Good Car Marketing in Australia

[Lagom]

Everytime sales results come out, or people talk about ads, there's the big Ford marketing whipping fest.

What do you consider to be good car marketing downunder? How would you improve Ford marketing?

Personally, I think it goes beyond ads (marketing is more than advertising). They have some good ones and some annoying ones, just off the top of my head:

Fiesta - Ghost style ad with the German couple moulding clay into a Fiesta. Aimed at inner city young types, makes sense. Depends on whether they actually remember this little silver German thing is actually a Ford; I know a few that didn't realise this was a Ford ad.

Focus - Smooth as with the iPod, fish and dog in silly situations showing the car's ride & handling. Probably one of the more memorable small car ads. But the XR5 print ads with the fishbowl on the seat were dumb, IMHO.

Fairmont Ghia - driving through scenery simulating European flags highlighting European qualities. The first classy Ford ad I've ever seen.

Territory - turbo eating sports cars for breakfast, mums turning up to school in rigs comparing their tanks to the Tezz, mum in situations where she needs eyes in the back of her head (i.e. reversing camera).

Falcon Ute - showing its dog/chick pulling power. Bit bogan I guess, but then again different customer base to people looking for Fairmont Ghias.

Personally, I don't think these ads are that bad. It's the bloody "you'd be popular too", "cricket", etc dopey deal promotion ads that are annoying and that people seem to tar all Ford advertising with.

People talk about the Holden marketing machine, but to be honest, I thought the VE Commodore launch ad was pretty disappointing. A bunch of rocky looking cars rolling around and then a Commodore comes out, doesn't really get you energised or think 'wow'.

Probably the most memorable local ad I can think of is Toyota's "bugger" Hilux ad.

Remember that marketing is comprised of product, pricing, communication/promotion and distribution.

Personally, I think that Ford build excellent drivers cars that are let down by their showroom appeal (eg. sit inside one that feels cheap compared to Jap/Euro competition - if you write it off and never drive it, you'll never know how great it is to drive) and the Ford image.

What hurts Ford, IMHO:

Ford Image

For people with blue blood, no problems. But for many others there's a stigma to the Ford badge. Ford = company car, blokey, unsophisticated, dad's car, ugly AU, bogan, common, boring, big car, not aspirational.

In the old days, you'd get a company car, probably a Holden or Ford. Now you get a novated lease and can choose anything under a certain price. Suddenly with more choice, people start thinking "I should choose a car with a better name" than a Falcon or Commodore.

Amongst car enthusiasts, I think there's a recognition in Australia, post BA that Ford are building pretty good cars here. Fiesta, Focus, Falcon, Territory - all regarded as excellent cars within their respective classes. But amongst non car people, I know many who just think Fords are ordinary cars. After they drive one, often their view changes.

Always find it interesting when I meet people with Territories how they often describe themselves as owning a Territory, not a Ford.

Lacklustre customer service & quality

There are good dealers out there, but too often you hear horror stories about tightarsed warranty claims, dealers that don't care, the call centre that fobs you off. Bad word of mouth spreads, hurts Ford. Saving $100 on a warranty claim, but lose a handful of customers via poor word of mouth that hurts your reputation - thousands of dollars in profits. I'm sure Toyotas have problems too, but I suspect they cop the initial pain to keep the customer happy and it ends there. Cars having problems can present you with an opportunity to restore a customer's faith in you and turn them around to be an advocate for you. You can't buy Toyota's reputation with advertising dollars.

Long gap in small and medium cars

I remember one day visiting a Holden dealer, who tried to discourage me from buying the current Focus, because all of Ford's import efforts were disasters and because they sold poorly, they were going to stop. Didn't hold water with me, but I bet it gets some.

A few years gap between Festiva and Fiesta (and how many still call Fiesta Festiva?), a botched launch job on Focus I, no Mondeo for years, all don't augur well. It wasn't always like this, I remember the days when Lasers seem to be growing on trees and Festivas were everywhere. Ironically, with far superior product now, Ford hasn't managed to go back to its glory days in small cars. As large cars have lost popularity, they've missed out on a bit of the small car fest. Alas, they are doing better now. Arguably though, the weakness in small cars has probably hurt the Ford image. After all, without small cars, Ford = Falcon Car Company (we know this isn't true, but think of it from a non car person's perspective).

For those who consider a 6 cylinder large RWD sedan an anacronism, Ford has no alternative for those seeking a good size 4 cylinder famiy car. Seems like there are enough getting Mazda 6s, Libertys and Accord Euros. Lets face it, sure it's nice, but a lot of people couldn't really care for a base model family car getting to 100km/h in 7.5s.

Product Quality & Cost Cutting

In terms of the drive, Fords really are good now. Their main weakness I feel is in their interior build. If you're not really considering Fords seriously, but you go to a motorshow and just have a look at a bit of everything, cheap materials and sometimes careless assembly of interiors will probably make you think that Fords are poorly built and not worth considering. Many of these people probably had a Ford years ago, when imports were expensive, and that Ford was probably a bit average. Because that latent belief has never been challenged, as more options have become affordable and available, it's hurt Ford. If you can't get people to drive the cars, they'll never know how good they are to drive. Secondly, looking at the number of Camrys and Corollas out there, it's obvious a lot of people aren't that finicky with driving dynamics

I noticed in some XRs at the motorshow - carpet covering the underside of the hatshelf, but nothing on the underside of the bootlid. If you're going to cost cut, may as well be smarter and move the carpet to an area that customers will notice and think "ooh, quality".

Then there's cynical cost cutting, such as removing memory seats out of the Territory Ghias. A beancounter somewhere will be proud with their efforts, I'm sure. Someone who's about to renew their lease on their 04 SX Ghia, looks at a Terri Turbo Ghia, notices the memory seats gone, Ford loses a sale. Not good. I suspect it would only take a small handful of lost sales to wipe out any cost save from removing memory seats. Cost control is crucial, but Territories are driven by families, there are often different drivers, what on earth were they thinking?

Ironically I think "Have you driven a Ford lately?" has more meaning now than it ever has. The latest bunch really are good to drive, far more competitive than what was coming out of Broady 15 years ago under big tariff barriers.

Personally, I think it's time for Ford to challenge peoples beliefs about Ford.

Interested to hear what you consider to be good marketing and what Ford could do to improve its marketing and situation overall in Australia.