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Has Mercury gone girlie, and is that bad?
Sarah Webster has an interesting thought in her article that appears in the
Detroit News called
"Ford's chick brand?" She questions whether Ford is intentionally positioning Mercury as a chick auto brand in order to
save it from extinction. She cites Mercury's marketing campaign that includes sponsoring films out of a Glamour
magazine contest, makeovers during Fashion Week in NYC and a random Make Your Day giveaway of haircuts, manicures and
coffee.
Mercury's official position is that it's gender-neutral, although advertising experts clearly see the brand being
directed at women. Experts say the risk of this strategy is that you can sell a woman a man's car, but you can't sell a
man a woman's car. While that school of thought may prevent other brands from marketing themselves entirely to women,
Mercury's strategy of playing to the ladies seems to be working. The brand's sales are up 3.9% this year after hitting
rock bottom last year.
If Ford is actually marketing an entire brand to women, we think it's not a bad idea. One of Mercury's biggest
problems to date has been its lack of identity. Sure, Ford has to be careful to not go off the deep end make pink
powder-coated alloy wheels an available option, but its current designs and marketing campaign appear well targeted at
women without completely alienating men.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2Suave 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Back in the late 1950's, Mercury was advertised as "The Man's Car." Now a girlie car?
Makes no difference because Mercury is dead anyway and Ford would be wise to put this redundant brand out of its misery.
With Ford, Volvo, Jaguar, and part of Mazda, Mercury isn't worth wasting time and money to preserve.
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Bobby 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
I was starting to think so. Especially when seeing that new female spokeswoman for the brand on TV ads. Also, if i were to buy a ford family domestic product, for some reason, i'd be more
inclined to buy a Ford or a Lincoln, and not even look at mercury.
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Enormous Dump 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
the article was in the Free Press, not the News. Check the link!
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CptMystic 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Shouldn't they rename the brand Venus if they're going to do that?
I would not be sad to see the brand go, I haven't seen a Mercury that seriously struck me as anything I might buy in....decades.
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2Suave 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Sorry, the "Man's Car" Mercury was in late '60s not '50s. See a 1967 ad here:
http://xs55.xs.to/pics/05465/sMerc.JPG
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JohnnyV 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
I dont know, but that chick in the commercials is hot. Who is she? I want to search the net for naked pics!
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KT 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
I'm a guy and I prefer the Mariner and Mountaineer over their Ford counterparts. They are just nicer looking inside and out with a few more features to boot. However, I do like the Fusion styling over the Milan.
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JohnnyV 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Oh, and I can clearly see where they are going with this. They want to make Mercury the domestic version of Volvo. Newish Volvos are definatly chick (if not mom) cars. Infact, my gf keeps bugging me about how she wants a new Volvo.
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ron 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Three years ago we decided on buying a wagon. Due to medical problems with my wife, neither a minivan or a SUV would work (seat too high for her to get in).
The choice was easily limited down to Taurus and Sable. We went with the Sable for a couple of reasons 1) the nearest Ford dealer didn't have any Taurus wagons to even look at; actually, he didn't even have any Taurus literature to take home (but he had lots of SUVs and info in stock). The Merc dealer down the road had lots of wagons to choose from and try out.
2) we liked the look of the Sable's front end much better than the Taurus.
We tried out the Sable and liked it, but ended up ordering one built. Just try to find a Sable wagon with premium audio and a sunroof in stock!
BTW - when we turned in our Park Ave at the end of the lease I told the dealer we needed a wagon. He told me that GM didn't make wagons because they weren't popular. I didn't know it at the time (and apparently neither did the dealer) that Saturn made a L300 wagon that might have fit the bill. Maybe these auto companies ought to advertise something other than SUV and trucks!
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Rocket Punch 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
That girl is Jill Wagner! Sex sells and I like it! Go Mercury!
http://tinypic.com/6h1dkw.jpg
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Edsel 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Ten posts and no girlie car jokes?!
C'mon, lets hear it for; larger vanity mirrors, Blonde Special Edition, Blue tooth/Highliner option, hAir bags, nail proof upholstery........
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s 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Okay good for Mercury but are woman just going to end up paying more for an over priced Ford than they would if they just went to a Ford dealer.
Women! the men of Ford are using you. They think your dumb.
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fernan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
i always thought the cougar, 80s 90s was 4 girls only
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Jim 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
I'm just waiting for Paris Hilton to pop out of a Mariner anytime now......
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LM dealer 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
When comparibly equipped a Mercury vehicle is no more expensive than Ford. On top of that it is recognised by JD Power that Lincoln/Mercury dealers provide better service to their customers and you won't see yourself on every corner as you will if your driving the Ford product.
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Glenn 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
If they can market and sell Mercury to women and keep the factories running, great.
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