Ch. 17 - Advertising and Public Relations

If a person were asked to name the first five car companies that come to their mind, you can imagine that Ford would most likely be one of the five. You may ask why I would open this blog with that question. The reason why is because Ford Motor Company has been around since 1903. With that said it has managed for over 100 years to be a name stay in the ever changing world of car manufacturing. The next question that may be asked is why would Ford spend millions of dollars per year on a name that is already a recognized by probably ever household in the U.S. and most of the world.

In the past several years, Ford has become most proud of one thing that they say is an accomplishment on its own aside from conventional marketing and advertising. In 2008 as the markets were collapsing and the Government started offering bailouts the troubled automakers such as General Motors, Ford declined a one billion dollar handout. It is this says Ford’s Chief of Marketing Jim Farley that gave Ford a huge one up on marketing the brand. "I think it was worth more than $1 billion of coverage and customer interest," he said. "If I had to go out and advertise, it would be that kind of bill in paid media. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing." Essentially it was free marketing to say that the Ford brand would be better than ever! 

Ford Motor Company Marketing Team

 

As for how Ford has chosen to spend their dollars on marketing and advertising, you can just turn on your TV or open up a popular magazine to see. Ford over the past eight years has spent huge amounts of money to be the main advertiser for American Idol. Ford chose this as a way to market their compact car lines to a younger audience. In addition to commercial dominance during Idol, they also have the AI hopefuls perform in music videos highlighting a particular model of car. More likely then not, it is either the Focus or the Fiesta to market to a younger demographic. Ford also has several slogans that they have utilized over the years “Built Ford tough” being among the most popular for the truck line that Ford offers. 

American Idol Commercial Shoot

It is important in the ever changing popularity of car brands that Ford spend as much money as possible on marketing and advertising their brand. With so many options for U.S. and Foreign competitors, it is imperative that the potential buyer understands what Ford has to offer.

Ch. 15 - Retailing

Ford dealerships are a common site anywhere whether you are in the US or abroad. There are roughly 3,700 Ford dealerships located in the United States. As I prepared to head to Manhattan Ford located on 11^th Avenue, I had several recollections of the Ford brand as a whole. My Grandfather was an Engineer at Ford. My family always drove Ford cars or trucks. My first car was a Ford Probe GT. In fact, much of anything that I ever knew about cars growing up usually came from the Ford brand.

As I have lived in Manhattan for seven years now and Chicago for 6 years before that, I have had little to no need to visit a car dealership, I didn’t really know what to expect. I walked in and immediately thought about the first Ford dealership I had ever been to as a child in Michigan. On the floor you had examples of their latest car lines. Of course every model they had was the most expensive model they make; even the Fiesta had leather interior.  I always remember it being that way when I was a child. I always wanted my parents to buy what was in the showroom floor. 

Ford Manhattan’s showroom is definitely different from an information/marketing and comfort standpoint then from what I remember in the past. For instance there are “concept salons” for each line where you sit and learn about Ford’s product line based on which one you are interested in. For the comfort factor they have Café 11 which serves Starbucks coffee. It all seemed a little much to me, but I can definitely see how one would be interested. I am more of a grab a brochure, go home and read it over kind of guy. I was defiantly interesting though to utilize the interactive learning tool. The one thing that did not change though is the sales force. Pushy as ever, it was really the main reason I left faster than I had expected. Overall it was nice to visit. It was good to see how dealerships have changed with the times.

Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

Now more than ever consumers have more and more products available to them. In the case of Automobiles, there are so many brands, domestic and foreign. What consumers are forced to do is make decisions, also known as Consumer Decision Making.

Ford realizes that consumers have many options and know that in order to gain market strength, they must be clear in what they are offering and why there product is superior to the competitions. Automobiles can be a need for some and not for others. While considering need recognition of consumers, it is Ford's hope that their products will appeal to the masses on both sides. This is done by offering a wide range of cars, trucks and SUV's.


When consumers begin their search for information, they may ask themselves about what they have heard about other folks that have owned Ford products. Have they heard good things? Bad? Has the consumer owned a Ford product in the past? This plays a huge roll in if they will be considering Ford for their purchase or another competitors product.

After consumers have sorted through the above, they are ready to compare and contrast. Some consumers may sway one way or another based on the brand itself. They might "want" a Toyota, but opt to move toward the purchase of a Ford because it is a domestic car company and vise versa if the consumer is purchasing in their home Country.

After the purchase of a Ford has been made, the consumer is going to hope that their decision was worth it.They are going to want the product to perform, make them feel good while they operate it and be able to have an overall sense of satisfaction. Ford has been a standard in automobiles for over 100 years. Ford has the benefit of a solid brand behind it, which is currently making it one of the most successful car companies in the world.

Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

This is the decade that Ford has decided to make their push into the Chinese market place. While Ford has seen great success in other countries such as Europe and South America, they have yet to really make any dent in one of the largest markets in the world, China.

 

Ford’s introduction to China was in full swing this year at the Shanghai International Auto Show. There Ford laid out plans to introduce fifteen new vehicles to market in the next four years. Alongside this there will be fifty new products and powertrains introduced as well. Among the automobiles that will be offered will be the Kuga, which will be built in China and the Focus. By building the bridge from the U.S. to China and manufacturing some of what they sell, Ford is hoping to build a closer relationship to the people of China, therefore boosting brand recognition. Ford also plans on doubling the amount of dealerships by the end of the decade.

Ford Kuga to be produced in China

By showcasing the above automobiles to the people of China, Ford’s green initiative with electric cars and the creation of jobs for the people of China, Ford is hoping that they will be able to penetrate what could become a huge profit maker.

Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Ford has several different target markets to focus on. They certainly know that offering a variety of well priced, high quality vehicles is important. When looking at Ford as a whole though, you must compartmentalize the company; SUV/Trucks, Sedans/Full Size cars and the Small/Compact line. Ford targets consumers for their product lines based on such things as race, age, education, etc. 

The best example of this is the campaign for 2011 is the Fiesta compact car. The slogan “It’s a pretty big deal” set out to attract the young African American and Hispanic buyers though social media and webinars. By offering these methods to reach the market, Ford was able to also introduce features the Fiesta has that other small cars in the market do not. In a market where fuel efficiency, cost and practicality are an absolute to an automakers survival and to a buyers happiness with the product they are purchasing, Fords target market plan for their compact line seems to be well thought out and moving in the right direction.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Ford has made significant changes in reforming its ethical standards over the past several decades. In fact, just last year Ford was honored as being one of the worlds most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute, which is a leading business ethics think tank. Ethisphere Institute "Ford's promotion of a sound ethical environment shines within its industry and shows a clear understanding that operating under the highest standards for business behavior goes beyond goodwill and lip service and is intimately linked to performance and profitability.”

Once frowned upon for internal ethics within the company regarding the Pinto, it has been documented that internal documents showed that Ford was aware that a rear end collision in certain spots could cause a fire due to gas tank separation. Ford Pinto The more recent Firestone Tire roller over accidents with their Explorer line is another example of another ethical inside issue at Ford, again it has been documented that Ford was aware of the rollover issue this line was having. Firestone Controversy   Ford has forged ahead to show transparency as well as commitment to their customers safety.

Today, Ford is the only car company to receive such accolades when it comes to ethical standards. In the US auto market, Ford is viewed as a leader above its competition. Over the past several years, their innovation, dedication and drive to become the best is really starting to pay off. 

* A search conducted on Ford's Corporate site shows the following company Ethics Ford Corporate Ethics

Ch. 2 – Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Over the past decade, car sales in the United States and around the world have seen a dramatic decline. American auto makers have especially felt the impact here in the States due to aggressive marketing plans of foreign auto makers such as Toyota. Over the past several years, Ford Motor Company has used to their advantage that they never borrowed money from the government as their US competitors GM and Chrysler did for a bailout. They also started restructuring the entire company earlier on and have over the past few years started to focus on the compact and mid size sedan car market.

 

Ford Motor Company has over the past two years pushed small to compact cars into the market with sleek new designs, better gas mileage and price points that rivaled other makers. By doing this, they were able to offer cars that attracted certain markets; young professionals, parents purchasing cars for their children or people just looking to save on the cost of gas with a smaller more gas friendly car.

Not only just the compact market, Ford pushed to revamp its Ford Taurus which was once the best selling mid size sedan in the market. This push to market a sleek, new and exciting midsize sedan was significant to Ford. At this time Toyota was having significant design flaws with Taurus’s rival, the Camry. Because of the timing, Ford was able to see a 96% increase in sales of its Taurus brand. This is a perfect example of Strategic Planning on Ford’s part; mixed with a little luck!

Ford’s next step is to ramp up production by several million units in order to have a presence in markets where they have been slow to grow; specifically Asia. With this planning put into motion, we will have to see how Ford comes out. Will Ford be able to be competitive in markets already dominated by other car makers? If they continue to be as aggressive as they have been here in the States, they have a shot!