MBA students survey CU peers' Cadillac dreams

By Linda Myers

Johnson Graduate School of Management students, from left, Sharad Daswani and Rajeev Sharma check out the interior details of a sporty new version of the Cadillac, parked in the Statler Hotel lot, April 12, while Jon Gromer, a General Motors representative, answers their questions. The car's appeal to young professionals was measured by a team of Johnson School students as part of a marketing class project. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

Three flashy, sporty-looking high-end cars, a black Cadillac CTS, a white Mercedes 320 and a silver BMW 330, were objects of interest in the Statler Hotel parking lot Friday, April 12. The cars are styled to attract successful young professionals ­ which is exactly what the Cornell MBA and law students who sidled into the drivers' seats of the three new models hope to be after graduation.

The cars were there as part of a marketing study being done by a team of MBA students in Johnson Graduate School of Management Associate Professor Sachin Gupta's Marketing Research class.

The CTS is a radically different look for Cadillac, according to Dave Young, who proposed and organized the project. The car is styled to appeal to the next generation of car buyers, and Young and his team ­ José Baldan, Greg Vandekerk and Patrick Milligan ­ collected information on what the target audience thought of the new look.

Jesse Juliano, a second-year MBA student, was there checking out the three cars because he will need a new car when he starts his job as an investment banker in Baltimore after he graduates in May.

"I like that Cadillac is doing something different with the styling, but I still prefer the BMW," Juliano said.

The prices for each of the three cars, which start at about $30,000 plus options, didn't deter him. "If you can afford it and will keep it for 10 years, why not buy what you like?" he said. Juliano now drives a 12-year-old Volvo.

The team, which has designed its project to meet Cadillac's standards and guidelines, expected to survey about 90 students Friday ­ some who would look at the new car, some who would only see TV spots for the car and some who would do both ­ to see whether their perceptions of the Cadillac brand changed. The results will be shared with the brand manager of the new Cadillac, as well as analyzed for a marketing class report.