Ford's "Brand DNA" team and "Way Forward" plan

[GreekGod]

Ford focuses on 3 badges

Brand DNA team seeks consistencies

BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
June 28, 2006
<!-- factboxes, main image --><!-- story text --><!-- story text -->Ford Motor Co.'s Way Forward turnaround plan, which aims to restore North American automotive operations to profitability by 2008, isn't all about plant closures and layoffs.
A key piece of the effort also calls for breathing some life into the misguided and confused personalities of the company's struggling Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands.
Five months into the plan, that objective is coming into focus:
• There's an exciting Bold Moves campaign at Ford, featuring edgy messages and the music of "American Idol" Taylor Hicks.
• Mercury has found its groove, with its hip, sophisticated products and actress-spokeswoman Jill Wagner.
• A Reach Higher marketing theme at Lincoln, which will focus on dreams, is beginning to take shape for the American luxury brand.
But if Ford executives begin to stray -- as they so often have in the past -- they could come up against a new team of marketers, product specialists and sales experts who have been put in charge of protecting the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln identities.
Call them Ford's brand police or, as Ford prefers to call them, the Brand DNA team.
Created in January, after Ford announced its Way Forward, the small squad is headed by Mary Lou Quesnell, the new director of Brand DNA.
The team, she explained during a Tuesday interview, has one overseer for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln, and members are charged with reviewing product plans, marketing strategies and other decisions, to make sure there is consistency across the brand lineups.
Quesnell said the team works with others throughout the company on "how to live the brand."
Sonia Shrank said she believes in her work as the brand DNA manager for the new full-strength Ford. "Many of us," she said, "worked on the Way Forward."
Building a successful automotive company today is about much more than just building high-quality cars and trucks.
It's about building vehicles with a clear personality -- an emotional identity conveyed through styling and marketing -- that appeals to customers and helps the owner company build a brand that engenders a community of Mustang lovers, of F-150 drivers or, say, funky Focus fans.
In today's crowded, noisy automotive marketplace, brands help customers and companies figure out where they and their products fit, demographically and psychologically.
A strong identity, as Apple has with its iPod, can propel a company to success. A weak one, meanwhile, often suffers on the vine, with little personality to recommend it.
Mark Fields, the executive vice president who is heading up the Way Forward turnaround plan, said brand identity is critical as the company moves out of its slump. Ford lost $1.2 billion during the first quarter, and sales for the year are off 3.5%.
"Many people ... view brand-speak as irrelevant," he said in a speech earlier this year. "I'd like to challenge that thinking today, and I'd ask you to think again. ...
"Guess what? Apple and Motorola had been written off less than a decade ago, just like the American auto industry. The headlines were grim. But Apple and Motorola went on the offensive. They redefined themselves, they refocused on their brands, and they connected like never before."
Contact SARAH A. WEBSTER at 313-222-5394 or swebster@freepress.com.

Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.

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[juno]

What did they just say? Nothing.

[SergntMac]

Er...What?

[MERCMAN]

Yup, we ALL know that slick advertising is what really sells cars!! I hope that all those folks remember the basic tenet of advertising,, "You can't polish a turd"

[SergntMac]

Originally Posted by MERCMAN

Yup, we ALL know that slick advertising is what really sells cars!! I hope that all those folks remember the basic tenet of advertising,, "You can't polish a turd"

Oh yes you can, as long as it's organic, not a fuel additive, or cleaner, and you don't add it to the gasoline.

[Vortex]

Sad to say this is why FoMoCo is headed down the long slow swirl in the commode IMHO. Instead of worrying about "brand identity", get some cars the public wants and all that other BS will take care of itself. Just look at Daimlier-Chrysler. I drive one of our work 300C Hemis at times and that car is damn nice. I know the Charger is the same, the Viper is nice, the trucks are nice (well maybe Ford has em in the mid size group) but my point is Ford products are pretty boring really, lets face it. For instance, if I knew I was going to keep making Panthers thru 2010, Id damn sure make a monster hotrod version of it. The chassis can handle it, hell, drop that Ford GT engine in a Town Car, that will get some attention. All this gobbledegook ad stuff is pretty sad.

[1 Bad Merc]

All you have to do is get rid of the focus groups and pc people and get some car guys in their who like to build fun cars! Give the public some good old American style, market it and voila! You are selling cars again! I dont see what is so hard about it. They also need to quite shoveling the Euro crap designs down our throats all of the time.

On top of this most of Ford's problems all start with the upper management and the yes men that tell them whatever they want to hear. You would think these execs would see the lack of Fords out on the city streets but I guess it's hard to see from behind the smoke tinted limo windows! Nuff said.

[shakes_26]

Your right Mercman, but you can gold plate the emblems, give it a landau top and sell it as the "Palm Beach Edition".

Originally Posted by MERCMAN

, "You can't polish a turd"

[chrish]

Originally Posted by SergntMac

Oh yes you can, as long as it's organic, not a fuel additive, or cleaner, and you don't add it to the gasoline.

what ever happened to this dude?...I thought he was one of the new owners of the site?

[sicilianmarquis]

hold up................... " actress spokeswomen, for Mercury JILL WAGNER"


That was my old bosses name over at Mosler automotive, for Fords sake, i really hope its not her

[RCSignals]

Originally Posted by sicilianmarquis

hold up................... " actress spokeswomen, for Mercury JILL WAGNER"


That was my old bosses name over at Mosler automotive, for Fords sake, i really hope its not her

Do you watch TV at all?

[Krytin]

Originally Posted by RCSignals

Do you watch TV at all?

At 19 years old this one wouldn't even have seen the re-runs! Especially not on the MTV channels.

[Raudermaster]

Damn, you guys went fishing for this thread.

[RCSignals]

Originally Posted by Krytin

At 19 years old this one wouldn't even have seen the re-runs! Especially not on the MTV channels.

she is in every Mercury ad aired today. What re runs?

[larryo340]

Originally Posted by sicilianmarquis

hold up................... " actress spokeswomen, for Mercury JILL WAGNER"


That was my old bosses name over at Mosler automotive, for Fords sake, i really hope its not her

She pretty