Dearborn unhappy with Ford OZ marketing

[Archilino]

Guys just read an interesting article in the latest wheels magazine, from Peter Robinson (p36) talking with Elena Ford the great-great granddaughter of henry Ford who is also the director of global marketing sales and service for Ford.

What grabbed my attention is that she has been in Australia 4 times already this year and when asked why so often she replies "They needed some help" Robbo goes on to say he has heard stories that dearborn has been unhappy with Ford Australia's marketting efforts, especially with the slow-selling european models. She later says the falcon wouldn't work in the U.S because the design is not progressive enough and that its too similar to mondeo.

Hopefully she has some great ideas in her field of expertise.

[bmorris]

She could of come on here and found out they needed some help without having to travel here 4 times haha

[tick6vct]

true ford oz marketing is pretty standard, really dosnt inspire me to buy a new ford but i suppose the marketing isnt aimed at 21 year olds who usualy cant afford to buy new cars.....as if ford america could say compared to theres that oz products are not progressive enough?!

[Archilino]

I see it as a good thing that head office is so concerned they send there top gun down here to sort it out, a quick look at mondeo and focus sales figures lately in particular would have their blood boiling.

[Road_Warrior]

Falcon is not progressive enough because Dearborn don't give FoA the cash to make it progressive.

[CAT600]

I bet if you took an FG base model I6, a G6ET and a manual FPV GT to the US and gave it to the dealer sales reps to drive they would all say they would love to have it over there in their sales stocks.

The Mustang is a great car and I would love to have it on sale here but its still only a two door... our FG wipes the floor with what I have seen in the way of Taurus and the old Crown Vic.

Daniel

[flappist]

Yes but Australia is not USA or Europe.

No amount of clever advertising will make Vegemite successful in either market, they just dont want it.

Falcon would be as big a flop as Pontiac GTO in USA, they think differently and have different tastes.

[tick6vct]

Ford U.S is trying to market and sell a two door sports car that dosnt even have IRS (Mustang) and aparently falcon isnt progressive enough.

perhaps ford US may be trying to market a more environmentally friendly sedan range with smaller engines (not talking about suv and f series here) and there wouldn't b room on the showroom floor between mondeo and taurus for another large sedan....thats what she may be looking at from a marketing perspective. Ford U.S fans know about the falcon just read the comments on you tube videos wondering why they dont have a cheap powerful RWD sedan for the masses? perhaps another inport would jepardise already average sales on their locally built dinosaurs

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Falcon is not progressive enough because Dearborn don't give FoA the cash to make it progressive.

+1 .

[tick6vct]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes but Australia is not USA or Europe.

No amount of clever advertising will make Vegemite successful in either market, they just dont want it.

Falcon would be as big a flop as Pontiac GTO in USA, they think differently and have different tastes.

true...top gear U.K also raves about vxr monaro etc but as to how successful sales wise they are I have no idea probs not that great.

[tranquilized]

Saying the Falcon isn't progressive enough for the USA is a fair call I'd say.

I'd consider the Taurus and Fusion more progressive in terms of styling than the Falcon, which is a good looker but quite conservative.

Remember, the terms progressive and attractive don’t necessarily mean the same thing...

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yes but Australia is not USA or Europe.

No amount of clever advertising will make Vegemite successful in either market, they just dont want it.

Falcon would be as big a flop as Pontiac GTO in USA, they think differently and have different tastes.

Understand what you are saying but with a little localization im sure a good rwd sedan would be better than what they have now.

[jpd80]

Who's most likely to kick your butt when advertising fails?
Who's most likely?
Ford of course.......

[fmc351]

They have to say that. US manufacturers are in a hole, some in a very deep hole. They are in a climate where 'protectionism' is back and manufacturers need to be careful. The member from Ohio has posted several times about Ford US and employment concerns. Im not saying they are wrong to do it, its just funny that they are the ones who pushed free trade on everyone.

Every American Ive shown clips or pics of the BF F6 to, loved it. FG would get a similar result I reckon. I know of two yanks with GTO's and they love em, one is trading to a G8 because he wants a 4 door.

[ST]

The only reason the Falcon isn't progressive enough for Americans is because it doesn't have a massive out of proportion truck grill on the front bar. Plus the body shape is too smooth and integrated, it needs to be made out of lego blocks with perfect 90 degree angles (that includes tyres).

[dannyhilton]

Recent advertising has come a long way since the 'Ford, of course' adverts that were running. Even still those adverts weren't horrible, just lacked some passion. It seems to me that Ford Australia's recent attempts are heavily influenced from US Ford. Word is the next global car, the Focus, will have the same campaign strategy across the world, so the adverts (print media, TV etc) that run here will be run in the UK, Thailand and US, or at least the same theme. I think Ford US want more control over things like this, and with good reason as they have turned their fortunes around with positive products and great marketing.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Who's most likely to kick your butt when advertising fails?
Who's most likely?
Ford of course.......

I see what you did there.

[Scott]

When did Ford Australia get a marketing department??

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Understand what you are saying but with a little localization im sure a good rwd sedan would be better than what they have now.

So how did you find the cars and drivers over there?
Did you like the way their cars drive and how the locals treat each other on the roads?
What did you think of the urban and rural road systems?
How about the weather?

[SM1DY]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Who's most likely to kick your butt when advertising fails?
Who's most likely?
Ford of course.......

I guess some of the Aus Marketing has worked, this "Ford, of course" line is becoming quite well recognised (in Australia at least), like the Mastercard 'Priceless' and the Yellowpages 'Not happy Jan!' ads.

Originally Posted by GTP006

When did Ford Australia get a marketing department??

BAZINGA!!!

[opto]

She later says the falcon wouldn't work in the U.S because the design is not progressive enough and that its too similar to mondeo.

How the bejesus does she know this ? Psycic or something, either that or Elena Ford is good at hypotheticals, which I doubt.

Unless you market in the States, how would you know, as it is, good old US of A is at the moment is in a recession, so any marketing effect would be limited.
So, this is just a copout, for a better car, thats why Allan Mulally will continue to manufacture Falcons on the Mustang Platform.

[XCwillo]

She does have a point, the FG doooes look abit like the new mondeo

And TBH,i think all the god damned FG models look almost the same (G6E exempt)
Really its hard to tell between the new F6, GT, XR6, XR8 ect ect at first glance, there are few defining features (bonnet bulges, vents ect) but nothing happening on the front end or rear :(

Holden has Ford beat in marketing AND design implementation

As far as performance goes, they still need to catch up ;)

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by opto

She later says the falcon wouldn't work in the U.S because the design is not progressive enough and that its too similar to mondeo.

How the bejesus does she know this ? Psycic or something, either that or Elena Ford is good at hypotheticals, which I doubt.

It's more a case of Fusion and Taurus are designed for US markets,
Mondeo is designed for European markets and Falcon is designed for ours.
If there wasn't any differences in buyer preferences, the same car would be everywhere.

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by jpd80

It's more a case of Fusion and Taurus are designed for US markets,
Mondeo is designed for European markets and Falcon is designed for ours.
If there wasn't any differences in buyer preferences, the same car would be everywhere.

They dont always get it right either. They've all created some monstrosities, well most anyway.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by fmc351

They dont always get it right either. They've all created some monstrosities, well most anyway.

Post 2006 they are getting it right and Ford USA has made huge changes,
near on half its work force gone and 14 factories closed they are now lean.
Their Product pipeline is full and new models are commanding higher prices.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by opto

She later says the falcon wouldn't work in the U.S because the design is not progressive enough .

Somebody once defined “progress” as the act of getting rid of something you hate, whilst keeping all the things you love.
Americans just don’t like the same things we do. We see a sports car with leaf springs and struts, and think OMG, but the Americans could care less. They look at a car without Satellite tracking, Emergency systems, or automatic nose pickers, and think “how primitive.”

In regards the GTO experiment; how would we respond if Ford announced they were “reviving” the GTHO name, with a car imported from Uzbekistan, which looked nothing like a Ford and was by our standards small and primitive?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

In regards the GTO experiment; how would we respond if Ford announced they were “reviving” the GTHO name, with a car imported from Uzbekistan, which looked nothing like a Ford and was by our standards small and primitive?

Not quite.
More like Ford Australia agreeing to give something like a Crown Victoria the GTHO name,
a vehicle totally unsuited to wear a muscle car name...

I was in LA in 2006 and they had a GTO at the LA Fairgrounds/Pomona drag strip,
even the guy babysitting the GTO said, "those of us who remember what muscle cars were
know this Holden coupe ain't a muscle car, nowhere near it..."

In regards to the G8 experiment, again GMNA pitched a RWd V8 car at an indifferent audience,
selling the SS as a Chevy Lumina or using Calais V as a Buick would have worked better IMO....

Those thinking of Falcon exports to America need to understand that the market there has moved on,
buyers there no longer have the passionate view of V8 RWD as once was the case.
Heck, even here it's pretty obvious that a lot of Ford V8 buyers have moved on...

[gtfpv]

When I went to the USA back in 1997 I was surprised that chevies and pontiacs were similar to Toyota echoes and ford festivas

[LTDHO]

"Dearborn unhappy with Ford OZ marketing"

Does Ford AU have marketing dept?

[The Snout]

While it's harder for us to swallow others just don't dig the Falcon, I have to agree with the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo just aren't doing acceptable enough levels and Ford Oz really does need a kick in the **** to get their levels up. Hopefully it brings some more funding and focus with it.