The "Ford" and "Falcon" brand

[Luke Plaizier]

It's hard to ignore all the hyperbole that's going on at the moment regarding Ford and the RWD Falcon. But there;s more going on here that's of concern - and that is the Brand value of "Ford" and the "Falcon" have lost considerable value in the last few years.

Some questions and observations:

(1) Why is the Mondeo selling so well in Europe and the Fusion in the US, and Australia can't sell any of them? It's not a different car. It's not up against any different type of competition. That the Focus and the Fiesta don't sell well indicate it's not a transient issue. Ford have a poor image in Australia.

(2) The amount of Brand damage done to the Falcon in the last few weeks can't be measured right now, but you watch the sales plummet. The Brand strength of the Magna went seriously south due to speculation and media harrassment. When the brand is not strong, people don't go near it. Was that why they tried that last ditch brand switch to 380? I can see the logic and appreciate the effort. Perhaps it was just too slow to move. i wonder if this was the logic behind the G6 convention.

So how can they fix this?

(1) Quality: It's a long hard haul to get the Quality fixed, but even longer to get the message out. Has the damage been done? Is it time to rush Lincoln out to Australia to try and tell a quality story? Is it time to make more noise about the popularity of these cars in overseas markets, and pose the question to Australians "If people in Europe buy these cars, where the bloody hell are you Australia?"

(2) Media: For heavens sake, engage the media better. Stop holding them at arms length and making them guess. Feed them more 'We might do this' or 'We could do that', even if it doesn't come to fruition, just so the media don't keep guessing for themselves and coming to the WORST conclusion rather than the best one. The Media have a big part to play in guiding the perspective if Australians and moulding the Brand - as much as they pretend otherwise. A long term commitment to treating the media better would go a long way to repairing the damange done. And make it Corporate Policy, and not just the whim of a CEO.

(3) Why have Ford never released the 'Best' car that they could assemble from the parts they had before the G6ET - which even now misses out on sports suspension and LSD? Why were the BA/BF Fairmont Ghia's and Fairlanes only given the slow engines? Why were the XR's only given the poverty pack interiors? Why are Ford not trying to release something that's the best they can be?.

(4) Get the top man in front of the media more often for real interviews - a man that seems honest and appears to be giving new information and not appear to be concealing information. Geoff Polites did this well. I think Marin does pretty well himself - if not often enough.


Lukeyson