Wall St Journal - May 1, 2007
Barry Engle, Ford's new North American marketing chief, acknowledged that companies usually avoid giving free advertising to rivals. But he said the challenge ads are meant to "provoke people to try our products and making sure we are on the list." Mr. Engle also said Ford needs to face the fact that consumers are pitting the company's vehicles against those from Honda Motor Co. and Toyota when choosing what to buy. As a result, he aimed at giving Ford's marketing a more confident tone.
.the Ford Challenge advertising campaign...asks consumers to compare Ford vehicles to their toughest competitors. The first television, print and online ads, launched at the beginning of this year, focused on the Ford Fusion midsize sedan
At first, the Fusion got what Ford insiders call the "launch and abandon" treatment, as ads for the car largely disappeared several months after the vehicle hit showrooms after its October 2005 launch. Mr. Engle found that at the end of 2006, two-thirds of consumers weren't aware the Fusion existed. "In the past, we gravitated disproportionately on our new stuff."
But after Ford renewed its push on the Fusion with the Ford Challenge ads this year, Fusion sales accelerated, up by almost 33% in 2007 through March over a year earlier.
Engle is using some of the lessons he learned as president of Ford Brazil. Five years ago, Ford faced product and marketing-strategy problems there similar to those it faces now in the U.S. When Mr. Engle took over the marketing position in North America, he realized there was a lot more the marketing team could do with the Fusion, which was the market leader in South America.
Mr. Engle's next high-profile project will be this summer's relaunch of the sedan formerly known as the Ford Five Hundred