Hasta La Creative!

General Motors’ Cadillac boasts stylish new cars such as the 2014 CTS sedan, double-digit sales growth and the heritage of being the quintessential American luxury brand. But what it lacks is knowing how to strike the right tone in communications, and how to change consumer perceptions of the brand, said Craig Bierley, who was promoted to advertising director in February.

Mr. Bierley, a 22-year GM veteran who earlier in his career oversaw advertising for GM's Buick-GMC division, was one of the key decision-makers in the review for Cadillac’s $250 million creative business in the U.S. and Canada. The auto brand has had a lot of agency changes over the past few years, shuttling from Boston-based Modernista to BBH, New York to where it's currently parked at Fallon in Minneapolis.

This pitch pits the incumbent shop against Omnicom Group's DDB in Chicago, and teams from Interpublic Group of Cos. and Publicis Groupe. The latter two holding companies that are permitted to present a team approach already have significant spots on GM's roster, handling a variety of assignments for different car brands. The quartet of contenders completed a final round of presentations earlier this month at the Manhattan offices of Carat, Cadillac’s media agency of record. A winner will be announced sometime in June. It was not a required part of the brief from the carmaker to agencies, but they were allowed to pitch global ad campaigns.

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