Ford Advertising....not so rubbish afterall???

Swordsman88 · 22-02-2009, 01:36 AM

Well after the constant abuse and negativity people have on AFF towards Ford marketing (or percieved lack thereof) i thought i'd bring this piece of excellent Ford Oz marketing to everyones attention.

Visiting a motor website just now and saw a little ad for the new Ford Fiesta at the top. It said, 'Nothing compares to the new Fiesta', and had some little rotating tv screens with competitors cars. Click on one of them and an nice little popup tells you how the Fiesta smacks them in the face in a range of areas.

Link is also avaiable for further info off the Fiesta minisite, under 'compare the new fiesta' tab.

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/Conte...ection=compare

I think this is a great bit of advertising (soft media) that is simple yet affective, and very relevant to the young/er buyer, particulary ladies that go after this sort of car. If you went to webpage to research a car (or the Fiesta minisite) you'd be presented with this nice looking ad and might just click on it, then click on a rival car and realise that Toyota Yaris you were after ain't so spiffy afterall........

I know everyone on here (me included) have at times disparaged Ford for a lack of advertising, poor advertising etc. But i think they have got this one spot on, took a bit of setting up i suppose but once done, a very effective way of conveying the true value of Ford vehicles.

The comparisons are based on cost, safety, fuel economy, tech features even style (alloy wheels etc.) My sister is the in age group of Fiesta buyers and she reckons this is spot on. Given the cost of TV ads this is much cheaper.

Oh and for the record, i love the new Fiesta, even though i very much am not interested in buying a little car. Take a look at the webpage, maybe even us Ford fans don't realise what great cars we make LOL!

deesun · 22-02-2009, 07:27 AM

Great idea, Ford marketing has pulled its finger out recently so lets hope it turns into sales,they need every single one. The Falcon adds have been better lately too, more relevant to every day Joe.

AUXRVIII · 22-02-2009, 10:19 AM

Why would you compare a Fiesta against a Corolla? Focus v Corolla yes, but not Fiesta v Corolla. Anything can come out in front if you position it carefully. I guess it's aimed at the people who know nothing about the class the car is sold in.

ieatsports_cars · 22-02-2009, 10:36 AM

maybe they have been focusing on the smaller cars instead of the larger cars, becasue the smaller fiesta may have a larger profit compared to the falcon ! How ever they should be pushing the falcon as well, becasue nothing drives like a new ford falcon which is so true , and they still should be backing the falcon a little biit more.

4Vman · 22-02-2009, 11:20 AM

Nice touch..

phillyc · 22-02-2009, 12:15 PM

Good site. Well done Ford.

PS Why pick on the Corolla and the Yaris. They are both easily the most popular cars in their segments and there is some crossover. Going after some of their customers is smart.

vanman_75 · 22-02-2009, 01:04 PM

keep it coming ,its a great start .

RG · 22-02-2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUXRVIII

Why would you compare a Fiesta against a Corolla? Focus v Corolla yes, but not Fiesta v Corolla. Anything can come out in front if you position it carefully. I guess it's aimed at the people who know nothing about the class the car is sold in.

No matter what Ford do there will always be one here who can only see the negatives.

As said above, why compare the Fiesta to the Corolla, the reason is they may not be in the same market segment but they both appeal to the same target. Females who want something small, cool, cute, zippy, safe, economical and packed with features.

Antwon · 22-02-2009, 01:15 PM

I dont get why they didnt compare it to the Barina or viva or what ever, because isnt that what young ladies are buying these days?

XR6_190 · 22-02-2009, 02:17 PM

Good stuff, I too have noticed that Ford have been flogging the hell out of the new Fiesta lately, and it doesn't surprise me, after all isn't the small car market the one booming, and isn't that something that Marin Burela knows best?

As for the Falcon, I agree with 4Vmans usual sentiments that there isn't really a need to market Falcon, anybody who wants a large car knows buy know to consider the Falcon and Commodore by now, I mean really, why scream out and tell everybody what they already know, people know they are good cars, they just don't want them, we do, but they don't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antwon

I dont get why they didnt compare it to the Barina or viva or what ever, because isnt that what young ladies are buying these days?

That would probably be pointless, the sort of people that buy these vehicles don't care what it is, they buy it because it is a small Holden, Holden proved this themselves when they released the current Daewoo Barina, people bought it in droves. Why chase sales from people who have already made up their minds.

Swordsman88 · 22-02-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antwon

I dont get why they didnt compare it to the Barina or viva or what ever, because isnt that what young ladies are buying these days?

Maybe they are too rubbish to bother.....seriously now. I'm hearing from people (even non-car people) that barina is fast loosing its desirability these days. People still buy them, but they aren't the 'first choice' they used to be. The competitors listed by Ford are mostly the 'quality' choices people think of, mazda and toyota etc.

While it can be a bit tricky by Ford and others to compare cars (the focus ad they did used the same tricks) that are in different classes etc, a quick comparison on the carpoint website shows they are pretty much right on. Of the cars compared only one was cheaper, all others were more expensive. Also, the corolla is considered by many small car buyers the default choice, they don't go for light cars because they think they are too small. Fiesta is quite a large car for a light car, so Ford has itself announced to the media that there will be crossover with focus size cars. Focus isn't as embraced by the ladies for some reason (not funky enough) so Ford thinks that fiestas will have more luck.

I think its a pretty fair comparison, they specify what car so it aint' deceptive. Certainly makes you wonder of the value of cars like the Honda, quite a bit more money and no ESP???

Stattic · 22-02-2009, 02:57 PM

not a bad ad at all, youd be surprised how many teenage girls choose one car over another just because it has bluetooth...

**TUF_302** · 22-02-2009, 05:32 PM

This add is on all the time during Top Gear, great time to play it alot i think!!, Especially after Clarksons review!!

Gobes32 · 22-02-2009, 05:56 PM

A totally random useless fact from an old (2003?) wheels magazine,

More than 40% of Yaris/Echo sales were to people who originally intended to buy a Corolla and did not realize Toyota made a smaller car until they got to the yard and the salesmen asked them what they wanted and how much they were willing to spend. All they knew was they wanted a small car and it had to be a Toyota. You can't buy that kind of loyalty..........

FPV+fteT3 · 22-02-2009, 07:23 PM

Good to see a few adds on the box for FORD products even the XR gets a mention hope this increases sales and awareness of how good their cars are.
XR6 for 34990 is a bargain if you were looking for a lge car you would have to consider this IMO.

Bucknaked · 22-02-2009, 07:48 PM

If they are going to compare the Fiesta against those cars, then it should be fair and display the results from the same category's for each of those cars. Only some category's remain displayed while others I'm guessing, the fiesta isn't as good.

ThePistonHead · 22-02-2009, 08:06 PM

Wow, that is very nice!

Mark351 · 22-02-2009, 08:23 PM

If I was in the market for a small 4 pot I'd go for the little Fiesta, top little vehicle.

AUXRVIII · 22-02-2009, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell

No matter what Ford do there will always be one here who can only see the negatives.

As said above, why compare the Fiesta to the Corolla, the reason is they may not be in the same market segment but they both appeal to the same target. Females who want something small, cool, cute, zippy, safe, economical and packed with features.

It says to me that Ford don't think the Focus is a competitve car against the Corolla, I think it is, Ford sell the focus short and they have themselves to blame for the rubbish ad campaign they lauched for it.
I can see both sides, I'm being a realist not negative.

RG · 22-02-2009, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUXRVIII

It says to me that Ford don't think the Focus is a competitve car against the Corolla, I think it is, Ford sell the focus short and they have themselves to blame for the rubbish ad campaign they lauched for it.
I can see both sides, I'm being a realist not negative.

Wait until the new Focus comes out first before launching an attack on its yet to be released marketing campaign.

Remember this ad if for the new Fiesta, not the old one.

AUXRVIII · 22-02-2009, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell

Wait until the new Focus comes out first before launching an attack on its yet to be released marketing campaign.

Remember this ad if for the new Fiesta, not the old one.

I'm referring to the previous Focus ad, it showed nothing about the car, just the diverse lifestyles it catered for.
I have seen the ad, no need to remind me what car it refers to.

Paxton · 22-02-2009, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUXRVIII

I'm referring to the previous Focus ad, it showed nothing about the car, just the diverse lifestyles it catered for.
I have seen the ad, no need to remind me what car it refers to.

The previous Focus ad was "Focus Facts". There is no advertising for Focus, as the new Focus is pending release. I'm guessing at the MMS.

Wally · 23-02-2009, 09:37 AM

So in a nutshell:

The Rolla is more powerful, the Genki and Yaris are cheaper and the Yaris has the same or better economy?

Swordsman88 · 23-02-2009, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wally

So in a nutshell:

The Rolla is more powerful, the Genki and Yaris are cheaper and the Yaris has the same or better economy?

Gee, negative much wally...... Like people have said, you can twist things to suit whatever argument you are making, my point was about the effectiveness of the advertising.

Either way, i think on balance the fiesta is more than competitive with those cars thankyou.

TZENU · 23-02-2009, 10:14 AM

Whilst i do believe that the Fiesta is competitive against the likes of the corolla etc., its about the way they are marketing the car... And to me that shows that perhaps Ford are taking a more pro-active approach towards marketing these cars, which can only be a step forward right????

Jason[98.EL] · 23-02-2009, 11:28 AM

not a bad add at all

my wife doesnt look at car adds but that one made her look and say that if she got her licence she would like to get one of them

well done ford it is about time we see some good advertising

Grimus

vegabass · 23-02-2009, 03:43 PM

I hate little cars with a passion. But I found the advertising better than most. Long story short, I ordered a Zetec Fiesta in Morello just a week ago.

Now I cant wait but at the same time cant wait to get my EL XR back off my missus.

:

Wally · 23-02-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swordsman88

Gee, negative much wally...... Like people have said, you can twist things to suit whatever argument you are making, my point was about the effectiveness of the advertising.

Either way, i think on balance the fiesta is more than competitive with those cars thankyou.

LOL you're preaching to the converted. I would suspect it's a good little car, but cracking the youth market is difficult. The convenient manipulation in those pages is fairly obvious even for a pimply faced teenager. Good lark though.