Ford's Drive One campaign moving full speed ahead
After spending a few days with Ford's main-marketing-man Jim Farley and his team, we can truly say that the excitement surrounding the company's new Drive One marketing strategy is palpable. They believe that the story they have to tell is rather compelling; the real struggle will be convincing car-buyers that their vehicles are every bit as good as their competition from Japan -- as recent studies indicate. To show people what's going on behind the scenes, Farley and his posse brought Ford's best and brightest engineers with them to Las Vegas to introduce their dealer-base to the new campaign. They let us tag along so we could see what all the fuss is about, and the dealers we spoke to seemed pretty pumped about Drive One and felt that Farley's new team at Ford was finally listening to them and doing something with their input. Keep reading to find out what else we heard in Sin City.
Efforts are already underway at Ford to spread the word that it offers high quality cars and trucks. One way they are doing this is by handing the keys to consumers who drive the competition's cars and then allowing them to pass the vehicle on to a friend. We got the chance to speak to some of the people who drove the vehicles and each one of them said the experience moved them to consider a Ford for their next vehicle. Amy Hardigree, one of the "Town to Town -- Friend to Friend" participants, told us, "I was so impressed by the design and technology, I realized what I was missing in my Volkswagen Beetle, and it was great that I was able to then share the experience with my friend." After speaking with her, we think that she wasn't being paid... she really seemed to like the car. That's the rub, though. She says she never would have considered Ford before. She literally had to be given the car free for a week to get her to drive it. At the end, though, she says she was sad to see it go.Ford also wants viral marketing to play a role in its new marketing campaign. With 750,000 employees and retirees, Ford is hoping that word-of-mouth advertising will get people talking about its improved products. Expect to see a huge push from Ford in the coming months urging you to test-drive one of its vehicles. It plans on launching the Friend to Friend experiments in a few more cities, including import-rich west coast cities like L.A. and Phoenix. Farley's stated goal is to get "one human being talking to another human being about Ford."
To that end, the new Drive One campaign is focused on four categories: quality, green, safe and smart. Each topic is broken down on Ford's website here. Farley points out that there have been six different marketing strategies in the last six years at Ford, and he says that the success of Drive One will be apparent in five years, not in five weeks. Ford's employees have bought into the new scheme, as have the dealers. Most important will be whether or not consumers buy it.
Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Lupo 4:39PM (4/15/2008)
Drive one...back to the dealer so you can find a better car, or just wait till they bring the nice ones from Europe here
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C.W. 4:49PM (4/15/2008)
wow. thats a relatively dumb comment to make. considering Ford now makes one of the best products on the road (dont listen to Ford, just read all the 3rd party endorsements, and recent studies that now TIE ford with Honda and place them AHEAD of toyota for quality).
is your comment because YOU dont like their cars? because guess what? Ford is legit and their products are legit. and the pipeline of products coming is going to blow you away.
Aprime 4:53PM (4/15/2008)
"I'm a fanboy that is blinded by all the chrome over Ford's vehicles."
C.W. 4:55PM (4/15/2008)
as they say... ignorance is bliss...
you sound very blissful...
Aprime 5:05PM (4/15/2008)
I'm ignorant because you sound like a fanboy ("LOOK AT ALL FORD'S AWARD, F*CK")?
They may have the fit, finish and initial quality, but would I drive a new Ford? No. Why? Design, dynamics and a product portfolio that favors the purchase of trucks/SUVs.
I loved the refreshed ZX5 (5-door Focus), save for the dash materials, but now? It feels smaller than its predecessor and I've never felt this unattracted to a car before (the styling is something I could live with, but there's little about the car that I like (the Fusion's FINE, but why would I pick fine when I can get awesome?).
Needless to say, the only ones I've been seeing on my roads (Canada) are all wearing fleet plates and 'Enterprise' badges... Hell, even the dealers are replacing their old courtesy cars with them (usually overstock/stuff that didn't sell at the end of the MY). Aside from SYNC (which I despise anyway) and general cheapness... Seriously, why would I buy one when I can get better for about the same money?
C.W. 6:19PM (4/15/2008)
oh.. well since you put it that way your comments make much more sense.
oh, wait, no they dont. another typical rant from a bitter consumer lost in the previous decade of blunders. the whole point of the campaign is looking ahead. driving the vehicles again to see the changes. a portfolio that favors SUVs and trucks? are you kidding? for one, Ford has always dominated trucks and SUVs and will continue to do so, because even if gas hits $14.00 a gallon people will continue needing them. for two, ford is DOMINATING CUV and small car (finally) segments in terms of pure growth. in the next 2 years you will get the euro focus, you will get the euro suvs. etc. in the mean time, every product will be best in class in terms of fuel economy, safety and technology. you may hate sync, but guess what? 88% of people in the market for buying a car WANT sync's capabilities.
it must be cool to hate sweet technology and forward thinking in canada or something...
Aprime 7:02PM (4/15/2008)
I really didn't have anything in mind when I said that (which is the reason why most of my comments appear to be poorly constructed... Or planned :v).
Actually, I was pretty happy with last decade's product, I owned an Escort until last Summer and I've been pretty happy with it, disregarding all the problems it had (due to poor maintenance from the previous owner, be it rust (re-coat your cars after 5 years, please) or anything else. It's the stuff that's been planned under Bill Ford's (and that the current guys are being accounted for, just like Lutz was being accounted for the crap that had already been planned once he got his current job) reign that I hate (looking ahead, things aren't looking so grim, but right now? Bleh, nothing for me).
So what if they dominate those markets? I could care less, I don't need a truck, I never needed a truck, and I will never need or want a truck. SYNC is a novelty the first couple of times you try it, but the thing gets absurd after a while. Do I want Bluetooth and USB in my car? Of course. Do I want a passable voice-integration system? No, I'd rather wait 'til the technology's really there (SYNC 2.0 probably addresses a lot of the problems with the present iteration).
If there's one thing I'm pissed at them for is certainly discontinuating the Focus wagon (didn't really have an interest in them) and hatchbacks. :P Their trucks have served my grandpa well and Mazda makes cars that I love... And they made cars my father loved back when he was alive.
Lupo 8:30PM (4/15/2008)
brand isnt really important to me, i just dont like what ford is currently offering
TriShield 4:41PM (4/15/2008)
With Ford and GM's (especially GM) products so vastly improved one of their biggest challenges will be getting people to at least try the car. I wish Ford luck.
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3cubed minus 3squared plus1 6:31PM (4/15/2008)
Agreed. Heres to hoping Ford brings back the Focus 3, 5door and chevy makes a hatchback Cobalt not called an HHR.
harribert 4:46PM (4/15/2008)
The cars may be well and competent as the Japanese and Germans, but they get the blood going with hardly more excitement than boiled celery...
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StickShift 5:10PM (4/15/2008)
Oh yes, they're so bland. I mean, who can top the thrill of the Camry, Accord or Sonata? And the Passat...its such a bahnburner!
One must give Ford credit for at trying a bold and distinctive style, even if its a touch garish on some products *cough* Focus *cough*
Red Star 4:43PM (4/15/2008)
Glad to hear that Ford.
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DesiAuto 5:09PM (4/15/2008)
"... just read all the 3rd party endorsements, and recent studies that now TIE ford with Honda and place them AHEAD of toyota for quality"
Which ones you are talking about, I am interested in reading them. BTW, that TGW one is Ford paid.
In any case, there are way too many white Americans who seriously dislike Ford (for real reasons or percevied one), at least that's what I've noticed whenever I travel outside MI.
Tagg 4:56PM (4/15/2008)
"Bring the Euro cars here!"
Yeah, that's a brilliant idea because it has worked so well in the past and currently. Saturn is the U.S. Opel and what has Saturn done? Over a 30% drop in sales. Never mind the Mondeo and other companies that have tried to imprt cars directly from other markets here.
The people who call for that do not seem to get that the U.S. market has VERY different tastes than Europe. For better or worse its the way it is but so many seem very short sighted and don't understand that. Just because a 100 or so people on Autoblog like the Euro cars doesn't mean a damn thing because this blog is a microscopic portion of the car buying public.
But I am sure this blog will be full of the cries.
Aside from that, Farley has shown he has what it takes to be a real leader for Ford. He listens to the consumer and he listens to the dealers, something Ford refused to do for years! That is huge because the dealer is often where the consumer voices their opinion, not Ford directly.
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That One Person 5:35PM (4/15/2008)
If I'm not mistaken, the biggest reason for that drop in sales is because of the death of the Ion. Even though it was a fleet queen, it was also Saturn's best selling vehicle.
Aprime 5:21PM (4/15/2008)
When you take into account that Saturn's sales were mostly fleet, the drop sounds perfectly reasonable.
I've asked a couple of Saturn people (couples in their 50's that bought Saturns because of the service (the dealer's on the opposite side of the town, so that means a lot to me when I take comments from my parents regarding the distance of the dealers (reason why my mom hasn't been buying Mazdas) into account), they say they can finally recommend the new stuff. :V And now they have cars for everyone too.
We'll see, but I'm under the impression that the clear GM link and the Relay thing didn't do them earlier favors.
... Man, I remember Lutz trying to avoid talking about the rebadged minivans when he got the job, lol (video's available on Youtube)... Meant a lot to me.
But yes, typically, Euros haven't been doing too well here, mainly for pricing reasons. Americans just aren't used to paying a premium for small cars... Let alone SATURNS (they're not playing on the Opel heritage enough, seriously). But let's just say that Saturn's been going through a lot of marketing mishaps lately. :\ All this to simply say that I don't believe the lineup is the issue...
I played the Opel card on one of my 'hurrr I hate GM' acquaintances regarding the Astra and suddenly he gained interest in it... IMO, they should just kill Saturn as a brand and call it Opel (wouldn't say the same thing about Pontiac to Holden for a number of reasons, though). It sounds fresh, the logo's fresh and it doesn't remind you of their plastic-mobiles from the 90's... Or the 'only women drive these' image it has in... Well, at least where I live, I don't know about south of the border... I know that statistically speaking though, it's unfortunately (it's only a problem image-wise, something I don't PERSONALLY care about) true.
... Okay, moving on...
Tagg 10:03PM (4/15/2008)
I have never seen an Ion at any major rental company and I travel often from California, Chicago, Detroit and Florida.
I live 35 miles outside of Detroit in prime GM country with a major Saturn dealer just 15 miles away and have yet to see one Astra. The Astra has been out for a couple months and I have seen zero yet have seen three Ponitac G8's. So if GM can call the Malibu a "runaway success" just a few months in then I can call the Astra a flop. Maybe time will tell but so far its hard to argue that Saturn is successful with its Euro lineup.
Aprime 11:49PM (4/15/2008)
Fleet doesn't have to mean 'rental', FYI.
DesiAuto 5:03PM (4/15/2008)
I think Ford is taking GQRS way too seriously than they should. It's good to have good 3MIS numbers (TGW/1000 etc.) but 1YIS and 3YIS is where the real test is. In any case, this particular survey is very subjective.
If their vehicles have same or better quality than some of the quality leaders' vehicles than people will automatically start talking about it and eventually they will see the perception of their reputation chanigng in positive direction. It wil take time, there is nothing Ford can do.
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