To the CEO
of Ford: Alert! Assembly-line marketing tactics don’t cut it
in the era of the digital, empowered consumer.
Ford is launching a new series of ads starring its CEO, William Clay
Ford Jr., in the role of corporate apologist. According to an article in today’s New York Times, Ford is using the
spots to make the case for a corporate comeback to consumers. How retro of them. It takes me back to the days of Lee Iacocca
hawking K-cars in an attempt to restore Chrysler’s image among consumers.
There are,
however, two critical differences. In
the spots which debuted in 1979, Iacocca spoke about the cars, and pitched the
value of the car not the company. In
other words, he focused on the things consumers care about. His message was relevant. According to the Times, the new Ford ads
focus on the restructuring plan Mr. Ford presented to Wall Street on
Monday. It’s not clear how news of
layoffs and factory closings build consumer affinity for a brand.
A greater
difference though is the nature of the media environment. When Chrysler took to the airwaves in the
late ‘70’s they could rest assured that a strategic buy in prime time addressed
a majority of their target market. Direct-to-consumer marketing as we know it today wasn’t practiced. We didn’t have hundreds of cable channels and
millions of blogs.
Ford could
take a lesson from other automotive brands and engage with consumers
directly. BMW is using a “virtual
innovation agency” to harness the creativity of its customers and solicit ideas
for product design. Lexus is using a
microsite and podcasts to promote their IS sports sedan to African
Americans. And there are many other
examples of carmakers collaborating with consumers to better understand
preferences, shape product design and influence purchase.
Active,
engaged consumers are delighted to offer feedback and to help spread the
word. As Joerg Reimann, BMW’s head of
marketing innovation management put it: “They
were so happy to be invited by us, and that our technical experts were
interested in their ideas … they didn't want any money.”
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