Ford On Wednesday, launched a new advertising campaign which, according to the company, will mark a “fundamental change” of its brand strategy – and intervenes while the automotive industry deals with major uncertainty.
The new strategy of the automaker, entitled “Ready, Set, Ford”, goes beyond the advertising on vehicles, said Ford, and is rather focused on people who buy its cars. This implies four fundamental promises: capacity, passion, community and confidence.
The automotive industry faces a crucial crossroads because companies take care of President Donald Trump’s prices and a global consumer decline in expenses. Despite the uncertainty with various sectoral prices, Trump’s automotive prices have remained more or less unchanged, with a 25% price load on imported cars and automotive parts.
This calendar, said the Ford calendar, Lisa Materazzo, is intentional.
“The automotive industry is under historical disruption. We are lucky that Ford has an incredible history of 122 years to exploit,” she said. “So, because of this, we had the impression that there was no better time to double our commitment to our brand and our consumers than today.”
Materazzo said the company has engaged in thorough research before deployment, finding a common theme of consumer uncertainty and anxiety due to a range of factors, including political climate and economy.
“The other thing we have found is that consumers are surprisingly optimistic and resilient, especially when they feel autonomous, and they are looking for brands that help them navigate this uncertainty,” she said.
Ford has long defended its American roots and said it was the “most American automaker”. This identity is now crucial for the brand of the automaker, said Materazzo, and relies on its campaign “America for America” which offered the price of employees to all consumers shortly after the initial announcement of prices.
The new strategy aims to take advantage of the emblematic brand of Ford while simultaneously pointing that the automotive company is entering a new era, said Materazzo. It will unify all the world’s world brands for the first time in decades as part of the new campaign, allowing the company to “represent us very regularly worldwide,” she added.
“By the first quarter of 2026, all of our world markets will be on the market with” Ready, Set, Ford “”, said Materazzo. “The majority of them will do this by the fourth quarter of this year.”
The first deployment of the announcement is starting in conjunction with the football match Thursday evening of this week, while the car manufacturer aligns the NFL season, one of the largest money manufacturers for advertisements leading to the Super Bowl.
During the cocovated pandemic, the automotive industry has considerably fell on advertising and marketing budgets, as it dealt with supply chain problems that left companies without enough vehicles to sell. Many car manufacturers returned to advertising during the NFL season last year while vehicle inventory levels returned to more normal levels.
Even if macroenvironnement signals uncertainty, Materazzo has declared that the company focuses on the continuation of its inheritance and to invest in its brand.
“The industry is in the middle of a transition at the moment. I do not think that all the brands will survive, but I think that those who not only survive, but prosper, will be those who recognize that one of their most precious assets is their brand,” she said. “And if you do not invest in your brand, you really disadvantage your business in the long term.”