Ford
I would like to talk about the Ford brand. Ford is a legendary American company, but its financial performance worsens every quarter. Page 16 of the September 11 Brandweek has an interesting article that highlights poor decisions made by the now former president/CEO Bill Ford. For example, he failed to execute his plan to launch Ford as a green company. Seems like the firm is analyzing any and all options, willing to do anything to improve its brand image as well as profitability.
The September 25 Brandweek highlights Ford on the front cover as well as page 6. Ford is locked into launching its new Expedition, but the market for SUVs is now miniscule, according to the numbers. However, the article states that the market will never disappear. The firm has decreased its marketing budget considerably, but it still spends, and it must "spend enough to maintain awareness." Or does it? I'm really not sure what Ford should do in terms of marketing. Should it cut costs (both marketing and supply chain) completely, or perhaps go all out? Or is there another completely different marketing strategy it can employ? Why is Ford image so poor right now and what is the underlying problem both in terms of branding and the firm as a whole?
I've also learned that Ford makes most, if not all, of its money from service revenue. How can the firm once again sell cars profitably? What should be brand management's next move?
-Robert Cusumano
posted by Brand007 @ 7:29 AM
1 Comments:
I found Rob's post particularly interesting. I think a big part of Ford's problem is that not only do they not know who they themselves are; they do not know how the consumer perceives them. When I think of Ford I think of trucks and built Ford Tough: the burly construction worker who uses his Ford to lug around all the necessities of his job, or someone in a similar occupation. I definitely do not think of green, especially not with the prominent presence of their SUV's everywhere. I think before they do any more marketing, they need to figure out who they really are right now, and who they want to become. Only then can they figure out a plan of how to get there.
- Berit Auerbach-Lynn
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