In-your-face ads push vehicles

[guitarlix]

In-your-face ads push vehicles



Ford Motor Co. is expected to unveil an aggressive new advertising strategy today in an effort to help slow its alarming U.S. market share decline.

Ford's new marketing plan for its Blue Oval brand centers on edgier, in-your-face advertising that directly challenges the competition. The new ads will feature the Ford Fusion Expedition EL sport utility vehicle and F-150 pickup and will build on Ford's recent "Fusion Challenge" television spots, which the company says has attracted new customers into its showrooms.

In addition to the new advertising, which was detailed to employees in an internal webcast Wednesday, Ford is conducting a broader review of its marketing operations. The Detroit News has learned that CEO Alan Mulally has begun a national search for an executive to head up Ford's global marketing efforts. The outside search is being headed by Los Angeles-based Korn/Ferry International, according to people familiar with the situation.

Last month, Ford told employees that its North American turnaround plan already has veered off track. The company missed its internal retail sales goals for January, despite having set its sights low. The February numbers that are due out today are also expected to be grim.

While Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas group and the chief architect of the North American restructuring plan, never said the company's turnaround would be quick or easy, he may be running out of time to get it right. Ford insiders say Fields is under pressure to stop missing internal goals and stem continued retail market share declines in North America.

"I feel it every month. I go in front of the board every month to talk about how we're doing versus our plan," Fields told The News on Tuesday, adding that his team will get back on plan by year-end. "I feel the pressure every day that I walk in the door."

The recently launched Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX are the only entirely new vehicles coming from the company this year. Several redesigned versions of existing products are due out over the next several months, but Ford's near-term product plan is effectively set in stone.

Continued at article source:

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...703010400/1148

[asim]

Those Fusion challenge ads are pretty good. I am glad to hear that Ford is capitalizing on that idea, expanding it to the other products in their portfolio. Too bad the other products are the F-150 and the Expedition EL, which directly competes with GM's Silverado and Suburban.

[1931Chevy]

I watched the F150 and Expy commercials, they are not bad bad but they could have done more like putting a trailer on the back of the F150 with 11000 pounds to show the tough of the truck

[IROCNROL1]

Originally Posted by asim

Those Fusion challenge ads are pretty good. I am glad to hear that Ford is capitalizing on that idea, expanding it to the other products in their portfolio. Too bad the other products are the F-150 and the Expedition EL, which directly competes with GM's Silverado and Suburban.

The ads are alright, but is the Fusion really competitive? I'm only asking, as I don't know one way or the other. I do know that on average domestic cars seem to be somewhat lacking in direct comparisons to the imports.

If GM has trouble stacking up against the F-150 and Expedition EL, then the problem lies with them, seeing as how their offerings are new.

[jzchev28]

well hopefully some good will come out of it

[johnny smallblock]

Ford sales continue to fall! Is there nothing that can stop it?!? Oh yeah, new cars with fresh designs.

[Bornfromparents]

I hop its not more of the same...

BOLD MOVES

[sancapguy]

The days of the super high rebates and $99 dollar a week rentals is over. Let toyota sell to the rental companies, lets see how their cars hold up. Rental cars, especially the low priced ones are beat hard. I just had a Impala rental from Hertz, @ 15,000 miles it ran and drove great, But the car was scratched, tires half bald, Interior was trashed, stains, burns, looked like 100K miles. thats good for resale

[vsd]

hopefully its better than bold moves, the murcury milan, and an f-150 driving through a cake commercials.

[tom3]

I think Ford needs to build what people want rather than try to push what they want to sell. See gas is already above $2.50 a gallon here, I'd expect to see near $3.50 this summer. They need a couple 30 mpg affordable mid/full sized cars and a 40 mpg Focus/Escort, or better. A new Ranger pickup with a V6 that gets really good mileage wouldn't hurt either. And let people know they have them.

[jwrebholz]

Originally Posted by IROCNROL1

The ads are alright, but is the Fusion really competitive? I'm only asking, as I don't know one way or the other. I do know that on average domestic cars seem to be somewhat lacking in direct comparisons to the imports.

If GM has trouble stacking up against the F-150 and Expedition EL, then the problem lies with them, seeing as how their offerings are new.

The Fusion is not a bad car. It's not really any better (in FWD trim) than the Accord or Camry. See, here's the rub. They compare an AWD Fusion to the FWD Accord and Camry--now of course in a slanted comparison like that, what do you think people are going to do?

When comparing apples to apples, the Fusion, IMO, isn't really better than the Accord or Camry. It's not as good as those two cars--but you could still do a lot worse. For my money I'd rather have the Mazda6 that shares its running gear. (It lacks the AWD option but in my opinion handles much more neutrally, quite an achievement in a front-drive car)

I think anyone that buys a Fusion over an Accord or Camry will probably be quite happy with it. I was honestly not expecting the Fusion to be anywhere near as good as it is. I thought it'd be a half-assed little brother to the Five Hundred, but it genuinely surprised me. While I wouldn't purchase one, I wouldn't object to driving one.

[LAMRONH]

Others have stated it well: BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME.
Good ads can help, but they must advertise excellent product.
The Fusion has done well in comparos, usually coming in second or third place as I recall.
It's deceptive to compare an AWD Fusion with FWD Camry and Accord models. Do the tests include wet skidpads?
Putting BS into the equation does not help Ford in the long run. They thought no one would notice.
As for Fields, I'll be glad to see him vamoose. He strikes me as utterly shallow and inclined to generalities rather than guts, with his greatest achievement being his interest in himself and honing his CYA skills.
Mulally is correct in seeking new ad purveyors. I hope he chooses a smaller, more mentally mobil firm rather than some fat cats in NYC or LA.
Locally there are some most excellent chicken ads by Foster Farms. http://www.fosterfarms.com/about/imp...ommercials.asp They feature the Foster Imposters. Memorable, funny, with a good message.

[toronado10]

Originally Posted by vsd

hopefully its better than bold moves, the murcury milan, and an f-150 driving through a cake commercials.

the cake commercial was especially terrible.

[jbernie]

Originally Posted by jwrebholz

The Fusion is not a bad car. It's not really any better (in FWD trim) than the Accord or Camry. See, here's the rub. They compare an AWD Fusion to the FWD Accord and Camry--now of course in a slanted comparison like that, what do you think people are going to do?

I think the point there is that there do offer AWD and the others do not. Which can be quite a selling point in itself in more northern regions. For South Florida they may not give a toss.

Side note: I was in Downtown Denver on Sunday, waiting for lights to change and a light blue Mercury Mariner was being driven trailing pretty closely an suv with a film camera rig on top, looks like they were doing a commercial. Unfortunately I was not in a position to go around and do another look.

[fenderbender]

Originally Posted by Bornfromparents

I hop its not more of the same...

BOLD MOVES

I hope sos too. They are some of the dumbest commercials that Ford has ever made. Bold Moves huh? Name 3 Ford cars that are bold, in a good way.