From various sources:
“This is an opportunity to change the perception of the Ford brand,” Matt VanDyke, Ford’s U.S. marketing director, said today during a press conference in the company’s home city of Dearborn, Michigan. “We don’t have natural showroom traffic on small cars.”
Fiesta commercials, with the slogan “It’s a pretty big deal,” will appear in the final four episodes of American Idol in the next two weeks, reaching more than 100 million viewers, VanDyke said. Ford is spending a “substantial” amount on the Fiesta campaign, which may be similar in size to promotions for Ford’s top-selling model, the F-series truck.
“This is the biggest car launch of the year” for Ford, said VanDyke, who declined to give a specific amount. “We have very, very consistently advertised F-series and we recognize we need to begin to make the same investment in the brand for cars.”
The company's advertising campaign has been in full swing for a year online and already has paid big dividends. Ford marketing executives say 60 percent of the car-buying public already knows about the new Ford.
"It's more than five times more efficient than anything we've done before. It's something you'll see us doing with other vehicles going forward." "We have the ability to affect preconceived notions of Ford."
“It’s a very important launch for the near-term future of Ford,” John Wolkonowicz, an auto analyst at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said today in an interview. “If they can’t sell a lot of these, they’ll have to go back to the drawing board. The car has what it takes, but it remains to be seen if Americans are ready to pay more for a small car. This is a grand experiment.”
More than half of the 1,540 advance orders for the Fiesta are for the highest-priced version, which starts at $16,995, said Chantel Lenard, the car’s marketing manager. Heated leather seats, priced at $715, are the most popular option among those putting money down on the car, she said.
“This is a great demonstration of Ford’s re-entry into the car market.” The Focus and Fiesta are “going to work really well in the showroom together because they’ll both attract a new customer to Ford.”
"The Gen-Yers are on their way up and the boomers are on the way down. Many of them are past their peak earning years, and a car like this allows them to adapt to that with a wink and a nod because they can convince themselves they are buying it to be cool. It remains the core reason to buy in this segment," said Chantel Lenard.
Automakers used to focus most of their ad spending on the launch of a vehicle, with support dropping off sharply once it was established in the marketplace. Marketing expert Michael Bernacchi, a professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, refers to that as the "blast-bust" model, and said Ford deserves credit for figuring out that it is ill-suited to today's digital reality.
"The blast-bust strategy never made a great deal of sense. Ford's new strategy makes great sense, especially if you are going after younger buyers." The new ads feature scruffy twenty-somethings, music from the up-and-coming band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and the catchphrase "It's a pretty big deal" -- all of which are likely to resonate with a generation of consumers weaned on iPods and Harry Potter. These cultural references may mean little to baby boomers, but youth does. And Ford is convinced that will be enough to sell empty-nesters who already are downsizing their lives on its hip subcompact. Bernacchi says it makes sense.
"Boomers are Gen-Y wannabes. Boomers are never going to give up their desire for youthfulness," he said, adding that they have something else in common with millennials: socio-economic status.
The new spots pull few punches, challenging not only the Fiesta's direct competitors -- the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit -- but even talking some smack about the BMW 3 series, which costs tens of thousands of dollars more. One tongue-in-cheek Web video pits the Fiesta against a Lamborghini.
Ford hopes the conventional ads will build on the success of its largely viral online effort.
More than 130,000 people have signed up online for more information about the Fiesta. More than 80 percent of them do not own a Ford now, and about 30 percent are under 25.
Any automaker would love to see numbers like these, but they are made more impressive by the fact that Ford -- along with the rest of Detroit -- has long lagged its foreign rivals with younger buyers.
“This is an opportunity to change the perception of the Ford brand,” Matt VanDyke, Ford’s U.S. marketing director, said today during a press conference in the company’s home city of Dearborn, Michigan. “We don’t have natural showroom traffic on small cars.”
Fiesta commercials, with the slogan “It’s a pretty big deal,” will appear in the final four episodes of American Idol in the next two weeks, reaching more than 100 million viewers, VanDyke said. Ford is spending a “substantial” amount on the Fiesta campaign, which may be similar in size to promotions for Ford’s top-selling model, the F-series truck.
“This is the biggest car launch of the year” for Ford, said VanDyke, who declined to give a specific amount. “We have very, very consistently advertised F-series and we recognize we need to begin to make the same investment in the brand for cars.”
The company's advertising campaign has been in full swing for a year online and already has paid big dividends. Ford marketing executives say 60 percent of the car-buying public already knows about the new Ford.
"It's more than five times more efficient than anything we've done before. It's something you'll see us doing with other vehicles going forward." "We have the ability to affect preconceived notions of Ford."
“It’s a very important launch for the near-term future of Ford,” John Wolkonowicz, an auto analyst at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said today in an interview. “If they can’t sell a lot of these, they’ll have to go back to the drawing board. The car has what it takes, but it remains to be seen if Americans are ready to pay more for a small car. This is a grand experiment.”
More than half of the 1,540 advance orders for the Fiesta are for the highest-priced version, which starts at $16,995, said Chantel Lenard, the car’s marketing manager. Heated leather seats, priced at $715, are the most popular option among those putting money down on the car, she said.
“This is a great demonstration of Ford’s re-entry into the car market.” The Focus and Fiesta are “going to work really well in the showroom together because they’ll both attract a new customer to Ford.”
"The Gen-Yers are on their way up and the boomers are on the way down. Many of them are past their peak earning years, and a car like this allows them to adapt to that with a wink and a nod because they can convince themselves they are buying it to be cool. It remains the core reason to buy in this segment," said Chantel Lenard.
Automakers used to focus most of their ad spending on the launch of a vehicle, with support dropping off sharply once it was established in the marketplace. Marketing expert Michael Bernacchi, a professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, refers to that as the "blast-bust" model, and said Ford deserves credit for figuring out that it is ill-suited to today's digital reality.
"The blast-bust strategy never made a great deal of sense. Ford's new strategy makes great sense, especially if you are going after younger buyers." The new ads feature scruffy twenty-somethings, music from the up-and-coming band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and the catchphrase "It's a pretty big deal" -- all of which are likely to resonate with a generation of consumers weaned on iPods and Harry Potter. These cultural references may mean little to baby boomers, but youth does. And Ford is convinced that will be enough to sell empty-nesters who already are downsizing their lives on its hip subcompact. Bernacchi says it makes sense.
"Boomers are Gen-Y wannabes. Boomers are never going to give up their desire for youthfulness," he said, adding that they have something else in common with millennials: socio-economic status.
The new spots pull few punches, challenging not only the Fiesta's direct competitors -- the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit -- but even talking some smack about the BMW 3 series, which costs tens of thousands of dollars more. One tongue-in-cheek Web video pits the Fiesta against a Lamborghini.
Ford hopes the conventional ads will build on the success of its largely viral online effort.
More than 130,000 people have signed up online for more information about the Fiesta. More than 80 percent of them do not own a Ford now, and about 30 percent are under 25.
Any automaker would love to see numbers like these, but they are made more impressive by the fact that Ford -- along with the rest of Detroit -- has long lagged its foreign rivals with younger buyers.
oh well.
