"Cadillac could turn to a Chinese partner, like Xu Zheng, director and star of last year's mega-hit film Lost in Thailand. A risk taker, a self made superstar, Xu would be a perfect, fresh face for Cadillac in China."

brandchannel said that more than two months ago after Cadillac rolled out a new China campaign with Brad Pitt as its face. Well, over the weekend, Cadillac opened its showing at the Shanghai Auto Show and Brad Pitt was not there for it. But Xu Zheng was.

At an event on April 20 to kick off its XTS display at the Shanghai Auto Show, Cadillac welcomed special new "honorary owner" Xu Zheng. In a statement on Cadillac's China site, the brand connected itself to Xu through shared innovation, calling the actor-director "the most innovative power in China's film industry" and a "good example" of the shared values of Cadillac. Caddy's Weibo account was quick to whip up a Cadillac-branded image of Xu.Continue reading...

Does Prada know Cadillac is marketing itself on the fashion brand's coattails?

Our apologies, but we need to revisit the terrible new Cadillac China commercial because subsequent watchings have revealed that GM has really hired two spokes-"people" for its brand. One is an (apparently mute) Hollywood A-lister; the other is an Italian luxury goods brand.Continue reading...

After a short teaser spot two weeks ago, the Cadillac ad for China with the brand's new spokesman Brad PItt is here. It's terrible in general, but it's even worse for the Chinese market. Cadillac knows white is the color of funerals in China, right?

In the ad, Pitt (or maybe a CGI Pitt, it's hard to tell) cruises around San Francisco, pensively doing "creative" person things. Maybe the actor is on his way to Chinatown since he's banned from entering China itself.

He swipes some digital displays while never saying a word. Couldn't GM have asked him to speak a little Mandarin? Chinese love it when celebrities humble themselves by mangling some Chinese. It's even been rumored that Pitt and Angelina Jolie are learning a little Mandarin. Not that Cadillac appears to "speak Mandarin" any better. It's latest attempt to grow its flagging sales in China may hint at a deeper problem with its fundamental understanding of the market.Continue reading...

Heineken’s Star Bottle Arrives Stateside with New Campaign

Heineken’s new taller, sleeker and starred bottle is already available in 170 countries and is now being rolled out in the United States with a new “Arrive Big” ad campaign featuring the brand’s “Man of the World” in such exotic locations as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Lagos, Nigeria and New York City. In each location, the protagonist finds himself in prickly situations at various clubs, yet somehow ends up with the girl and the beer (and an #arrivebig hashtag, to boot) in the end.

“Our priority is to ‘break the mold’ in beer marketing with cinematic, sophisticated ads that feature our ‘Man of the World,’ a progressive, cultured guy, who is inventive in any situation,” said Colin Westcott-Pitt, vice president of Heineken, in a press release. Heineken doesn’t go so far as to pull a New Coke move and break the mold inside the bottle, of course.Continue reading...

At top, Brad Pitt phones in his new role as Cadillac China spokesman.

China is the second largest economy in the world and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse)—but who's got the time?! Here's 10 reads that will make you look like a keen China observer in case you find yourself immersed in a cultural conversation.

This week, the cat cafe... bodyguards... WeChat... Ikea's horse meatballs... Victoria's Secret... HTC... best selling sedans... Hollywood... Yum!... Bradillac and more. Continue reading...

It's a rough start when your new China spokesman is banned from China—but it appears Cadillac is going ahead with a new deal to make Brad Pitt its face in the world's fastest growing auto market.

Though with sales plunging in China and Audi and BMW eating its lunch, the brand needs to do something. It's too bad that even Brad Pitt won't likely be able to sell the Chinese an angry car they don't want. 

Cadillac's new $3 million dollar endorsement with Pitt (Bradillac?) may add some perspective to Pitt's recent, less than smooth entry to Chinese social media. In January, Pitt joined microblogging platform Weibo and posted "Yep, it is the truth. I am coming…"

The news was forwarded tens of thousands of times by those wondering if China's ban on the actor—following his film "Seven Years in Tibet"—had been lifted. Just a few weeks later, Pitt's account disappeared. It's unclear if the actor himself deleted it or if Weibo shut it down, something the platform is wont to do. Continue reading...

If there are two things that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt need it’s more money and more publicity. So the pair will release their first wine from their organic 1,000-acre French estate, Chateau Miraval, next month with their names on the bottle, Bloomberg News reports.

The rosé, formerly known as “Pink Floyd,” will be labeled as Miraval and feature Pitt and Jolie’s names on the back of the bottle along with Perrin, the family that Brangelina has partnered with to help create and distribute the wine. The trio will also distribute a white later this year and reds in 2014. “We are intimately involved and quite enthused over the wine project with our friends the Perrin family,” Pitt said via his publicist.

One thing that brought Perrin and Pitt-Jolie together was the fact that both vineyards grow their vines organically, something the Perrin family has been doing since 1950. Now the Hollywood escapees are joining a long line of celebs who have extended their personal brands to alcohol brands.Continue reading...

One Direction stormed the Today Show this morning, with a concert in NBC's New York digs in Rockefeller Square and news of a 3D concert film slated for next year (directed by product placement foe-turned-champion Morgan Spurlock). Hot on the Heelys of its Pepsi "Live for Now" US TV campaign with NFL star Drew Brees, the band is extending its brand to Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste: 1D Colgate Max Fresh. The collection of three oral care products, available in the U.S. only, is designed "to add some fun to teens' and tweens' brushing regimens," said Philip Durocher, VP and GM of U.S. Oral Care for Colgate-Palmolive. Hopefully fans will be inspired to brush their teeth in one direction (roll that brush, kids!) too.

While Taylor Swift is slightly older, at the ripe old age of 22, she's also quick to embrace novel ways to promote her albums, including partnering with Keds and Papa John's for her latest release, Red. Next up: her mobile app (available in iTunes and Google Play) is incorporating augmented reality so fans can access exclusive content related to Red. By opening the app's AR feature and pointing the device's viewfinder at a still image on the "Red" album cover (and on in-store displays at select Walmart stores), fans will see the images come to life. The app also works on the Taylor Swift Wonderstruck fragrance packaging from Elizabeth Arden.Continue reading...