Consumer perceptions of the Ford Mustang brand among young male drivers

Ford Mustang

Marketing Research

I spoke to five male car owners in their 20s. Three of them had purchased a vehicle in the past two years, the other two had their cars for longer. None of them had purchased a Mustang, but one had a Camaro. The four that owned other types of cars indicated that they did not want a pony car for a number of different reasons, from gas prices to the fact that such cars did not suit their personalities. The other one chose the Camaro because it was the one that "felt right" and was unable to elaborate on that. The respondents, when asked to describe the brand's personality used terms like "fast," "muscle," and "cruising up and down the block." The consumers responded unanimously to the proposition that if the Mustang brand was attached to a different product, it would not make sense. The Mustang is very closely associated with that type of car. The person who owned a Camaro responded slightly different to the other three, in using the words "power" and "hot" to describe the Mustang.

Perner (2010) outlines the information search and decision making process. This process begins with problem recognition, and then leads to information search and evaluation of alternatives. The respondents appear to confirm Perner's description of this approach. The four who bought other types of cars were able to, in the course of their information search, easily classify the different options for their automotive needs. They ruled out not only the Mustang but the other cars in the class. The one respondent, however, appeared to do the opposite, and only considered between the three vehicles in this class (Challenger being the third). Perner's theory also incorporates post-purchase behaviors. For the respondent with the Camaro, it is interesting to know that the post-purchase behavior remains favorable to the Mustang -- though happy with his purchase, he seems open to other vehicles in the same class, and certainly more so than the other consumers, who were able to differentiate little between the different muscle cars, having never done any research on the type.

An interesting element of this research is that the Mustang does not effectively tap into the "should" aspect of the target market (Milkman, 2008). While the respondents were all generally in agreement about the nature of the product and the associations with the brand, four of the respondents did not feel sufficiently strong about the brand to consider it for purchase. They were uncompelled by the "should" and bought a more boring but practical car instead.

SWOT Analysis

The company is Ford Motor Company and the brand is the Mustang. In terms of financials, Ford's sales are $136 billion, and its cost of goods sold $117 billion. This leaves gross profit of $19.3 billion. This leaves 14.1% for the gross margin. The return on investment is 7.04 times. Ford is an industry leader with 16.2% of the U.S. auto market, which puts them behind General Motors, but ahead of Toyota and Honda (Ohnsman, 2011).

The major strengths of the brand are that it is widely known and carries strong associations. All of the members of the target market surveyed were not only aware of the brand but had fairly consistent traits associated with the brand. These strong associations also work against the brand, however. The Mustang is so clearly identified with one specific vehicle that there seems to be little opportunity to grow the brand or expand on its image. As a result, the Mustang brand is dependent on the strength of its category in general, and is only useful for competing in that category. As a result, there are few opportunities for the Mustang brand. Ford already utilizes brand extensions within the category, and there may be room for growth overseas. As a result of the limited growth opportunities for the brand, the Mustang is under threat from competition. The Hyundai Genesis is listed as a competitor on the Ford website for head-to-head Mustang comparisons (Ford.com, 2012). Such competition is likely to gain market share at the expense of existing players on the market. Additionally, the Mustang occupies the middle position in the market, with the Challenger as the low cost model and the Camaro as the more expensive premium car in the space, creating a difficult competitive environment for the Mustang.

Strategies

In the short run, Ford needs to improve the position of the Mustang within its category. In part, this is to defend against new entrants, but also to gain at the expense of the Camaro in particular. In the long-run, Mustang marketing needs to help grow the segment, even if some of those new customers choose other vehicles. If the segment is stagnating, that will hurt the Mustang because of the brand's limited growth opportunities. Another long-run strategy has to be to break those constraints -- the Mustang needs to have broader appeal.

There is little to change with the distribution or pricing of the Mustang as both serve the brand well. The auto industry has fairly narrow segmentation. There is also risk involved in shifting the brand image of the Mustang, because consumers respond so strongly to what that brand represents. It is a difficult position for a marketer to be in, but there is room for modernization of the way the Mustang is promoted. If the brand can be distilled down to core values, and those values successfully attributed to different types of customers, then the Mustang can find room to grow.

Works Cited:

Ford.com. (2012). Compare 2012 Ford Mustang to the competition in your area. Ford.com. Retrieved March 1, 2012 from http://www.thinkfordfirst.com/Compare/2012%20Ford%20Mustang