Do ford market the falcon well!

[Falcman0o7]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope the marketing team come hear and have a look around from time to time...

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Falcman0o7

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope the marketing team come hear and have a look around from time to time...

Uhh, well, no, they shouldn't be looking here because we will only give an enthusiast's slant on it. Personally, I believe they should be looking to their own not-so-distant marketing past, and what their cross town competitor does with advertising.

They are kind of hamstrung at the moment because they have a product that needs a refresh, new content and fuel efficient engines in order for it to be relevant to consumers again. Otherwise it is kind of like selling sand to the Arabs, without the skill and results. There are obviously people out there that still like them and buy them, but they need to work on the whole package (and I'm not just talking about the car either) in order to make those numbers of people greater

[mik]

its pretty obvious some of their adds over the past couple of years have been pretty lack lustre compared to some of the other car makers, you don`t need to be an enthusiast to see that.

[JC]

Do Ford still have a falcon? Haven't seen/noticed an ad for one for ages.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by JC

Do Ford still have a falcon? Haven't seen/noticed an ad for one for ages.

Precisely...plenty of TV time for adverts on everything else in the Ford range, but bugger all (apart from apparently a couple of special runout deals) on the Falcon or Territory.
I can;t remember the last time I saw a Falcon TV ad, apart from local dealers own TV adverts saying big discounts on such-and-such a car.

[Dave R]

I think Ford needs to work on marketing the Ford brand. Too many people think it's just American crap. Add the fact that a lot of people think that Falcons are designed as taxis and the Ford brand is on struggle street. I've said it many times before, it only takes one brilliant ad campaign to begin to reverse all that. Remember when Holden started flooding the market with Korean imports? At the same time they started a clever campaign "Holden means alot to Australia" - it stuck and people still say that line to this day. They have built alot of their marketing on the fact that it's Aussie, catchphrases like "clever Aussie technology" describing SIDI, which is a load of crap seeing as it's actually an American engine. Ford needs to start getting clever, stuff like the 50th anniversary ad was pathetic, their big firsts included "first Australian car to have iPod integration", yeah, first in a race of two and nobody really cares about that anyway.

[Ford_The_Win]

There are a lot of reasons why Falcon isn't selling, but as everyone knows, Ford has terrible marketing for Falcon and have done for quite some time. If they really want this car to survive the next 5 years (which I suspect they don't, either that or they are just muppets) they need to market the hell out of it. It has so many redeeming qualities that the competition just don't have.

[FgNewbie]

"Too many people think it's just American crap"

Adrenaline, you mean it's not American?

In the last week I've only seen 1 add and that was for a half year sale. BORING!

[jpd80]

I liked the recent Fiesta-Focus-Mondeo combination ad, I thought it was great
and wondered if Ford could do similar with Falcon-Territory-Ute, I think it would work...

[XDV800]

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

In the last week I've only seen 1 add and that was for a half year sale. BORING!

Exakery!
Boring as batshit, they would do well selling insurance to the elderly the ford marketing department. Been this way for decades too.

Holden is on the money and it shows...

[burnz]

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

"Too many people think it's just American crap"

Adrenaline, you mean it's not American?

In the last week I've only seen 1 add and that was for a half year sale. BORING!

i've seen two ad's for the end of year sale.. try harder ford.

[Whitey-AMG]

I don't think most of the buying population cares too much about advertising....

The Falcon is on its way out........like it or not. Consumers are looking more towards smaller , more fuel efficient ( and stylish ) vehicles. In comparison , the Falcon is thirsty , hard to park in small city and inner city parking spots , kind of ugly looking , underequipped and overall quality is either just standard or subpar. Not to mention their "old world" 3 year warranty offerings. Other makes have moved on to standard 5 and even 7 year offerings...........

Falcon overall sales are 40% down.....the writing is on the wall. ( There's already a huge overstock at FORD with the Falc - they basically have over 3000 units waiting for new homes....not to mention current dealer stock as well ) FORD are basically flogging a dead horse so throwing good money after bad on an advertising campaign just doesn't sound like a good idea. They're better off investing that money in something else. GM are also aware of the overall commodore demise and are investing heavily in the CRUZE.........FORD would be well advised to follow suit with a similar program.

You've also got the imminent CHINESE invasion..........like it or not.........people will buy these cheap Imports en masse. Not to mention the likes of Hyundai and KIA which are making massive inroads with their mid sized sedans and SUV's.

That's my 2c..........

[Falcman0o7]

Originally Posted by ESP

I don't think most of the buying population cares too much about advertising....

The Falcon is on its way out........like it or not. Consumers are looking more towards smaller , more fuel efficient ( and stylish ) vehicles. In comparison , the Falcon is thirsty , hard to park in small city and inner city parking spots , kind of ugly looking , underequipped and overall quality is either just standard or subpar. Not to mention their "old world" 3 year warranty offerings. Other makes have moved on to standard 5 and even 7 year offerings...........

Falcon overall sales are 40% down.....the writing is on the wall. ( There's already a huge overstock at FORD with the Falc - they basically have over 3000 units waiting for new homes....not to mention current dealer stock as well ) FORD are basically flogging a dead horse so throwing good money after bad on an advertising campaign just doesn't sound like a good idea. They're better off investing that money in something else. GM are also aware of the overall commodore demise and are investing heavily in the CRUZE.........FORD would be well advised to follow suit with a similar program.

You've also got the imminent CHINESE invasion..........like it or not.........people will buy these cheap Imports en masse. Not to mention the likes of Hyundai and KIA which are making massive inroads with their mid sized sedans and SUV's.

That's my 2c..........

Sadly mate you are spot on :(

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by ESP

I don't think most of the buying population cares too much about advertising....

The Falcon is on its way out........like it or not. Consumers are looking more towards smaller , more fuel efficient ( and stylish ) vehicles. In comparison , the Falcon is thirsty , hard to park in small city and inner city parking spots , kind of ugly looking , underequipped and overall quality is either just standard or subpar. Not to mention their "old world" 3 year warranty offerings. Other makes have moved on to standard 5 and even 7 year offerings...........

Falcon overall sales are 40% down.....the writing is on the wall. ( There's already a huge overstock at FORD with the Falc - they basically have over 3000 units waiting for new homes....not to mention current dealer stock as well ) FORD are basically flogging a dead horse so throwing good money after bad on an advertising campaign just doesn't sound like a good idea. They're better off investing that money in something else. GM are also aware of the overall commodore demise and are investing heavily in the CRUZE.........FORD would be well advised to follow suit with a similar program.

You've also got the imminent CHINESE invasion..........like it or not.........people will buy these cheap Imports en masse. Not to mention the likes of Hyundai and KIA which are making massive inroads with their mid sized sedans and SUV's.

That's my 2c..........

Don'tcha hate it when someone hits the nail on the head better than you could say it?
You're right with the massive discounts just to shift stock. We bought our 50th Anniversary G6E in March. Sitting on the lot of the large dealer in Rockhampton at the time were about six other 50th Anniversary cars of various types. Many of the demo cars...XR6's, G6's, ordinary Falcons...had up to 2000km on them...they had been there a long time.
The guy totted up the price for our G6E (with 10km on the clock) with a towbar, paint protection, and headlight covers. It was also fitted with leather guts, sat nav and premium stereo, and he said the "normal" on road cost should be $55,000. Price to us? $47,000 on the road. Same with a couple of XR6's they had...both there and in Bundaberg...pricing way down around the $33,000 drive away. They were deperate to get rid of the damn things.

Sadly enough, I kind of get the feeling that the nex car I buy in hopefully many years time will be a four cylinder, and probably even Chinese, looking to the future and given the speed with which they can meet market demands quickly and modify product to suit.

[jpd80]

Nothing like higher fuel prices to ignite the wheels of change.
Not critical of Falcon because there's a lot of changes planned soon,
I think Ford should be pursuing buyers of Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo.
It's those cars that need to start performing better if Ford is to evolve.
Stop expecting Falcon to keep being all things to all people, it's not anymore

[mik]

Originally Posted by ESP

I don't think most of the buying population cares too much about advertising....

The Falcon is on its way out........like it or not. Consumers are looking more towards smaller , more fuel efficient ( and stylish ) vehicles. In comparison , the Falcon is thirsty , hard to park in small city and inner city parking spots , kind of ugly looking , underequipped and overall quality is either just standard or subpar. Not to mention their "old world" 3 year warranty offerings. Other makes have moved on to standard 5 and even 7 year offerings...........

Falcon overall sales are 40% down.....the writing is on the wall. ( There's already a huge overstock at FORD with the Falc - they basically have over 3000 units waiting for new homes....not to mention current dealer stock as well ) FORD are basically flogging a dead horse so throwing good money after bad on an advertising campaign just doesn't sound like a good idea. They're better off investing that money in something else. GM are also aware of the overall commodore demise and are investing heavily in the CRUZE.........FORD would be well advised to follow suit with a similar program.

You've also got the imminent CHINESE invasion..........like it or not.........people will buy these cheap Imports en masse. Not to mention the likes of Hyundai and KIA which are making massive inroads with their mid sized sedans and SUV's.

That's my 2c..........

you could be right , the way the cost of living is steadily climbing, not only the falcon but all cars in general are becoming a luxury, in years to come it will be the haves and have nots, we might all end up in these :(

[red_hotxr6]

Personally, i think all one has to do is look at the falcons on the road to see, ford being advertised. Any of the other car manufacturers can spend "endless amount of money" to advertise there brand of car, but at the end of the day i am going to jump into my ford and get where i want to go...and maybe the "boffins" at ford have already realised this. Maybe they have all ready worked out that spending millions of dollars on advertising does not equate into enough sales to warrant this being done.

[Papa Smurf]

I don't think Ford is putting too much money into advertising the Falcon mostly. I saw for the first time the other night the ad for the new GT/GS Supercharged Falcon with Mr Moffatt driving and I didn't think it was very interesting at all, it was like they were trying to sell off an XT.. sad

[Mitch89]

Holden VE Commodore: cool and fun, looks smart, touchscreens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hcL4SGSQ2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXlKcwDaUd8

FPV FG (the only ad I've seen recently): volume controls and old people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDtyls4nDUg

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by MY270

Holden VE Commodore: cool and fun, looks smart, touchscreens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hcL4SGSQ2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXlKcwDaUd8

FPV FG (the only ad I've seen recently): volume controls and old people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDtyls4nDUg

Yeah that's gold, they harp on about FE3 suspension...fine print says only available in Sedan...so no sportswagon or ute...

Second one the reversing cameras are only standard for CalaisV & SS-V, all others you pay for...high end only...hrmmm...

It seems they focus on the fact that people don't read commercials, they just listen to them.

They use a woman with dulcet tones to put the listener at ease, it sounds believable...a little too good to be true, and then you read the fine print...and it is...

Originally Posted by jpd80

The vast majority of Falcon fans don't buy new ones and forbid discussion of it ever changing.

So what is Ford to do........

This...Truer words have not been typed yet...

It's fine to say 'If they have an xr8 I'll get one...' the XR6T is a far better vehicle performance wise...but for some reason...there's always an excuse not to buy a Falcon...

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

Improve after sales service or have less issues.
They are the reasons that will stop me from buying another new one.

I'm willing to ignore some things but I'm particularly disgusted they can still deliver a car where rust appears within weeks of delivery.

In terms of service, even with dud dealers, I found Ford to be more co-operative & helpful in the days of RJV. Maybe it was the era opposed to the structure.

And this...After Sales Service at many dealers is still exceptional. There are some fantastic dealers out there - if you really want a Falcon...they're not hard to find, in fact, some are sponsors of this site.

[FgNewbie]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

And this...After Sales Service at many dealers is still exceptional. There are some fantastic dealers out there - if you really want a Falcon...they're not hard to find, in fact, some are sponsors of this site.

Over 30+ years of owning Fords I've been to enough service depts & had my share of fighting the system. One service dept was absolutely BRILLIANT for many years until staff changed. I stand by my comment which doesn't refer to site sponsors which are not within reasonable distance

As for the dealership that I bought my car from, it appears they have put my rust (seen after delivery) in the too hard basket. Life goes on.

[Mr Hardware]

Do ford market the falcon well!

No

Do ford market the falcon

No

They should do more ads like this:

[nstg8a]

i seem to be seeing the ads for the 335gt several times a night at the moment, so they are advertising it, but i cant remember the last time i saw an ad for a mainstream falcon.

[xisled]

IMO todays car market wants smaller 4 cylinder cars, because people think they will save money on petrol and so fourth. So that is why there is more add's about the smaller cars than the falcon.

You also have to look at what a family was seen to be 10 15 20 years ago. A family was 2 adult and 2 children, today a family does not mean you have kids or it is even big, may be a mother and son for an example. So people are looking to get smaller cars, because they do not need big cars to take the family on an outing.

Also the way a 4 cylinder is seen by a person who does not know much about cars, they are seen to be a cheaper option. I am guessing most of the population think this way.

If I ran Ford, my idea would be get people into the dealership's by advertising the smaller cars, once a customer is at the dealership sell the Falcon.

But IMO the Falcon is dead people no point advertising it, because people do not really want big cars any more they want small cars with 4 cylinders.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by xisled

IMO todays car market wants smaller 4 cylinder cars, because people think they will save money on petrol and so fourth. So that is why there is more add's about the smaller cars than the falcon.

You also have to look at what a family was seen to be 10 15 20 years ago. A family was 2 adult and 2 children, today a family does not mean you have kids or it is even big, may be a mother and son for an example. So people are looking to get smaller cars, because they do not need big cars to take the family on an outing.

Also the way a 4 cylinder is seen by a person who does not know much about cars, they are seen to be a cheaper option. I am guessing most of the population think this way.
If I ran Ford, my idea would be get people into the dealership's by advertising the smaller cars, once a customer is at the dealership sell the Falcon.

But IMO the Falcon is dead people no point advertising it, because people do not really want big cars any more they want small cars with 4 cylinders.

weather they know cars or not, the 4 banger is cheaper!!

cheaper to buy, service and disposable.. fuel wise it speak volumes.

[xisled]

Also, all you need to do is go outside, look down your street. When I look down my street. I see my GT, a VE SS, a coulple of big 4WD's, a van a few falcon and commodore's and about 60 or more 4 cylinders that are all different makes.

My street has about 50 or so house, it does not take much to work out people do not want big cars.

[burnz]

on a weekends it's all V8's like my driveway..
weekday's it's all 4 potters just like my driveway..

[jpd80]

On figures from recent years, 75% of all Falcon sales are to fleets, be that
government, large and small private fleets or even novated lease buyers.

So in that respect, we should be asking just who is Ford targeting with their advertising campaigns?
And if fleet sales are in the majority, shouldn't Ford have EcoLPI and Ecoboost as a higher priority?
I'm aware of the limitations due to I-6 reinstatement and fresh Territory & diesel program, so Ford has
obviously chosen short term pain with Falcon fleet sales to get a refreshed Territory out there.
I really hope that gamble pays off big time for them and the diesels put Ford back in the black.


It seems that the market has changed on Ford much quicker than they anticipated and sure,
people say that the stockpile of XR6 Falcons have been made without the more desirable display
and wheel packages private buyers want but that makes sense if fleet sales have deserted them.
Job 1 is to clear that back log of unsold vehicles, none of them will be broken up for scrap so all
will be sold regardless of the price. It's in Ford's best interest to clear the decks before FG II.....

[Road_Warrior]

There's no doubt buyers have turned their back on the Falcon. Ford's job however should be to make it more relevant in light of the market changes. This is where IMO they have dropped the ball in implementing Ecoboost. This was announced what, almost 3 years ago now? And we're still waiting. No doubt the fleets have become sick of waiting too and have gone elsewhere.

[nstg8a]

just look at the ad for the holden thunder ute, its a good ad, makes a point of the 'additions' over a normal ute, and a very very good price imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI3atOJhDvw