How would you fix up Ford Marketing?

Every now and then, it pops up about people not happy about "You'd be popular too" Ford Marketing and that Holden's better in this department. I think Holden has the "Aussie Mantle" in its hands, for various reasons seems to be a stronger Aussie brand than Ford locally.

One of the challenges is for Ford to maintain volume with larger cars, a bit of a challenge with higher fuel prices tempting some into smaller cars. Admittedly, I'd say that new models that have just been launched/are going to be launched in the next year should help stimulate the segment. But Ford still aren't particularly strong in small cars - if look at Holden & Toyota's main volume advantage over Ford, it certainly does have a bit to do with the smaller segments. Arguably, Ford has the best product in those segments though, but average John and Jane probably don't realise it.

It's not just ads, as popped up in another thread on the XR8 - pricing can be an issue too.

Just interested - what would you do to fix it, how would you improve it?

[geckoGT]

Put more ads on for a start, don't see many Ford ad. Have to admit I like the new XR ad with the kid and the toy cars, very funny.

[BOSS 540]

Originally Posted by geckoxr8

Put more ads on for a start, don't see many Ford ad. Have to admit I like the new XR ad with the kid and the toy cars, very funny.

Yet to see it, us regional 'country bumkins' dont seem to get the same city dollar spend on advertising.

[vztrt]

For the small car segment more watercooler adds. There annoying but they get people talking.

Also sponsoring events, TV shows where they will directly target the market segment. Ford dont really spring to my mind in the small car segment.

[Black XR6]

Im sure its infinitely more complex than any of us realise. But there are reasons for Holden dominating Ford in marketing. I think Ford should study Holden's marketing. Just look at the amount of merchandise offered by Holden compared to Ford. Probably three times as much stuff for sale for Holden.

I guess there is no simple answer.

[4Vman]

Quite often companies that advertise allot do so because they are struggling with sales( holden).
Minimal advertising from Ford "may" suggest that they are happy with their current sales levels.

[geckoGT]

I doubt they would be happy with their sales unless they dominate the market, which they don't. Might be different in the next couple of years though.

[MrSparkle]

Selling the Falcon range is going to get tougher and tougher. Their latest efforts have actually been pretty good of late - the slot car ad one of the best Ford efforts for some time.

For mine, they HAVE to follow where the market is going rather than trying to force it, as they did with that galactically retarded "You'd be popular too!" series. The response from the first person in the first focus group on that campaign should have been enough for Ford marketing to realise that NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE DEALER! People want exciting ads and a keen deal, not some halfarsed tripe promoting salespeople.

Back to the solution - the small car segment is where it's at, just look at the popularity of cars like the Golf GTi. Currently it's got an 8 month waiting list, and has been sold for up to $7000 over RRP!! If Ford were smart they would be doing everything in their power to fast track the local release of the XR5 Turbo Focus, and market the tits off it as the spearhead of their small car range, to follow on from the relative success of the "regular" Focus. The subsequent introduction of turbo diesel variants of the Fiesta and Focus would also bring a much needed injection of new blood into the local market.

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by geckoxr8

I doubt they would be happy with their sales unless they dominate the market, which they don't.

Nope, not at all. Sometimes it is better to produce less of a product with a higher margin of return, rather than spend thousands on marketing to be number one in sales, and make significantly less per car.

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Dave_au

Nope, not at all. Sometimes it is better to produce less of a product with a higher margin of return, rather than spend thousands on marketing to be number one in sales, and make significantly less per car.

I really doubt Ford are in that position at the moment. Financially they are in a better position than GM and it is probably a good time for Ford to give GM a battering which thay are not quite doing yet. That is my opinion but I may be wrong.

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by geckoxr8

I really doubt Ford are in that position at the moment. Financially they are in a better position than GM and it is probably a good time for Ford to give GM a battering which thay are not quite doing yet. That is my opinion but I may be wrong.

On the flip side you don't want to flood the market with your product to such an extent you have slow or obsolete moving stock - you want to try and gain the best rate of return (profit) on sales while maintaining production line efficiency - recent history can lend to the collapse of Holden's third shift when your sales slow.

Last thing you want to do is "accidently" flood the market with vehicles, requiring discounting to move stock - aka TL/TW Magna, VZ Commodore.

Toyota is chugging along happily - not trying to blow the market with Camry sales - and importing only what they need to - although thats another kettle of fish again.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Dave_au

On the flip side you don't want to flood the market with your product to such an extent you have slow or obsolete moving stock - you want to try and gain the best rate of return (profit) on sales while maintaining production line efficiency - recent history can lend to the collapse of Holden's third shift when your sales slow.

Last thing you want to do is "accidently" flood the market with vehicles, requiring discounting to move stock - aka TL/TW Magna, VZ Commodore.

Toyota is chugging along happily - not trying to blow the market with Camry sales - and importing only what they need to - although thats another kettle of fish again.

The Falcon isn't the problem for Ford, It would be the small car segment as there sales seem to be low each month the sales come out.

[Dave_au]

Yeah, the focus outsells the Corolla in Europe where it has a pricing advantage, but the Corolla seems to be the winner everywhere else. Ford will always have the same problem that Holden had with the euro cars - tarriffs, transport costs, exchange rates etc.

The Corolla is also the backbone of Toyota - it's been the number one seller in Japan for about 20 years - except for about a year ago when the Jazz got to the post first. Regardless, Toyota has had the whole Korean issue eating into Corolla sales, however the car seems to be coming out on top.

To be realistic, Ford really needs to try and source some backup to the Focus/Fiesta - and I still think a solution could be found with a two pronged attack by re-vitalising the Mazda partnership with the laser. In fact, seeing the Mazda 6 is such a success, they could restart the Telstars too. But at the end of the day I guess it all comes down to money. On the negative side the 3 is priced pretty much in the same bracket as the focus - there is no real price differentiation, although I think you would probably get a few more accessories for less with the 3.

Imagine if Mazda wasn't an importer in Aus - and all sales went through Ford. It would probably easily put Ford into the number 2 spot. In fact, Mazda seems to have the models that Ford is missing - a medium car, a MPV, a 4x4 ute, a 4 cyl ute, a van etc - although as we all know Ford has borrowed these models in the past.

[SSBUB]

For their performance range, i would like to see some aggressive advertising. What i mean is, you look at the holden adds like the ssz, where the rain cant touch them because they are 'too hot' etc or the ute adds with thunderstruck theme music...i rekon the fpv range could benefit from a little aggression.
As for the small market, toyota has this well and truly covered. Holden are trying to flog the Viva for 13k and this may get some people on board, ala hyundai excel days, although i would doubt to that extent. Maybe the focus could use its rally connection in advertising, with visuals of the focus going around hair-pin turns and getting air over small hills etc and then relate that to the focus's handling ability for the average joe in the average driving setting or something.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by SSBUB

Holden are trying to flog the Viva for 13k

The Viva is 18k. It's the base model barina thats 13k.

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by Dave_au

To be realistic, Ford really needs to try and source some backup to the Focus/Fiesta - and I still think a solution could be found with a two pronged attack by re-vitalising the Mazda partnership with the laser. In fact, seeing the Mazda 6 is such a success, they could restart the Telstars too.

I could see a modern day TX5 Turbo doin well. But then again I'm very biased towards them hehe.

[SSBUB]

Originally Posted by vztrt

The Viva is 18k. It's the base model barina thats 13k.

right you are!

[MAD]

First thing you'd have to do is get ford a marketing dept to start with... nothing that has come out of them over the last few years sugests they even had one.

I think ford need to have separate ads for the models, rather than the blanket ads giving info on new features available, with little disclaimers stating which has what. eg. when the 6speed manual was released.
so that would be my input...Pick a car and market it, dont try and sell the entire range in one ad.

Oh, one other thing, as sad as it is for me to say, due to the current climate of "no performance driving" ads, I think the ute boys need to go. They just dont cut it anymore.

[RED_EL_XR8]

I'd rather any stray $$'s go to development in favour of marketing.

You only need WOT marketing when you have to flog something crook!

[Franky]

More ads for the small cars would be a start, one for the fiesta would be good

[richo77]

They should start offering incentives that make people want to buy their runout models like free fuel maybe?? who really gives a rats about a free extended warranty these days??.. extended warranties were a great gimmick in the 90's but are no longer relevant in 2005.

more aggressive advertising of the FPV range will filter down to increased sales of XRs and even tarted up XTs. the adverts need to capture the attention of the audience and also be continually updated to keep the brand fresh..

ford recently brought out a new model - they need to advertise the fact. All i've seen is one XR ad put on sparingly.

meh what would i know? i've only got a bachelor business in marketing.

[GT-E]

My advice is to sack the lot of the senior management.
2 things stick in my mind about how bad Ford can be.
This years Gold coast Indy had XR pace/course cars, yet Ford decided to deliver 2 crappy series on XR6 NA's and one XR6T Mk2. If I was using my products as a showpiece on the racetrack infront of 150,000 people, I would have the latest BF XR6T's and XR8's and mod the exhausts to make them loud to get the crowd to notice them and pick the bright colours. If you go to the effort to use the cars, use the best.
The second thing Ford need to do is scrap the RJV dealers as they are doing the brand a heap of damage. the are hopless at selling the cars, hopless as servicing them and hopless in every other aspect.
I am drivng 1 hour to see RATT to buy a car of an independant dealer because I am fed up with my slack dealer. You can produce the best cars in the world, but if your front people are a pack of gimps, you will have a reputation of MUD.

[GlennBA]

more FPV ads, and when advertising their cars show footage of them, not just a still shot..
Also advertise more than just the falcon XR6 Turbo..

[blutura]

As a marketing student, I think a lot of you are misunderstaning what 'marketing' is and underestimating the time and resources it takes to overhaul an entire marketing campaign. now i'm not suggesting that i am an expert on the subject, far from it, as i said, i am a student of marketing, not a professor, but i have gained a certain amount of insight into it.

For starters, the beef most of you have is with Ford's advertising, not marketing as such, as most of their marketing would be unseen to the majority of us (marketing encompasses research into the target market and it's demographics/psychographics, what the target market wants in the product, how much they want to pay for it and how satisifed they are after the purchase, amongst various other things), advertising, on the other hand is the end product of all that market research, the link between the marketing and the selling.

now, chances are, Ford aren't in the habit of hiring dud marketing staff, and so you can bet that their marketing team have done a lot more research into what appeals to their target market then any of us have, and the product of that research is what we may consider 'crappy advertising' but it is obviously doing the job for Ford.

the fact of the matter is, the car enthusiast is only a very small market, and so targeting this market is probably not a high priority.

secondly, quote me if i'm wrong, but aren't Ford pretty much at the manufacturing limit at the moment? especially in the case of FPVs and XRs? if so, then whats the point in spending more on advertising, if you haven't got enough product to sell. i'd hate to see them increase the amount of cars coming off the line at the expense of quality.

as RED_EL_XR8 said, i'd rather see Ford continue to spend their cash on development. after reading the latest wheels magazine, which was full of praise for Fords development spending, i'd say Ford has been doing the right thing. Let Holden blow all their money on flashy ads and sheetmetal upgrades, they need to, their product needs all the help it can get at the moment.

[HLC]

i saw the new add for the 6 speed Auto last night. its in german so you actually look at the TV cause most people cant understand it and yeah. its pretty good.

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by blutura

As a marketing student, I think a lot of you are misunderstaning what 'marketing' is and underestimating the time and resources it takes to overhaul an entire marketing campaign. now i'm not suggesting that i am an expert on the subject, far from it, as i said, i am a student of marketing, not a professor, but i have gained a certain amount of insight into it.

For starters, the beef most of you have is with Ford's advertising, not marketing as such, as most of their marketing would be unseen to the majority of us (marketing encompasses research into the target market and it's demographics/psychographics, what the target market wants in the product, how much they want to pay for it and how satisifed they are after the purchase, amongst various other things), advertising, on the other hand is the end product of all that market research, the link between the marketing and the selling.

now, chances are, Ford aren't in the habit of hiring dud marketing staff, and so you can bet that their marketing team have done a lot more research into what appeals to their target market then any of us have, and the product of that research is what we may consider 'crappy advertising' but it is obviously doing the job for Ford.

the fact of the matter is, the car enthusiast is only a very small market, and so targeting this market is probably not a high priority.

secondly, quote me if i'm wrong, but aren't Ford pretty much at the manufacturing limit at the moment? especially in the case of FPVs and XRs? if so, then whats the point in spending more on advertising, if you haven't got enough product to sell. i'd hate to see them increase the amount of cars coming off the line at the expense of quality.

as RED_EL_XR8 said, i'd rather see Ford continue to spend their cash on development. after reading the latest wheels magazine, which was full of praise for Fords development spending, i'd say Ford has been doing the right thing. Let Holden blow all their money on flashy ads and sheetmetal upgrades, they need to, their product needs all the help it can get at the moment.

Good reply, yes id prefer to see Ford divert marketing funds into product research, i dislike ads on TV full stop, and find 99% of promotional clothing and guff as tacky.
I don't need Ford to tell me how good their product is through fluffy and expensive advertising campaigns, although i do appreciate them advertising the release of new models of significance, and see obvious merrit in doing this.
Holden seem to be chasing their tale, the "efijey" for example to me seemed like miss-used funds for a company struggling to get their new model to the showroom on time and remain profitable, they also seem to be going to extreme lengths to re kindle interest in their performance products.
Marketing and promotion is a necessary (and very important) expense but you want to spend the least amount for the greatest return.
If Ford is close to capacity for efficient production at the moment then spending excess money on advertising would be seen as a bad use of funds.
As you point out market trends and sales trends allow a certain amount of time to react, if you see Ford start to advertise more you can probably be pretty confident they are either releasing a new model, predicting a down turn in sales or an increase in manufacturing capacity.
They will also target specific markets based on research to gain incremental business or to alert the market to a new or exciting model release, but to increase media advertising presence just to make people feel good about owning a Ford or to be seen to "counter" or "respond" to the opposition is silly stuff...
The best advertising Ford can get comes from word of mouth and what gets driven on the streets!

[red_october]

I'd rather Ford spend more money in looking after their current customers than putting it into advertising - if they can get the quality of the car and subsequent after sales service right, they'll have all the advertising clout money can't buy - by word of mouth from happy customers, as what 4Vman said...

[Redrum]

Marketing is very important. It is how you sell yourself to external clients. Of course you wish people to portray you in a carefully moulded image. One has only to look at the Bose brand speakers, not the best, yet the best marketed. Every US paper every week will show their adds and people buy it. But more important than marketing is word of mouth and this is only delivered through customer satisfaction. Happy customers will tell a friend or two about their satisfaction but unhappy customers will tell all.

[SSBUB]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Holden seem to be chasing their tale, the "efijey" for example to me seemed like miss-used funds for a company struggling to get their new model to the showroom on time and remain profitable, they also seem to be going to extreme lengths to re kindle interest in their performance products.

I thought that was a cool concept car! Who cares what they do with a blip of their funds, I think if Ford had a concept car you would all be changing your tune a bit with 'how cool is it' etc. :

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by SSBUB

I thought that was a cool concept car! Who cares what they do with a blip of their funds, I think if Ford had a concept car you would all be changing your tune a bit with 'how cool is it' etc. :

sure it might be cool but what did it really achieve? and what could those funds have achieved elsewhere?
Trust me, if Ford wasted their coin on a similar pointless concept car id be just as critical...

Interestingly ive just heard that Holden are in the poo big time with the Federal Government over alleged mis-pending of Govenment research grants specifically granted on the basis that they were to be used for R+D on Australian made parts when in fact allot of the $$ went to imported overseas R+D parts... OOOPPPS....