"Drive One" - This is the Consideration Fix

[mlhm5]

Ford wants to make "Drive One" the auto industry's answer to Nike's "Just Do It"

 

 

If 50% of the people who buy a passenger car never consider a Ford, and Mulally has stated he will return Ford to profitability in 2009, this campaign has a year to work.

 

WSJ

[Critic]

oh GAWD your going on my ignore list you inciteful punk. No link to your post , but I don't care WHO did the graph how do you get more than 100%?

 

IF everyone else would put you on their's that would fix the problem with you.

[rmc523]

oh GAWD your going on my ignore list you inciteful punk. No link to your post , but I don't care WHO did the graph how do you get more than 100%?

 

IF everyone else would put you on their's that would fix the problem with you.

 

I've never used the ignore function, but he's getting very close.

[jpd80]

Pity mlhm5 didn't focus on the rest of the article,

it tells how Ford intends fixing that perception.

 

By working closely with dealers, Mr. Farley aims to build a grass-roots "army of Ford brand advocates," he told the board, the person familiar with the meeting said. The traditional, top-down campaigns that the Big Three have run in the past have achieved "nothing," he said in his board presentation, this person said.

 

Ford's more than 4,000 dealers control nearly 75% of $1.5 billion in Ford-related advertising expected to run this year, the person familiar with Mr. Farley's strategy said. The approach mirrors Toyota, which for years has viewed its dealers more as partners than customers -- local retailers form most consumer impressions about how an auto maker operates.

 

"It's a Toyota philosophy of listening before making all the decisions," says Mike Maroone, the chief operating officer of AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest dealership chain. "I think Farley is uniquely positioned to transition Ford from the old way to the new way. [Ford is] not out of the woods yet, but they're moving in the right direction."

 

Some ads in the new marketing campaign will feature footage from a planned series of "Friend to Friend" events in which Toyota and Honda owners were given Fords to test-drive for a week, and asked to pass the vehicle to a friend to try.

 

The Friend to Friend effort is a variation of the "Swap Your Ride" campaign Ford rolled out last fall, in which Ford set up a fake market-research firm, tracked down owners of Toyotas and Hondas, and asked them to drive new Fords in a supposedly impartial test. It then taped interviews of people gushing about how surprised they were to find Ford made such nice cars, and used them in commercials.

 

Mr. Farley told the board the "Drive One" message should both make consumers "feel something" about Ford and "do something," such as visit a dealer, and intensify the modest success of the "Swap Your Ride" campaign, the person familiar with the meeting said.

 

 

Research by Mr. Farley's team has found that Ford now has an image of being "powerful," "on sale" and "American," attributes that mean little to many car buyers, this person said. Over time, Mr. Farley hopes the new marketing campaign will establish a new identity: "Quality, Green, Safe & Smart."

 

It has made some strides with its vehicles. Consumer Reports magazine has said Ford's quality is now competitive with Toyota, for example, while the auto maker is also introducing better-mileage engines across its lineup and equipping most new vehicles with Sync, a voice-activated technology developed by Microsoft Corp. that allows drivers to talk on the phone and listen to music hands-free.

[P71_CrownVic]

 

Duh...

[RichardJensen]

Yeah.

 

1) Ford is not the default car choice.

 

2) If Mulally's strategy hinged on getting 70%+ consideration to return to profitability, yeah, they'd be in trouble. Instead the goal is to =improve= consideration, but then, what else would you expect from

[Ford-150]

alright let me know when you ban this fuck so i can update my ignore list, the shit he posts is retarded, he is very good at spinning things around

 

can you chose to ignore threads by a poster because his thread titles are all the same....

[Furious1Auto]

Product, product, product, do the imports have it, LOL! they better get on the stick, otherwise they will get the stick! Now you guys are reciting perception rather than proving through product, that you still have what it takes! (Oh I forgot you don't build imports, just cheerlead for them) Sorry I have been abscent , but I have a real job to do by backing up the claims I make on the line (not on-line) sorry!

Edited March 22, 2008 by Furious1Auto

[rkisler]

Ford wants to make "Drive One" the auto industry's answer to Nike's "Just Do It"

 

 

If 50% of the people who buy a passenger car never consider a Ford, and Mulally has stated he will return Ford to profitability in 2009, this campaign has a year to work.

 

WSJ

 

On some of your posts, I can understand why everyone pounds on you. And your statement of having just one year is silly. But I read the article in the advertising section of WSJ last week and it is factual.

 

One of Ford's (and GM's) largest issues has been and is the drop in consideration. This trend has been getting worse and worse over the last 15-20 years. There are many factors -- part of the issue has been quality, and part not producing products that have the appeal of foreign branded products. And Ford's lack of products for younger entry buyers is now coming home to roost.

 

For the majority of auto customers, the first choice they make in their decision tree is not what type of vehicle, but "domestic" or "foreign". Once they have pulled that lever, they rarely go back to the other side. So if someone started off thinking they wanted, say, an Accord and found out they couldn't afford it, rather than looking at a Fusion they would be looking at Hyundai or even Kia. We are now into the era when many customers have never had anything other than a foreign branded product, and they would be very resisistant and skeptical of the purchase of a domestic brand.

 

Some years ago, the roles were reversed, and the consideration for foreign branded vehicles was lower. It takes a long time for the pendulum to swing. There are a lot of factors, but competitive (or better than competitive) product is, of course, the key. But even with compeitive products, Ford has to get people to look (e.g., Taurus). Part of that will be advertising, some from good reviews in magazines, and the rest will have to come from word-of-mouth which will take years. The key is that when people buy Ford products, they will have to feel comfortable with themselves and their neighbors. The last thing they want to hear is "Why did you buy THAT??" They need to have the feeling like the guy in the Mazda3 TV add who's knows he made a better choice than his neighbor who bought a Corolla.

 

If Ford doesn't make it in the long run, at least the recent trend indicates to me they will go down swinging.

[Edstock]

Consider the source.

 

MLHM5 wouldn't be posting what he does if he weren't aware of how much progress Ford is making. You can see it in the spin, the twist he tries to put on each submission.

 

Also, consider the performance of the other negatards over the last 2 months. Some have quietly gotten out of town, and some are hopping up and down like a kangaroo with a truck flare up its ass.

 

Meanwhile, the product just keeps on getting better.

[SVT_MAN]

[Critic]

 

Brilliant!

 

Priceless!

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Toyota sales are in the biggest nosedive in Europe, their nosedive in sales are second to none, WSJ graphs look a bit dated to me.

[Edstock]

THANKS SVT MAN!

 

[Mark B. Morrow]

Ford wants to make "Drive One" the auto industry's answer to Nike's "Just Do It"

 

 

If 50% of the people who buy a passenger car never consider a Ford, and Mulally has stated he will return Ford to profitability in 2009, this campaign has a year to work.

 

WSJ

 

 

It really must suck to be you mhlm5. You spend all your time on a Ford enthusiast web site trashing Ford. I can't remember a single Ford positive post from you. Your constant negativity seems to border on some pathological hatred for all things Ford. Did a Ford run over your tricycle when you were a kid?

 

I really hope you are just a Toyota paid troll. It would be too pathetic if you were expending so much effort for free.

[Mark B. Morrow]

Ford wants to make "Drive One" the auto industry's answer to Nike's "Just Do It"

 

 

If 50% of the people who buy a passenger car never consider a Ford, and Mulally has stated he will return Ford to profitability in 2009, this campaign has a year to work.

 

WSJ

 

 

It really must suck to be you mhlm5. You spend all your time on a Ford enthusiast web site trashing Ford. I can't remember a single Ford positive post from you. Your constant negativity seems to border on some pathological hatred for all things Ford. Did a Ford run over your tricycle when you were a kid?

 

I really hope you are just a Toyota paid troll. It would be too pathetic if you were expending so much effort for free.

[rmc523]

[mlhm5]

It really must suck to be you mhlm5. You spend all your time on a Ford enthusiast web site trashing Ford. I can't remember a single Ford positive post from you. Your constant negativity seems to border on some pathological hatred for all things Ford. Did a Ford run over your tricycle when you were a kid?

 

I really hope you are just a Toyota paid troll. It would be too pathetic if you were expending so much effort for free.

 

I have owned Fords in the past, but have lost faith with Ford. I don't drive a truck, I drive a car and there has not been one car Ford has produced in 20 years that is better than the competition in any class. Look at the resale value.

 

As far as Ford's new management and the new "Ford. Drive One". IMO Ford cannot get people to come to dealers if consumers don't like Ford cars. If Ford had a hot model in the fuel economy class i.e. Prius, or in the tuner class, like Euro Focus hatchback, or the best built high resale class like the Honda Accord, or the young hip class like the Scion, the traffic would come based on the demand.

 

Someone posted in another forum that the standard BMW 520d (50mpg) that gets better mpg than a Prius in a real world test. A 2L diesel that goes 0-60 in 8 seconds in a 5 series.

 

I don't care if diesel is 50 cents more a gallon than gas, that car gets 50 mpg in real world driving.

 

Where is Ford's 50 MPG car? Gas, diesel, flex fuel, electric, anything.

 

That lesson as well as a lot more seems to have been lost on Ford.

[Critic]

Someone posted in another forum that the standard BMW 520d (50mpg) that gets better mpg than a Prius in a real world test. A 2L diesel that goes 0-60 in 8 seconds in a 5 series.

 

Did you forget which account name YOU posted that under?

 

While your pirus does the same in 11+ seconds and couldn't do the trip.

[papilgee4evaeva]

I have owned Fords in the past, but have lost faith with Ford. I don't drive a truck, I drive a car and there has not been one car Ford has produced in 20 years that is better than the competition in any class. Look at the resale value.

 

As far as Ford's new management and the new "Ford. Drive One". IMO Ford cannot get people to come to dealers if consumers don't like Ford cars. If Ford had a hot model in the fuel economy class i.e. Prius, or in the tuner class, like Euro Focus hatchback, or the best built high resale class like the Honda Accord, or the young hip class like the Scion, the traffic would come based on the demand.

 

Someone posted in another forum that the standard BMW 520d (50mpg) that gets better mpg than a Prius in a real world test. A 2L diesel that goes 0-60 in 8 seconds in a 5 series.

 

I don't care if diesel is 50 cents more a gallon than gas, that car gets 50 mpg in real world driving.

 

Where is Ford's 50 MPG car? Gas, diesel, flex fuel, electric, anything.

 

That lesson as well as a lot more seems to have been lost on Ford.

 

Couldn't those checks you get from Toyota buy you a style guide so that you could type a coherent post? Really, what's your point here?

[atomaro]

I don't care if diesel is 50 cents more a gallon than gas, that car gets 50 mpg in real world driving.

 

Where is Ford's 50 MPG car? Gas, diesel, flex fuel, electric, anything.

 

 

There is this guy I know...he could hook you up with this really cool shit. It will let you see Ford's 50mpg car...and GM's....and Toyota's....and Subaru's..... and no, its not :tequila:

[rmc523]

As far as Ford's new management and the new "Ford. Drive One". IMO Ford cannot get people to come to dealers if consumers don't like Ford cars. If Ford had a hot model in the fuel economy class i.e. Prius, or in the tuner class, like Euro Focus hatchback, or the best built high resale class like the Honda Accord, or the young hip class like the Scion, the traffic would come based on the demand.

 

Someone posted in another forum that the standard BMW 520d (50mpg) that gets better mpg than a Prius in a real world test. A 2L diesel that goes 0-60 in 8 seconds in a 5 series.

 

I don't care if diesel is 50 cents more a gallon than gas, that car gets 50 mpg in real world driving.

 

Where is Ford's 50 MPG car? Gas, diesel, flex fuel, electric, anything.

 

That lesson as well as a lot more seems to have been lost on Ford.

 

Lets see, no ugly Prius model: check.....instead the most fuel efficient SUV on the planet: check.

 

You mean the same Honda Accord that has seen decreased sales? Or the Scion brand that has had 16 straight months of downward sales?

 

I'm not sure the 520d would meet US emissions standards to even be sold here, although BMW is reportedly going to bring a diesel powerplant over in the X6.

 

Ford's lineup problems will be fixed largely withing the next few years, 6 of which we know will be out sometime next year:

Flex

F-150

Fiesta

Focus

Explorer

Taurus

Ranger

F-100

 

Did you forget about the EcoBoost engines?

What about the diesel powerplants coming to the F-150, Expedition, and Navigator?

What about the Hybrid powerplants coming to Fusion and Milan and likely Edge and MKX?

 

You obviously don't read anything here, otherwise you'd know about Ford's future lineups and powerplants (fuel efficient and powerful).

[P71_CrownVic]

What about the diesel powerplants coming to the F-150, Expedition, and Navigator?

 

Diesels suck. The cheerleading Capitan, RJ, said so.

[NickF1011]

Diesels suck. The cheerleading Capitan, RJ, said so.

 

I think they'll do great in fullsize trucks. It's yet to be seen how they will be embraced here in CARS though. In the end, Ford likely WILL have diesel cars also though...

[rmc523]

Diesels suck. The cheerleading Capitan, RJ, said so.

 

Well, with US emissions standards lowering fuel economy and diesel being ~50 cents more than premium in most places, IMO, they are becoming less viable alternatives, except for required towing applications.

Edited March 24, 2008 by rmc523