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Americans are buying Fords - DetroitFreePress

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Americans are buying Fords - DetroitFreePress
'Drive One' slogan isn't connecting with public

BY BRENT SNAVELY • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • June 7, 2009

While experts continue debating whether Ford Motor Co. can survive without the federal money propping up GM and Chrysler, the company is being bolstered by an increasing number of Americans who are doing more than buying Ford's "we're different" message.

They are buying Ford's cars and trucks.

Ford gained more than two full percentage points of market share in the United States last month. What's more, Ford achieved the gain while lowering incentives, such as cash-back rebates, by nearly 30%.

The positive momentum underscores why Ford contends it can make it through the economic downturn without federal assistance.

Ford executives first began pointing out the company's unique position last December, to distinguish Ford from GM and Chrysler, who received federal loans.

In a campaign partially coordinated by Ford, dealers began running personal letters in their hometown papers about how Ford has distinguished itself both with high-quality, fuel-efficient products and from the other Detroit Three automakers by not taking federal loans.

"Ford Motor Co. has isolated themselves from the other two, as they have not accepted any federal money," Crown Ford said in a letter to its customers in Nashville, Tenn.

That message has clearly been resonating with consumers.

Now, Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president, sales and marketing, said Ford's newest promotion, "Drive the Ford Difference," combines the "Ford is different" public relations strategy with the Ford brand's primary marketing campaign, "Drive One."

"What we have tried to integrate is the two things," Czubay told the Free Press in an interview. "The company is different, and frankly, the products are different."

A highlight for Ford has been the 2010 Ford Fusion, which is being billed as the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in America. In May, sales of the Fusion increased 9.4% to 19,786.

Scheduled to run through the end of June, the "Drive the Ford Difference" promotion offers customers up to three months' worth of payments on most new Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicles, and zero-percent financing for an undisclosed length of time.

Should slogan fade?
Czubay said the new campaign is simply the title for Ford's monthly promotion and insisted that Ford isn't backing away from its "Drive One" campaign, which was implemented by Jim Farley, the former Toyota executive who now leads Ford's marketing and communications efforts.

But some experts, like Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore., said Ford should dump "Drive One" and adopt the "we're different" message that consumers seem to like. When Ford first introduced "Drive One" in April 2008, consumers had a hard time understanding the message and still struggle to associate it with Ford.

"The Drive One campaign is so amorphous that it doesn't mean anything," Spinella said.

In focus groups, Spinella said, 80% of consumers identify Ford immediately when they hear, "Built (blank) Tough," and 57% still recognize "Have You Driven a (blank) Lately." In contrast, only 17% associate "Drive One" with Ford.

What is working, Spinella said, are Ford's comparison commercials -- such as comedian Denis Leary's rant about smart features of the redesigned F-150 -- as well as awareness that Ford is the only domestic automaker to forgo federal loans.

"Ford is being very aggressive, and being well received, because it didn't take any money," Spinella said.

Thirty-eight percent of people shopping for a Ford cited the company's rejection of federal loans as a factor that caused them to consider a Ford in May, according to a survey of 4,317 people by CNW Research.

"I hear it all the time" said Jim Seavitt, owner of Village Ford in Dearborn, who sold 175 cars in May.

"People are coming in buying our cars, saying we are the only company left ... not owned by the U.S. government."

Struggles aren't over
While Ford's gain in the marketplace has been admirable, the automaker continues to face serious challenges.

Ford lost $1.4 billion over the first three months of the year, burned through $3.7 billion in cash, and could be forced to ask for federal loans if the market doesn't rebound.

Czubay said Ford isn't getting overconfident, calling the market "less awful" than it was, but still worse than any year in recent history.


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