Cadillac. The song is "Pink Cadillac," not "Pink GM." People who work inside General Motors should celebrate GM; consumers should celebrate the brands that companies produce. Asking consumers to celebrate GM is just not going to happen, so stop trying to make us do it.

If you extend Mr. LaNeve's logic, linking the corporate name of the parent company to all the brands under the corporate umbrella or operation, to other companies both inside and outside the automotive industry, it becomes clear how ridiculous this GM badge thing really is. So, that would mean that all Bentleys should have a VW emblem on them, because Volkswagen is the parent company that manufactures the uber-luxury British brand. Would this make any sense? No. What if your next pair of Chuck Taylor's had a Nike Swoosh emblazed on the sole? Nike owns Converse, and I'm sure they could put their swoosh logo on it if they wanted. But just because you can, does not mean that you should. It is selfish, and moreover the action does not provide any value to the consumer. Just because people don't associate your brands with the parent company does not make it bad. And I would actually argue that if consumers don't associate your brands with the parent company, then your branding efforts are actually working. Isn't the whole point of branding in the first place to differentiate your product by creating a singular perception in the mind of the consumer? It sounds as though the individual brands were beginning to see the positive effects of their marketing efforts until the GM badge came along and diluted the brand pool.

So in keeping with the whole idea of "Leading in Thought and Action", I am presenting my wayward Wahoo, Mr. LaNeve, with two mutually exclusive options:1.Drop the Cadillac brand and simply the call the model the General Motors CTS. However, killing off any automotive brand with a significant dealer network, such as Cadillac, is insanely expensive due to the dealership laws, which require the manufacturer to basically pay the dealer whatever they ask to shutter their dealership doors. With the GM's current financial troubles I doubt Wall Street would allow this to happen.

Or

2.GM could just simply TAKE THE GM BADGE OFF THE CAR!

I recommend option #2 and hope you agree.