No wonder Ford is screwed

[Malbec]

Well perhaps my statement should have been "This advertising isn't done properly"

It is being done properly.

This ad isn't aimed at you Daniel, you're abnormal. You, like everyone else here, spend time looking and thinking about cars. Not only that you actually log onto a motorsport forum to talk about.... cars.

The average guy and more importantly girl (women are highly influential in 70-80% of major purchases like cars) don't do that. They go more on what the brand feels like. They only care about cars every few years when their old one breaks down and they have to get a new one. What their friends say about the car is as important (probably more so) than rave reviews in magazines. And the important decision makers (ie women) on the whole do not care about WRC.

These guys and girls are not getting the message that Fords now are better compared to the opposition than they've ever been. They don't care either. They want a brand. BMW gives them that brand. Merc does too. Even VW and Honda gives them brands they want. Thats why the 3 series is much more expensive than the Ford Mondeo yet totally destroys it in the private purchasing market.

The new Alfa ad hits the nail right on the head with the quotes "I bought it for the 4wd" "I bought it for the handling" etc etc then saying "rubbish, you buy it because its an Alfa". Yep, people buy it because of the badge on the bonnet, not the car underneath.

This ad isn't about telling you that the oily bits in the new Mondeo are better than the old one and as good as the 3-series. Its about subtly redefining what 'Ford' means to people who really don't care that much about cars. 'Ford' now means affordable, common, average, boring. The Tories almost killed Ford by claiming that they wanted to win Mondeo Man's vote, ie Mr Average. No one ever wants a car that labels you as average. The ad works on your subconscious, making you feel warmer towards the brand. It doesn't work on you but you're not the target demographic. It won't work to immediately raise sales either but over time a sustained campaign like that will slowly change peoples attitudes to Ford... hopefully.

[TangoR34]

I'm so glad that aston martin is now owned by Prodrive.

[ShiftingGears]

Ok think of it another way. If you saw the ad and never saw any Ford branding at the end then what would you think it was an ad for? Why not show 30 seconds of dogs humping each other and then a Ford logo at the end? Memorable, cheap to film and still nothing to do with the car

You might be onto something

[Daniel]

I had a nice post written out this morning but flash kept on crashing internet explorer

Dylan you talked about brand problems for Ford and I agree to a certain extent. But consider another company with brand issues. Fiat. They have the same problem as Ford but worse. Good cars but a reputation for being a bit boring of late and worse than Ford people think Fiat's will break and rust to bits within 2 hours of purchase.

So what do they do with their ads? Put balloons on their cars and wait 5 years for a whole campaign to take effect or come out all guns blazing with a bold and brash advertising campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvfLhEhOTyk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7PB7JBfM_g

End result

Ford - Good cars but still a boring brand
Fiat - Good cars and they've turned the image problem around somewhat

Whoever thought of that Alfa ad campaign is a genius. Seriously.... who buys an Alfa for rational reasons? So why not just advertise as the slightly irrational and desirable choice that it is. If they'd tried to advertise the new Alfa's as more reliable than ever people would have laughed at them so Alfa Romeo just advertised their cars for what they were.

[Rollo]

End result Ford - Good cars but still a boring brand

So boring that 5 million Focii have now been sold? They must be doing something right if they're shifting 400,000+ units a year.

Who cares if they're boring? Not with a sales clout like that.

[bowler]

I'm so glad that aston martin is now owned by Prodrive.

It isn't. It is owned by a consortium of investors, and David Richards is the independent Chairman.

[Daniel]

So boring that 5 million Focii have now been sold? They must be doing something right if they're shifting 400,000+ units a year.

Who cares if they're boring? Not with a sales clout like that.

Well Ford supposedly does

[FrankenSchwinn]

here is a nice commercial: http://youtube.com/watch?v=GuyaVcqTgic

[Malbec]

Dylan you talked about brand problems for Ford and I agree to a certain extent. But consider another company with brand issues. Fiat. They have the same problem as Ford but worse. Good cars but a reputation for being a bit boring of late and worse than Ford people think Fiat's will break and rust to bits within 2 hours of purchase.

Ford - Good cars but still a boring brand
Fiat - Good cars and they've turned the image problem around somewhat

Fiat is interesting but actually they're still worse off than Ford which regularly gets the Focus and Fiesta in Europe's best selling top 10. The Punto and Panda are quite successful now but before they weren't that hot.

I agree with your summary of Ford but I reckon Fiat's image is a bit like that of Italy itself, unreliable and poorly built but fun and cheeky. If they sort out the reliability bit then they've got a very strong image to trade on. Certainly Ford have nothing that can generate goodwill in the same way as the '500' brand can.

I find brands fascinating especially as cars are getting more and more similar. Also with cheap Korean and eventually Indo/Chinese imports with no brand image entering the market at the bottom brands will become ever more important for European American and Japanese makers to distinguish themselves and lever a premium. Some of the desperation among brands like Ford is interesting to watch but at least they're doing something about it, Vauxhall is doing nothing.

[Rollo]

I agree with your summary of Ford but I reckon Fiat's image is a bit like that of Italy itself, unreliable and poorly built but fun and cheeky. If they sort out the reliability bit then they've got a very strong image to trade on. Certainly Ford have nothing that can generate goodwill in the same way as the '500' brand can.

Interesting diversion here:

The 2009 Ford Ka will be the same car as the 2008 Fiat 500 except with different styling front and rear.
http://media.ford.com/article_displa...ticle_id=21975

There is a link that I saw in Italian but I can't read that