• by Karl Greenberg , July 1, 2010

General Motors' Cadillac division is asking people if they are experienced. The GM premium division is running three experiential and lifestyle campaigns this year to get high-end consumers to try out new Cadillac vehicles versus competitive makes from Lexus, Mercedes and BMW.

The first event, currently in action, is The Cadillac Culinary Challenge Test Drive, now in its second year. The summer road show combines Caddie cars with cook-offs between regional top chefs. The event, cross-promoted with Bon Appetit, will visit some 13 high-end retail centers around the country and pit the CTS sport wagon and SRX crossover with competitive vehicles.

Cadillac spokesperson David Caldwell says the event -- whose Web site for signup is CadillacChallenge.com -- is the first to involve a competition between chefs. "The plan this year is to re-energize the more experiential elements of the brand," he says, adding that Cadillac reprised the culinary tour after having good success with it last year.

"We launched it in conjunction with the SRX crossover re-launch, and we got such a positive response that we decided to up the ante this year with a competitive element," he says, adding that the events take place in luxury-lifestyle venues and neighborhoods like Santana Row in the San Francisco Bay area. "It's happening in cool, shopping slash dining districts around the country -- lifestyle centers, suburban enclaves with outdoor malls that, instead of being anchored by department stores focus on stores like Sur La Table."

The other two experiential programs will be invitation-only. One is a technology-themed golf tour cross-promoted by Callaway. "These will be golf clinics that include opportunities to test Cadillac models," says Caldwell, adding that Callaway was tapped for the program because of its technology focus on golf gear. "We are about 'Art and Science' and they are a design- and tech-driven golf brand. Both parties thought there was a good parallel." Invites will go both to Cadillac owners and owners of competitive-brand vehicles.

In August, Cadillac will do a third such event focused on performance-driving for owners of Cadillac's V-Series performance sub-brand vehicles and owners of competitive sports cars. The "Cadillac V-Series Performance Lab," which puts consumers behind the wheel for high-performance driving courses, will be held at so-called "country club" race tracks like Laguna Seca.

The efforts are being handled by R*Works, a unit of Kaleidoscope Sports & Entertainment.

Among other recent programs, Cadillac has redesigned Cadillac.com and recently launched a CRM program that hopes to give Cadillac owners a Ritz-style experience when they bring their vehicles in to dealerships for service. The company literally has partnered with Ritz-Carlton to train dealership staff on luxury-customer care.