Bold move, unconventional branding from Ford
29th June 2006 by Angelo Fernando
How often have you heard a company say it plans to involve their customers? The love affair between ‘branding’ and ‘engagement’ seems to be the obsessive business story this year. Just Google the words ‘brand engagement’ and you’ll see.
But there is something very intriguing about a company saying it wants customers to ‘engage, debate and get involved’ in its turbulent times. I’m talking about Ford Motor Company, facing –and allowing us to see it all upfront– the turbulent winds of bankruptcy, rising fuel prices and tough competition whipping up a storm. The marketing Communication platform it has put together is at a web site called Ford Bold Moves which gives us an inside look at the challenges, using documentary-style video. “It is no secret that Ford is at the corossroads,” begins one piece. “Not only will we watch as the company struggles to transform itself, in whatever form that will take, but we’ll likely see other kinds of changes as well.”
This has to be one of the most daring moves from a major company in recent years. Some fifty episodes of these short films have been planned. The site has begun attracting all kinds of comments even before the main documentaries have begun appearing. They have been left unedited. One Mustang owner scolds the company saying he would never buy a Ford now. Another commends it saying it is about time the company spilled its guts and come out with this shock-and-awe technique.
Shock and awe, it portends. When the larger Bold Moves program was launched in May this year, the documentary was just one part of the mix, amid commercials, American Idol features, concert promotions, even a Bold Moves anthem. The latter all traditional branding stuff. This documentary approach looks like it’s going to make everything else irrelevant.
The intro video is a bit too well produced (by ad agency JWT), but it gives us a hint of what’s to come. “There is going to be stuff that people won’t want to have on camera,” says one person at the kickoff meeting, where the chairman vows to “rip off the BS.” Another executive says that Ford “does not have a marketing problem, it has a product problem.” Not often do you hear a company say something like that. But having tried every other kind of branding technique, Ford just might inject a new kind of brand appeal, um engagement.
July 3rd, 2006 at 7:22 am
While I agree that this is a strong move for Ford, I’d also note that it’s something they (and thousands of other companies) should have been doing for a long time already. The case for a more open, honest, public dialogue with stakeholders was being made back in the ’90s, and by the tail-end of the decade the technology was in place to make it a reality. As with anything else, there are those who lead, those who follow, and those who follow at a REALLY safe distance.
The ultimate success of the initiative will hinge not on the forum, of course, but on how well they actually deliver on the customer’s very valid quality concerns. And that - of course - depends on whether we’re seeing a truly integrated strategy or just a clever marketing dog/pony spectacular.
July 3rd, 2006 at 1:11 pm
The best branding Bold Move in the world can’t fix a bad product. Let’s hope this isn’t just more grist for the cynic’s mill, and another excuse for those who dismiss marketing as fluff to dismiss it with even more ferver.