On the latest episode of Campaign Middle East’s On The Record podcast, Akshaya Singh Sikand, Head of Marketing, Cadillac Middle East, shares optimism about the growing role of marketers within commercial strategy; reveals secrets behind the success of the ‘Let’s Take the Cadillac‘ campaign; and discusses brand differentiation, distinctive design, legacy-led emotional storytelling, and much more.
In automotive marketing, it is easy to get pulled towards the loudest signals: the newest features, the sharpest offers, the jazzy technology and the latest dashboards. But the most interesting work often starts by asking what the badge and the brand means to the people who care. This conversation turns the headlight on, illuminating the right path to brand-building – treating it less like sudden seasonal acceleration and more like a sustained cruise in a Cadillac.
At the outset, Sikand is asked about the strategy behind the ‘Let’s Take the Cadillac’ campaign and how it ladders up to long-term positioning.
He says, “When we started working on the campaign, we spent a good amount of time trying to dial back to the essence of Cadillac. This is because, we’ve seen that with a lot of old storied brands, what tends to happen is that over a period of time the brand tends to get diffused. They launch in many different segments, move away from their core audience, times change, and they reach a point where the essence of the brand is diluted. We made a really concerned effort to drill back to what Cadillac really means. We asked key questions such as: What space does it have historically and what does it mean to people who love it?”
Sikand also responds to key questions about macro trends in regional automotive marketing and explained what makes the Middle East an extremely exciting landscape to operate in: rapid brand influx, fast portfolio shifts, and consumers who are willing to experiment even with high-ticket purchases.
He says, “In the Middle East, we see a massive influx of automotive brands from around the world, especially China. This influx is across all original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), new portfolios, new propulsion mechanisms, and the likes. Also, consumers in the Middle East are quite open minded. There is a tremendous level of adoption of new brands – even though vehicles are a very expensive product. This is an interesting macro trend worth noting in the market.”
Sikand adds, “The interesting bit is that, at any given point of time, 3 per cent of people are in market to buy a car? So in a fiercely competitive market, we’ve done a lot of work in terms of defining what demand signals we can get from platform, from site, and from various indicators such as ownership history. We have looked at ways to have one-to-one conversations with consumers to be able to bring them into our ecosystem.”
Cadillac’s Head of Marketing was also asked about the brand’s portfolio of electric vehicles (EVs) – including the VISTIQ, ESCALADE IQ and ESCALADE IQL that add to its existing line of the OPTIQ and LYRIQ options – which are causing quite the stir in the industry, even months after their launch.
Taking the conversation far beyond product, pricing and technology, Sikand emphasises that the EV move was strategic – offering propulsion optionalities to consumers while preserving the essence of everything that makes a Cadillac feel like a Cadillac, even when the powertrain changes.
Sikand explains, “We will continue across all propulsion platforms and let our consumers guide us – that has been our point of view since day one, and that’ll continue to be the case. But when we decided to bring these new products to market, we asked ourselves: ‘What does an electric ESCALADE mean, and how do we deliver that? The vehicle is huge and has a heavy battery, and in some ways, that’s not practical. But the decision wasn’t to necessarily make it a practical choice. The decision was to capture the essence of what a Cadillac ESCALADE is, but give consumers an alternative propulsion option.”
From there, he breaks down the internal lens he says guides design and product communication: a blend of craft, speed, and technology that serves people rather than showing off for its own sake.
Sikand also reveals how the brand’s active buyer pool interacts and engages with it, and the choice of driving down the path of visual storytelling and an experiential flavour to highlight the legacy, brand direction and focused portfolio through the Cadillac Clubhouse.
Before the conversation concludes, Sikand also shares a parting message about marketing increasingly having a seat at the table in commercial strategy.
He concludes. “I’m so optimistic for 2026 because I feel we’ve reached a tipping point where marketing is directly involved in commercial strategy. The conversation is no longer about proving how marketing drives sales, but has moved to building bridges across the various commercial teams and the various marketing functions. So, my message to the marketers in the industry is: ‘Let’s add value to those conversations and make the most of that seat at the table to drive commercial strategy. I’m so excited to how great communication will drive great results for all of us in the industry.”
CREDITS:
Guest: Akshaya Singh Sikand, Head of Marketing, Cadillac Middle East
Host: Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East
Production: Surajit Dutta, Content Production Manager, Motivate Media Group
Videography: Mark Mathew, Creative Content Producer, Motivate Media Group
Studio: Ekaterina Shirshova, Creative Content Producer, Motivate Media Group
Editing: John Melencion, Content Producer, Motivate Media Group
