GreekGod
06-28-2006, 12:20 PM
Ford invites public to see workings
Carmaker updates turnaround plan
BY KORTNEY STRINGER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
June 28, 2006
<!-- factboxes, main image --><!-- begin photo/facts --><TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20060628&Category=BUSINESS07&ArtNo=606280346&Ref=AR&Profile=1020&MaxW=148&Border=1
A future Bold Moves Webisode features Carroll Shelby, who designed the Shelby Mustang for Ford Motor Co. (Ford)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- end photo/facts --><!-- story text --><!-- story text -->Ford Motor Co. is taking perhaps its boldest move ever: letting ordinary folks peek at contentious meetings and heated debates that drive its everyday decisions.
As part of the Bold Moves ad campaign it launched in May with TV spots featuring exclusive music from former "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkston, Ford on Tuesday began showing the first in a series of 50 three- to five-minute online documentaries.
Ford plans to run the Webisodes through the end of the year on its Web site, www.fordboldmoves.com (http://www.fordboldmoves.com/).
The "Bold Moves: The Future of Ford" videos, which Ford plans to advertise online, chronicle various aspects of Ford's North American business, from assembly line workers to executives talking about where Ford went wrong.
Ford said the purpose of the videos is to update consumers about the progress of the Way Forward plan it announced in January.
The plan is intended to turn around Ford's North American business, which posted a pretax loss of $1.6 billion last year, and bring it to profitability by 2008.
The campaign illustrates Ford's growing desperation to find a way to reach consumers and stem losses in market share and profit. It's also another example of an advertiser capitalizing on two emerging trends: America's growing appetite for reality shows and Web content.
"They're trying to get us to relate to the brand and identify with the company," said Hugh Cannon, a Wayne State University advertising professor.
"It's in tune with reality shows, not scripted, but real people in real situations. This is drama, it's real."
Ford said its campaign will give customers candid, inside glimpses -- not fluffy public relations pitches -- into Ford's North American operations. Virtually no subject or company event, Ford says, is off limits, including meetings in Chairman and CEO Bill Ford's office.
"We took cameras into Ford in places they've never been before," said Mary Lou Quesnell, director of Brand DNA for Ford, who appears in the first episode.
The first episode, "Change or Die," shows dilapidated buildings in Michigan and the headline "Ford Motor Co. Reports $1.19 Billion Net Loss in the First Quarter."
In the video, Ford executives, dealers and customers speak openly about Ford and the auto industry, saying such things as, "Our pricing is totally irrational if we're going to be successful against the real competitor which is not the Big Three, but it's Toyota, Honda and Nissan," and, "We're in trouble because we lost touch with the consumer."
The video ends with Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, saying, "Change or die, baby, that's what it's all about."
On the Web site, customers can comment on the video and read opposing viewpoints about various topics, including, "The Concept of the American Car A Thing of the Past," and "Is the American Care Irrelevant? Not by a Long Shot."
Liz Taylor Quilliam, a advertising expert, said Ford's honesty will be pleasantly shocking to consumers, but the campaign's effectiveness will be gauged by Ford's ability to get people to continue to view the Webisodes.
"This is compelling enough that it might put Ford back into the consideration set" for those in the market for a car, "but Ford still has to deliver on things like quality, price, service and design," she said.
Contact KORTNEY STRINGER at 313-223-4479 or stringer@freepress.com (stringer@freepress.com).
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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Carmaker updates turnaround plan
BY KORTNEY STRINGER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
June 28, 2006
<!-- factboxes, main image --><!-- begin photo/facts --><TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20060628&Category=BUSINESS07&ArtNo=606280346&Ref=AR&Profile=1020&MaxW=148&Border=1
A future Bold Moves Webisode features Carroll Shelby, who designed the Shelby Mustang for Ford Motor Co. (Ford)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- end photo/facts --><!-- story text --><!-- story text -->Ford Motor Co. is taking perhaps its boldest move ever: letting ordinary folks peek at contentious meetings and heated debates that drive its everyday decisions.
As part of the Bold Moves ad campaign it launched in May with TV spots featuring exclusive music from former "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkston, Ford on Tuesday began showing the first in a series of 50 three- to five-minute online documentaries.
Ford plans to run the Webisodes through the end of the year on its Web site, www.fordboldmoves.com (http://www.fordboldmoves.com/).
The "Bold Moves: The Future of Ford" videos, which Ford plans to advertise online, chronicle various aspects of Ford's North American business, from assembly line workers to executives talking about where Ford went wrong.
Ford said the purpose of the videos is to update consumers about the progress of the Way Forward plan it announced in January.
The plan is intended to turn around Ford's North American business, which posted a pretax loss of $1.6 billion last year, and bring it to profitability by 2008.
The campaign illustrates Ford's growing desperation to find a way to reach consumers and stem losses in market share and profit. It's also another example of an advertiser capitalizing on two emerging trends: America's growing appetite for reality shows and Web content.
"They're trying to get us to relate to the brand and identify with the company," said Hugh Cannon, a Wayne State University advertising professor.
"It's in tune with reality shows, not scripted, but real people in real situations. This is drama, it's real."
Ford said its campaign will give customers candid, inside glimpses -- not fluffy public relations pitches -- into Ford's North American operations. Virtually no subject or company event, Ford says, is off limits, including meetings in Chairman and CEO Bill Ford's office.
"We took cameras into Ford in places they've never been before," said Mary Lou Quesnell, director of Brand DNA for Ford, who appears in the first episode.
The first episode, "Change or Die," shows dilapidated buildings in Michigan and the headline "Ford Motor Co. Reports $1.19 Billion Net Loss in the First Quarter."
In the video, Ford executives, dealers and customers speak openly about Ford and the auto industry, saying such things as, "Our pricing is totally irrational if we're going to be successful against the real competitor which is not the Big Three, but it's Toyota, Honda and Nissan," and, "We're in trouble because we lost touch with the consumer."
The video ends with Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, saying, "Change or die, baby, that's what it's all about."
On the Web site, customers can comment on the video and read opposing viewpoints about various topics, including, "The Concept of the American Car A Thing of the Past," and "Is the American Care Irrelevant? Not by a Long Shot."
Liz Taylor Quilliam, a advertising expert, said Ford's honesty will be pleasantly shocking to consumers, but the campaign's effectiveness will be gauged by Ford's ability to get people to continue to view the Webisodes.
"This is compelling enough that it might put Ford back into the consideration set" for those in the market for a car, "but Ford still has to deliver on things like quality, price, service and design," she said.
Contact KORTNEY STRINGER at 313-223-4479 or stringer@freepress.com (stringer@freepress.com).
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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