Another opportunity missed by Ford's poor marketing

Fairmont Man · 06-12-2010, 07:44 PM

I've just finished flicking through today’s Herald-Sun, the highest selling daily paper in the country....Where is the Ford ad? You would think that the day after a Ford driver wins the V8 Supercar Championship there would be an ad to say well done, and more importantly, go and buy one of these great cars. Ford miss the mark time after time with their crappy advertising and marketing. It is little wonder that the Commonbore continues to outsell the Falcon, when there is something to shout about and promote, the silence is deafening. The Falcon is and has been for some time a better car but nobody knows about it. Vodafone managed an ad to congratulate Team Vodafone for winning the team prize. Ford should have had an advertisement all ready to go, so as soon as Courtney won the championship it was ready to go in today's paper.

I'm glad I got that off my chest. But seriously to the marketing people at Ford, come on guys, lift your game before the Falcon name fades away. These kinds of promotion opportunities don’t happen all that often, so make the most of it.

fmc351 · 06-12-2010, 07:48 PM

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

And here we go again.

Nikked · 06-12-2010, 07:50 PM

Are we going to have a complaint every time ford doesn't do something? Whinge, whinge, whinge.

Focus on the good, not the bad.

Peter B - CV8 · 06-12-2010, 07:55 PM

Was thinking exactly the same thing. Also, has Moffat died or something - because I haven't seen or heard him doing anything for FPV. It's been 10 months of nothing since he was appointed FPV's "ambassador".
The brilliant new supercharged 5 litre product might die in the market - due to lack of Ford marketing.

Fairmont Man · 06-12-2010, 07:59 PM

I just thought it would have been a good chance to promote something positive for the company.

Iggypoppin' · 06-12-2010, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikked

Are we going to have a complaint every time ford doesn't do something? Whinge, whinge, whinge.

Focus on the good, not the bad.

This. I'm sure ford has a reason behind everything it does(and doesn't) do, it has no obligation to share it's reasoning with anybody.

flappist · 06-12-2010, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fairmont Man

I've just finished flicking through today’s Herald-Sun, the highest selling daily paper in the country....Where is the Ford ad? You would think that the day after a Ford driver wins the V8 Supercar Championship there would be an ad to say well done, and more importantly, go and buy one of these great cars. Ford miss the mark time after time with their crappy advertising and marketing. It is little wonder that the Commonbore continues to outsell the Falcon, when there is something to shout about and promote, the silence is deafening. The Falcon is and has been for some time a better car but nobody knows about it. Vodafone managed an ad to congratulate Team Vodafone for winning the team prize. Ford should have had an advertisement all ready to go, so as soon as Courtney won the championship it was ready to go in today's paper.

I'm glad I got that off my chest. But seriously to the marketing people at Ford, come on guys, lift your game before the Falcon name fades away. These kinds of promotion opportunities don’t happen all that often, so make the most of it.

Realistically anyone who even remotely cares about V8SC is a member of one of the tribes.

Red tribe would not buy Ford if they were free.
Blue tribe, on the other hand, would buy Holden if they were free (because they are smarter than red tribe) but would use them for sporting purposes such as:

Clay covered Commodore shooting.....PULL
World Championship wreSStling
Pin the (bow)tail on the clubsport
Ten Cruise bowling
Biathlon (ski up to a commodore then shoot it)
Pentathlon (run over to a stable, ride a horse to a lake, swim to an island and then stab a holden with a sword before shooting it).
Decathlon (which is just basically running around jumping all over a holden and belting it with a hammer and stabbing it with a javelin unless of course it is a barina in which case it would only be a heptathlon)

and of course fishing. (well boats sometimes drift you know so you need to keep them in one place somehow)

mik · 06-12-2010, 08:14 PM

yes you have to give holden a congrats, their marketing is in everything, is it any wonder they sell more cars, last week i was looking at a Ford magazine at the news agents, i pull it out of the rack and its got a holden calendar attached to it

Nikked · 06-12-2010, 08:26 PM

I would agree seeing this...

"Ford, we build winners. Holden buys them"

...would be cool.

Feathers · 06-12-2010, 08:35 PM

Fairmont Man, Every time Ford win something - The Chamionship, Bathurst, whatever - someone makes the same post.
We know that for the most part Ford Marketing are pretty useless, but as was said, not everyone cares about the V8's, and it doesn't make an impact on their sales patterns anymore.

The previous ad showing the Ford with a lions tail hanging out the front intake was very clever though!

Similarly, I got a lovely brochure from The Lions Den with my weekend junkmail, yet I've never seen Ford do anything similar, apart from the odd gift pack in Target.
If you want Ford team merch, you either have to go to an event, or buy it online.

GreenR · 06-12-2010, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

This. I'm sure ford has a reason behind everything it does(and doesn't) do, it has no obligation to share it's reasoning with anybody.

Well I think they do to every Ford owner in Australia. We trust, buy and spend money on their products. Our business is one reason they operate and run. Also what about shareholders etc. So I think they are obligated to share reasoning

stang65 · 06-12-2010, 08:46 PM

Feathers, I have to disagree with you. When Ford dropped the v8 for however many years it did it lost alot of customer. A generation had grown up seeing Holdens with a V8, Holdens excellent marketing and no v8 from Ford .

Ford know they made a mistake dropping the V8 thats why they brought it back. But Ford can`t expect to gain the loyalty of that generation by winning and not making an issue of it, They need to be doing more in motorsport,better than Holden and for a long period of time.

As has been said Ford America don`t have this problem and maybe we should be asking why doesn`t Ford America offer more cash more motorsport.

Resurrection · 06-12-2010, 08:48 PM

Ford Australia do not have a marketing department.

Iggypoppin' · 06-12-2010, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plarazza

Well I think they do to every Ford owner in Australia. We trust, buy and spend money on their products. Our business is one reason they operate and run. Also what about shareholders etc. So I think they are obligated to share reasoning

No, it really has no obligation to anybody behind it's reasoning for not showing an advert in regards to Fords V8 win. When Holden creates an advert and airs it, it doesn't share it's reasoning behind it (it's pretty obvious why they have adverts but you get my meaning). The same argument was made when the old boss 5.4 was "decommissioned" and the coyote was due for release, but no one knew when. The question was asked, Why isn't it here yet!!! We want answers!!! I posted that for whatever reason ford has been quiet about coyote, it has no obligation to answer questions. When ford is good and ready, it will do what has to be done, tell us about it, and we can talk about it then. Until then, I'm not about to question where the adverts are, there's got to be a reason, we just aren't hearing it.

Joe5619 · 06-12-2010, 10:08 PM

And what makes you think that add will make anyone buy a Falcon??? The whole point of Motorsports is to get people to become brand royal.. Like us, that will by Ford & Ford only. Winning & being involved is all they need.. A waste of money add saying nothing really, is not going to sell one car AT ALL!!

Just my $0.02 cent

4Vman · 06-12-2010, 10:11 PM

Anyone want to take a stab at what a 30 second prime time commercial might cost to produce and air on national prime time TV? or a page spread in every major paper in Aust?

Ford paid for a massive "commercial" yesterday afternoon that lasted for 3 hrs on Ch7.

There are no ads about winning some motorracing series because it wont sell cars....

Pretty simple really.

**ebxr8240** · 06-12-2010, 10:22 PM

May as well drop out stop sponsorship then...

banarcus · 06-12-2010, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikked

I would agree seeing this...

"Ford, we build winners. Holden buys them"

...would be cool.

What is Ford in a V8 supercar? The motor and modified body panels?

This sport is hardly mainstream, you are either on one side or the other and the large car market is pretty much been abandoned by the Australian consumer and Ford alike....

sgt_doofey · 06-12-2010, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

and of course fishing. (well boats sometimes drift you know so you need to keep them in one place somehow)

Not quite right there Flappist. You'd pull the motor out and use that as the boat anchor and then use the rest of the car for a nice artificial reef.

As for the marketing, maybe they are saving their pennies for next year when we see the release of EcoBoost and LiLPG in the Falcon and Turbo Diesel in the upgraded/facelifted Territory.

Rev28K · 06-12-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter B - CV8

Was thinking exactly the same thing. Also, has Moffat died or something - because I haven't seen or heard him doing anything for FPV. It's been 10 months of nothing since he was appointed FPV's "ambassador".
The brilliant new supercharged 5 litre product might die in the market - due to lack of Ford marketing.

I just saw an ad in a car magazine featuring him - something along the lines of "this us the best muscle car Australia has ever produced"

Iggypoppin' · 06-12-2010, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by banarcus

What is Ford in a V8 supercar? The motor and modified body panels?

This sport is hardly mainstream, you are either on one side or the other and the large car market is pretty much been abandoned by the Australian consumer and Ford alike....

Technically I don't think the motors are even "ford" or "Holden". I think they use aftermarket alloy blocks that are based on the Windsor block, so Windsor oil and water galleries etc.
The differentials are based off of 9" diffs(ford diffs) but are alloy and are engineered into IRS setups.
The gearboxes are hollinger sequentials, afaik.
The bodies have custom front and rear bumpers and lexan windows, not glass.
The stickers that plaster all over the cars, and the basic body shape, are all that remain of the original ford or Holden. But anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

chrisfpv · 06-12-2010, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Ford Australia do not have a marketing department.

This on so many levels, Holden are number 1 and look like they'll be number 1 for a while.

oranpark addict · 06-12-2010, 11:54 PM

Look at it this way boys. Would you rather have a great car with 'dodgy' marketing or a lesser car with excellent marketing (a few people on here would consider the commodore to fit in to this category, and to be an inferior product).

On a slightly related note I must pose a question and maybe we could get a poll going about this. But I don't think that would be neccessary because I can recall a similar poll.

'What would you drive if there wasn't the ford and falcon you know?'

Iggypoppin' · 07-12-2010, 12:09 AM

Older Toyota or Nissan, rwd obviously, or BMW mid 90's. Would consider a commodore if I couldn't afford the others.

fmc351 · 07-12-2010, 02:30 AM

All the knockers of Fords strategy, where can I see the ads for your multinational car company? Oh whats that, you dont have one? Funny, ford does.

EB# · 07-12-2010, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by banarcus

What is Ford in a V8 supercar? The motor and modified body panels?.....

The V8 supercars are pretty well nothing like the road cars. I think the parts
in common are headlamps, shape of some panels, wing mirrors and tail
lights.... that's it. These cars are more like each other than their respective
brands.

Some info from Wikipedia:

Bodywork:
.....V8 Supercar granted the Commodore a custom fabricated bodyshell into
which a limited number of production bodyshell panels are incorporated. As
a result, the roofline is lower than production and the rear door is shorter
such that externally the rear doors, roof and rear quarters all consist of
specialised custom coachwork panels.

Similarly, the longer wheelbase of the FG Falcon (over the BF) requires a
comparable custom-fabricated shorter body, and the FG is also shorted in
the rear door and lowered in the roof line compared to the road going model.

Engines:
Every car uses either a 5.0 L Ford "Boss 302" SVO or a 5.0 L Chevrolet small
block race-engine (depending on the make) - capable of producing between 460 and
485 kW (620 — 650 bhp) of power, but generally quoted as a little
over 450 kW (600 bhp) in race trim. Engines have pushrod actuated valves
and electronic fuel injection. Both Ford and Holden engines are based on
racing engines from their respective US parent companies. Engines are
electronically restricted to 7,500 rpm. Broadly speaking, the engines have a
capacity of 5 litres, with 2 valves per cylinder. Compression ratio is
regulated to 10:1.

For more info, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8_Supercars

**DJR-351** · 07-12-2010, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Red tribe would not buy Ford if they were free.
Blue tribe, on the other hand, would buy Holden if they were free (because they are smarter than red tribe) but would use them for sporting purposes such as:

"Red tribe would not BUY Ford if they were FREE" that seems the smart thing to do, why hand over money for something thats free.....??

"Blue tribe, on the other hand, would BUY Holden if they were FREE" that doesen't seem very smart to me, again, why hand over money for something thats free....??

I realise the post was made in jest but could not help myself, so out of the above, who again is the "smartest" Blue or Red....??

**Polyal** · 07-12-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Anyone want to take a stab at what a 30 second prime time commercial might cost to produce and air on national prime time TV? or a page spread in every major paper in Aust?

Ford paid for a massive "commercial" yesterday afternoon that lasted for 3 hrs on Ch7.

There are no ads about winning some motorracing series because it wont sell cars....

Pretty simple really.

Understand where you are coming from but then why bother dropping money into teams...why bother racing at all?

Its about building the brand and awareness, sprouting your name when they do something good, not only being heard when there is a recall or issue.

4Vman · 07-12-2010, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polyal

Understand where you are coming from but then why bother dropping money into teams...why bother racing at all?

Its about building the brand and awareness, sprouting your name when they do something good, not only being heard when there is a recall or issue.

So the millions they spend on paying for all the stickers on cars and all the billboards around the track that get 3 hrs of TV coverage (let alone zillions of magazine pics) on prime TV 28 days a year isn't enough?
They have to draw the line somewhere... Even Holden have a similar attitude to it.

Smoke Pursuit · 07-12-2010, 11:01 AM

Are we all dumb..

It comes down to cost. Ford dont have any money to waste on marketing..

When you don't have the budget, your better off marketing what you need to, e.g. your core product, not some championship win that most people who buy Fiestas, Focus, Mondeo etc dont care about.