Paul Gover "Ford's Inept Marketing Dept" - Page 2

**DFB FGXR6** · 23-12-2013, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevz

I'm sorry but I don't buy this. Mustang is 2 door which renders it impractical and useless for my needs and therefore gets crossed off my list instantly. Fiesta and Focus are glorified fwd buzz boxes and don't even come near matching the Falcon for performance or space. Chalk and cheese. Mondeo? Fwd rubbish. SUV's? No thanks.
Once Falcon is gone there is nothing that even comes close to replacing it in the rest of the range. Ditto with Holden, unless they bring in a US built RWD sedan.

Quite right. There sadly will be no direct Falcon replacement. But the Fiesta ST and Focus ST as well as Mustang provide something that Holden don't / wont? have, desirable performance options to keep younger buyers interested. I love Falcon's, I have 3, but many younger people have little interest in a large sedan or ute. And that's were Ford are in the box seat by offering smaller hot hatches, and a V8 Mustang for those want the sound and fury.

Another way to look at, Ford dropped the V8 and lost generations of buyers/fans to Holden who maintained a performance focus through racing and V8 Commodores. The tables are turning, with Ford set maintain the enthusiast buyer.

Agile · 23-12-2013, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrenaline

I think they hit rock bottom with the FG Falcon "fingers" ads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDFHZZpzM9U

She's so bored out of her mind in the XR6 Turbo that she begins hallucinating, then snaps out of it mid-commercial to reveal a Falcon swerving randomly on a straight piece of highway in the middle of nowhere for absolutely no reason with the added danger of towing a jetski. Solid effort.

What a complete JOKE !!!! WTF, I have never seen such totally unrelated to what you are trying to sell rubbish in all my LIFE !!! I dont rekon we even got this add in SA.

Syndrome · 23-12-2013, 10:00 PM

We've known for years that Ford's marketing department has been inept. This has been done deliberately by Dearborn to try and ween people off the Falcon. The problem with this tactic is it has backfired as it has made the whole Ford brand toxic in Australia.

stevz · 23-12-2013, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syndrome

We've known for years that Ford's marketing department has been inept. This has been done deliberately by Dearborn to try and ween people off the Falcon. The problem with this tactic is it has backfired as it has made the whole Ford brand toxic in Australia.

I don't really think that's the case. Their advertising for the rest of the range has been equally pathetic.

LeadFoot81 · 23-12-2013, 11:39 PM

Double Post.

LeadFoot81 · 23-12-2013, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brodes

I believe Ford intentionally failed to adverise because they needed the Australian market for our locally produced vehicles to decline so they could justify its production halt and go on with their plan for one factory to produce all rear wheel drive vehicles to supply the world. Australia clearly wasn't an option for this due to our high production costs regardless of the quality.

Holden spent up big, advertising the bejesus out of the Commodore to secure two thirds more sales per month...and are still shutting up shop.

ltd · 25-12-2013, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nstg8a

Holden need to advertise now more than ford, they have much more to lose.

They have 230 ish dealerships, commodore makes up around 50% of total Holden sales, if I have the numbers right.

How many dealers do they need to sell half as many cars?

Ford has a better product, and is already much less reliant on falcon to prop up dealers.

Holden needs to spruik crap product as good product, while convincing their faithful repeat buyers that a craptiva is a suitable replacement for a ss ute...

Exactly. Ford are getting cars like the mustang which will have HUGE market presence based on prices so far quoted, made in the USA in RHD, with V8's available.
Holden will get what to replace their muscle car styled commodore? A 4cylinder replacement made by Daewoo?
Holden have to spruik because they will struggle to keep their fanbase with 4 cylinder daewoo cars like the Epica, Cruze and Malibu. Put simply, they're trying to save face.
Ford don't need to save face as they have the product to ensure success, and I mean cars like focus, fiesta, mustang and the territory replacement.

kevino · 25-12-2013, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltd

Exactly. Ford are getting cars like the mustang which will have HUGE market presence based on prices so far quoted, made in the USA in RHD, with V8's available.
Holden will get what to replace their muscle car styled commodore? A 4cylinder replacement made by Daewoo?
Holden have to spruik because they will struggle to keep their fanbase with 4 cylinder daewoo cars like the Epica, Cruze and Malibu. Put simply, they're trying to save face.
Ford don't need to save face as they have the product to ensure success, and I mean cars like focus, fiesta, mustang and the territory replacement.

I saw a new Chev camaro on a rural Queensland rd yesterday.
Camaro v Mustang?

Struggo · 25-12-2013, 10:49 AM

Way back when a company would inform the potential customer of the benefits,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw-m4oF-8C0

csv8 · 25-12-2013, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevino

I saw a new Chev camaro on a rural Queensland rd yesterday.
Camaro v Mustang?

There is one in Rocky and a Shelby....

csv8 · 25-12-2013, 01:13 PM

Even Harley Davidson advertise on TV !!!

stevefreestyle · 25-12-2013, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevz

Ford Oz Marketing Department offices.....

image

Yes the metaphor for intellectually vacuous (or no idea) is good, however its obviously the wrong gender.

stevefreestyle · 25-12-2013, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpd80

You don't need marketing department when you're totally connected with your market,
the problem begins when you start listening to marketing geniuses who tell you to do other things
and your customers go away......

Over the past 15 years,Holden and Ford have let competitors large midsized cars and SUVs walk all over their
local products without a significant or satisfactory response, every suggestion to modify local large cars has been
greeted with nope, our buyers don't want that or we have global cars and SUVs to do that...but guess what?
All Ford Australia and Holden did was consign local manufacturing to history, as a producer you change or die.

Wrong..."Good" or effective Marketing CREATES the market, defines (or re-defines) "needs" and engineers market expectations and aspirations - not the reverse. (Pro-active Market engineering)

jpd80 · 25-12-2013, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevefreestyle

Wrong..."Good" or effective Marketing CREATES the market, defines (or re-defines) "needs" and engineers market expectations and aspirations - not the reverse. (Pro-active Market engineering)

LOL, get your sarcasm monitor fixed....

Bossxr8 · 26-12-2013, 11:04 PM

The big issue for Holden is GM seemingly not wanting to ever get Camaro or Corvette built in RHD. So Holden have no easy performance option to switch to once Commodore goes, unlike Ford with the Mustang and a lesser extent Fiesta and Focus ST and RS.

They don't have much else to choose from, the Opal OPC cars have already been sent packing.

DanielXR8 · 27-12-2013, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syndrome

We've known for years that Ford's marketing department has been inept. This has been done deliberately by Dearborn to try and ween people off the Falcon. The problem with this tactic is it has backfired as it has made the whole Ford brand toxic in Australia.

I really don't buy the conspiracy theory. Yes Ford marketing is inept, but so is their warranty support and dealer network. Was that also part of the big conspiracy? What about making Territories for years that had an engineering fault in the front suspension?

Truth is Ford Australia are just bad at everything except at some engineering. I think the engineers at Ford got some good stuff done despite the rest of the company.
A culture of cost cutting, shonky shortcuts and doing stuff the "Ford Australia" way - like they did in the seventies and never stopped doing. Loss of customer and goodwill be dammed. Meanwhile the dealers ran as a cartel and did what they pleased.

I think Ford US is deluding themselves that the Mustang is somehow going to fix their woes at Ford Australia.

It was the engineers at Ford Australia who sold cars - who put something special into Falcon, that made people put up with the dealers and the shonky warranty and recall practices of Ford Australia. Everyone else basically did their best to stuff it all up. That is the Ford Australia culture and its still alive and well.

Mustang won't know what hit it, when Ford Australia are finished with the car.

1TUFFUTE · 27-12-2013, 05:32 AM

Your talking like ford aus is the only dealer network and car brand to stuff up customers. If you look up the stats...ford is by far not the worst of Australian publics problems. The commodore is the most recalled car in Australia over the years. (Now some naively suggest because it's sold far more, but what happened to learning and improving as you go?) The 'other' forums have the same threads with customer problems.
This year alone has been far worse for vw in aus then ford!

I'd love to see the. "Built Ford Tough" campaign back

CyberWasp · 27-12-2013, 09:23 AM

If Ford can equal or beat this commercial at least the Falcon can have one last hurrah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDaLxN5FIjE
It was one of the reasons I got mine.

stevz · 27-12-2013, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

Your talking like ford aus is the only dealer network and car brand to stuff up customers. If you look up the stats...ford is by far not the worst of Australian publics problems. The commodore is the most recalled car in Australia over the years. (Now some naively suggest because it's sold far more, but what happened to learning and improving as you go?) The 'other' forums have the same threads with customer problems.
This year alone has been far worse for vw in aus then ford!

I'd love to see the. "Built Ford Tough" campaign back

Oh please. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel in an attempt to prop up your flawed argument. What recalls have to do with the thread topic and how you managed to find a correlation is beyond me....But now that you mention it, yes, Holden has had it's fair share of recalls over the years, just about every manufacturer has, but don't you think it was better to handle the recalls quickly, proactively and professionally like Holden has, unlike Ford who denied and denied, sat on their hands, swept everything under the carpet while thousands of their customers drove vehicles with potentially lethal faults? It was only pressure from the media that forced them into acting on the brake line and ball joint issues. This was an absolutely deplorable attitude by Ford which burnt many many customers.

turbodewd · 27-12-2013, 09:43 AM

The 'walking fingers' ad campaign for the FG was the worst thing Ive ever seen.

Clearly devised by women who do not understand men. Some women do understand men, alas they werent behind this campaign!

stevz · 27-12-2013, 08:41 PM

Watching TV this evening I notice there is new Focus ad that is so cringeworthy that it makes me feel like putting my fist through my tv screen.
They will never learn. Ever.

jpd80 · 27-12-2013, 08:54 PM

I'm also seeing a lot less Commodore ads, I wonder why......

Plenty with the Holden boof heads saying they'll still be here after production ends...

CyberWasp · 27-12-2013, 09:14 PM

I agree the new Focus add blows.

Gadgetman · 28-12-2013, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevz

Oh please. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel in an attempt to prop up your flawed argument. What recalls have to do with the thread topic and how you managed to find a correlation is beyond me....But now that you mention it, yes, Holden has had it's fair share of recalls over the years, just about every manufacturer has, but don't you think it was better to handle the recalls quickly, proactively and professionally like Holden has, unlike Ford who denied and denied, sat on their hands, swept everything under the carpet while thousands of their customers drove vehicles with potentially lethal faults? It was only pressure from the media that forced them into acting on the brake line and ball joint issues. This was an absolutely deplorable attitude by Ford which burnt many many customers.

Wow. you know whats going on. Are you in the game? Cause the ball joint issue was handled poorly. Looks lie 1tuffute is 1eyed.

Gadgetman · 28-12-2013, 03:28 PM

needs to market with excitement in mind ala Mazda

1TUFFUTE · 28-12-2013, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevz

Oh please. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel in an attempt to prop up your flawed argument. What recalls have to do with the thread topic and how you managed to find a correlation is beyond me....But now that you mention it, yes, Holden has had it's fair share of recalls over the years, just about every manufacturer has, but don't you think it was better to handle the recalls quickly, proactively and professionally like Holden has, unlike Ford who denied and denied, sat on their hands, swept everything under the carpet while thousands of their customers drove vehicles with potentially lethal faults? It was only pressure from the media that forced them into acting on the brake line and ball joint issues. This was an absolutely deplorable attitude by Ford which burnt many many customers.

My comment relates because like I said, Id love to see the 'Built Ford Tough' campaign back. Something ford could run with without coping unfair criticism due to the fact their cars are far less problematic then many other brands.
And your naive if you think ford is the only brand that's handled a situation as badly as the terri situation.
Last year ford was second or third from memory in the world for reliable cars, with porshe taking the gong. Ford Australia is and will be selling these very cars here from now on!

stevz · 28-12-2013, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

My comment relates because like I said, Id love to see the 'Built Ford Tough' campaign back. Something ford could run with without coping unfair criticism due to the fact their cars are far less problematic then many other brands.
And your naive if you think ford is the only brand that's handled a situation as badly as the terri situation.
Last year ford was second or third from memory in the world for reliable cars, with porshe taking the gong. Ford Australia is and will be selling these very cars here from now on!

Not sure what planet you're living on, but it's certainly not Earth...

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...ill-job-1.html

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...rvey/index.htm

http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...01/131029889/#

Plenty more links where they came from... You only have to do a google search.

1TUFFUTE · 28-12-2013, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevz

Not sure what planet you're living on, but it's certainly not Earth...

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...ill-job-1.html

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...rvey/index.htm

http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...01/131029889/#

Plenty more links where they came from... You only have to do a google search.

No offence but those sources are not only rubbish....they're American stats in there aswell. They work out formulas for future problems going by a mixture of polls from THEIR OWN readers and a 1milion pool review. Hardly applicable as America has very few brands sold there. My stats weren't this years either as I stated...but they were Global.
I shall find the article I commented about.....it's GLOBAL and records EVERY recall, complaint and issue.

**Fordman1** · 28-12-2013, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevz

Not sure what planet you're living on, but it's certainly not Earth...

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...ill-job-1.html

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...rvey/index.htm

http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...01/131029889/#

Plenty more links where they came from... You only have to do a google search.

Stevie you need to buy a Holden V8

Oh yeah, I forgot, that's your dream car.

Terror_Tree · 29-12-2013, 09:12 AM

Everyone seems to be blaming Ford marketing, I agree they should be doing more, but there are a lot of other factors that lead to Ford shutting down manufacturing in Australia. I love my Fords but the AU was an ugly car that turned a lot of people away from Ford. But I think the biggest issue Ford had was the media, every time a new Falcon came out, right from the XD, the headline was always the same, "Is this the last Falcon?". I don't waste my money on mags like Wheels or Motor because of their blatant anti Ford bias.