Background:

Escalade is a registered trademark for boats, wine, software, air conditioners, exercise equipment, design company as well as L'Escalade (the climbing) for clothing. But they are not well known and are in different international trademark categories so they didn't stop Cadillac from selecting this name for their new line of SUVs.

For a company not known for using coined or rare words, we would like to congratulate Cadillac on choosing this name. As a very late johnny come lately to the SUV party, it is nice to see them producing a vehicle that doesn't only appeal to their typical older set of patrons. But a good vehicle could have been spoiled by a boring old conservative name (or worse, just a number). Names with French origins are always perceived by English speaking westerners (and many others) as having a touch of class. This name, not only has class, but a sense of strength and grandeur, even for those of us who don't know literally what it means.

The dictionary defines Escalade as The act of scaling a fortified wall or rampart but don't go to www.escalade.com to scale the web in search of details on this vehicle. GM (of course) prefers to promote the Master Brand of Cadillac. This is common. The master brand will usually survive much longer than the product brand. So visit rather Cadillac.com or even the Super Parent Brand of GM for full details on this the most powerful of luxury SUV's.

The graphics and design of the logo for Escalade is naturally in line with the new "Art and Science" design school of Cadillac vehicles, and therefore is good but not great out of necessity........as would be any logo compared to the superbly elegant Cadillac crest.

PS. What will you do if you have vehicle that is an accidental success in a marketplace you did not target? Such has been the fact with the Cadillac Escalade and has business pundits and marketing gurus weighing in all over the map. Cry all the way to the bank? Change the target market and embrace the new customers? Not as easy a decision as you might think, especially when it affects you whole stable of sibling product brands.