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Ford is hoping to buff up its brand image by turning its 750,000 employees, retirees and dealers into brand ambassadors who will urge friends and relatives to “drive one.”
The Drive One campaign launched last week with more than 1,100 parties around the country, tied in with ABC’s Oprah’s Big Give, where attendees were invited by Ford owners to watch the show and check out the family car.
The automaker is expected to continue to push the Drive One campaign throughout upcoming months, in an effort to prove that its cars are every bit as good as those coming out of Japan.
The Drive One campaign is focused on four categories, each of which is broken down on Ford’s website: drive quality, drive green, drive safe and drive smart.
Another push coming from Ford is the “Town to Town - Friend to Friend” initiative, in which consumers who drive cars not made by the automaker are given the chance to drive a Ford. They are then encouraged to pass the vehicle along to a friend, writes the AutoBlog. The initiative will launch in cities including Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Results from the new marketing efforts are expected to be apparent “in five years, not in five weeks,” according to Ford’s main-marketing-man Jim Farley, who points out that Ford has had six different marketing strategies in the last six years.
Ford spent $1.76 billion on U.S. advertising last year, excluding online, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus (via Brandweek).
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