Ford Explorer marketing plan and strategy

Ford Motor Car Co. is facing a critical time in its storied history, as a series of rollovers and subsequent lawsuits have left a top-selling company vehicle, the Explorer, in serious jeopardy of losing millions in sales. The Explorer, America's top-selling sport utility vehicle (SUV), has been redesigned with improved suspension to halt rollovers, but the pending lawsuits keep us from being able to market - or even announce - that fact. Our task is to build a marketing plan that will allow Ford to grow sales of the new Explorer in its core markets - which include private customers, fleet sales (such as rental car agencies), government purchases and foreign sales - while stopping advances from new competitors in the SUV market.

A word on competition

Nissan, Toyota and Honda have recently come out with four-door SUVs that will compete directly with the Explorer. While we have to address this competition, we will set one simple ground rule: in none of our marketing will we call our competitors out by name. We must assume that Nissan, Toyota and Honda will see all of our marketing pieces, including direct mail, and at some point in business it makes sense to not awaken the ire of one's competitors. Ford is in a vulnerable position, where it has seemingly violated the public trust and has seen its image take a beating. While we may want to white-wash over that, our competitors are under no obligation to do so.

It may feel liberating to run a national television commercial where we talk about how the Explorer gets better gas mileage than a Honda CRV and has superior styling, but when Honda starts a string of commercials saying things like "When it comes to your family's safety, don't take any chances" and "Our rugged suspension is designed to avoid roll-overs," we'll know we made a foolish decision. In our marketing, we can make claims such as "best fuel economy in its class" or "the most horsepower in its class," but we are not going to drag competitors into a gutter war, because it will be Ford's blood on the streets. It is possible that our competitors will take pot-shots anyway, but if they do, at least we'll be able to retaliate from the high road. And, if they are not planning on taking such shots, we should do nothing to change their minds.

Private sales

Ford has spent the better part of a century building good will with the American public, and Ford will have to cash in on some of that good will in order to protect and grow Explorer sales. Ford is one of the quintessential American companies and some of the Explorer advertising will have a patriotic feel, focusing on the company's historic relationship with the American consumer. For example, we will create a commercial with a voiceover from the Ford CEO, who will talk about Henry Ford and some of the company's major milestones in automotive history, as vintage footage rolls. Then, he will make the point that all of those advancements have led to this point - the introduction of the new Explorer, which takes full advantage of nearly a century of technology and safety developments.

That message will be reinforced through newspaper advertisements in major papers such as the NY Times, the LA Times, the Chicago Sun and the Washington Post. The ads will carry a headline such as "Nearly a century of innovation has led us here." Then there will be a photo of the new Explorer, with various features highlighted. We will buy a home-page advertisement on Yahoo! And other major Internet sites to carry the same message. We also will work with the sales department to see if there are any attractive promotions - such as a low, starter lease rate - we can promote.

Pop-culture marketing will be a critical component of our success. We will purchase product placement for the new Explorer in highly-rated television shows and big-budget studio movies. This will help the public to see the new Explorer as part of American culture, and will allow us to place advertising in pop-culture magazines such as People and Rolling Stone saying "Look for the new Explorer in CSI: Miami." We may also give away some free Explorers during major media events, such as college bowl football games, the Super Bowl or the World Series. As we'll see, product placement will also play a critical roll in building international sales.

Fleet sales

Fleet sales customers are going to have a different set of concerns than private customers. If Ford hopes to conduct brisk business selling Explorers to fleet customers, such as car rental agencies, it will have to help those agencies overcome the fear that customers will refuse to drive Explorers or that customers could be injured in Explorers, leading to serious legal liability issues.

To market to fleet customers, such as car rental agencies, we will focus on trade magazine advertising and direct mail. Automotive Fleet and Automotive Digest are two trade magazines that reach the car rental executive market, and we would pursue aggressive media buys. The two main focuses of our advertisements would be the luxuriousness of the new Explorer and its safety. We can heavily market the safety of the new Explorer without giving any indication that the old Explorer may have been unsafe. By promoting various luxury features, such as a premium sound system, leather upholstery or heated seats, we can position the Explorer as a coveted vehicle that rental customers would be excited to drive.

Next, in a very positive way and without defensiveness, we would promote the safety of the new Explorer. If we have any test crash data at the time, such as a five-star crash rating, we can promote that in the advertisements. If not, we can highlight the various safety features such as side-impact airbags or anti-lock brakes. Perhaps we would even include a testimonial quote from an insurance agent, such as "The new Explorer has been designed with some of the most innovative safety features in the automotive industry." Naturally, we would not discuss in our advertising the new suspension on the vehicles, as this will raise troubling questions.

The print advertisements, as well as banner ads on the magazines' Web sites, would direct rental car and other fleet executives to a special section of the Ford Web site where they could watch an interactive tour of the new Explorer, including its luxury and safety features. The entire process will be designed to make these potential buyers feel comfortable with the new Explorer.

We also will send direct-mail brochures to potential key fleet customers. Naturally, the direct mail will reinforce the luxury and safety marketing aspects of the print and online advertising. In addition, the direct mail piece will discuss some of the quality enhancements to the new Explorer that should be a boon to resale value. Eventually, as the vehicles age, the fleet customers will look to sell them, and we will look to enforce that the new Explorer will be a good investment. We also should spend a section of the brochure talking about all the aggressive national advertising Ford will be conducting for the new Explorer, making it clear to the fleet owners that the Explorer will be in demand from customers.

Government sales

The keys to marketing the Explorer to government purchasers will be trade publication advertising and peer promotion. We can target our print and online trade publication advertising at various municipal managers who may be responsible for purchasing fleet vehicles. One magazine that seems to be a gathering place for these managers is Municipal World, and we will make an aggressive print and online media buy in this publication, as well as other specialized publications (such as Water World for managers of municipal water systems).

Unlike with the rental car market, our advertising will not focus on luxury features, as this will be less of a concern to municipal managers. Instead, marketing will focus on safety, reliability and durability. Like buyers in all of our markets, these potential purchasers will need to be shown that the new Explorer is safe, so advertising will demonstrate all of the vehicle's safety features. Also, government managers will need to know that the new Explorer is rugged (4x4, good in snow and rain, etc.) and durable (high-mileage warranty). Government managers will want to know that if they buy an Explorer, it will provide years of reliable service.

Similar to the fleet market, we also will use direct mail brochures that will reinforce the Explorer's qualities of safety, reliability and durability. Perhaps we will even use some quotes from municipal managers who have used their Explorers past the 200,000-mile mark, for example.

Peer recommendation is likely to be a significant factor among government managers. Towns like to see what other towns are doing. As such, as Ford makes deals to sell new Explorers to municipal buyers, marketing will work closely with public relations to issue press releases to appropriate trade magazines. If Boca Raton, Fla. buys 32 Explorers, we need to let the entire municipal market know about it.