During the thick of the recession, when the automotive industry was devastated almost beyond the point of return, Ford Motor Company didn’t just stay in the game—it came out on top. Voted Marketer of the Year for 2010 by Advertising Age magazine, Ford outpaced its competitors by experimenting with its marketing mix, agency structure, launch campaigns, and more.
John Felice, the General Manager of Ford and Lincoln Marketing, has had a long career at the automaker; he previously served as Head of Asia-Pacific Marketing, Sales and Service, and then President of Thailand Operations.
Felice sat down with Steven Goldbach, a Monitor partner and leader of the firm’s North American CPG practice, to discuss Ford’s game-changing integrated marketing initiatives—how they were conceived, how they were executed, what challenges they brought, and their outcomes. The following are video excerpts of their conversation.
One of today’s biggest marketing challenges is enabling teams to take risks and experiment with new ideas, without making them prove the ROI first. The Ford Fiesta campaign blazed this trail, by giving 100 Fiestas to selected consumers pre-launch and having them film and upload videos about their experience with the car. In this clip, John Felice explains how the organization overcame its anxiety about being unable to control the message, and discusses the campaign’s tremendous success in building awareness and brand health.
Ford has overhauled much of the marketing organization’s structure, allowing it to eliminate many silos and manage its brands and channels more holistically. In this clip, John Felice highlights some of the most important changes, such as redesigning the agency model (including the creation of Team Detroit), rethinking how an idea is developed (bringing together a cross-functional team to get aligned on strategy), consolidating budgets so channels can be more easily aligned and optimized, and bringing in new talent to keep creative fresh and ensure depth of expertise.
In this clip, John Felice discusses the changes Ford made to its agency structure and alignment. Whereas in the past brand managers were intimately involved in the details of campaigns (such as editing ad copy and visiting photo shoots), now the marketing and communications team handles all the “heavy lifting” with the campaigns, occasionally reconnecting with the marketing team to make sure both parties are aligned on strategy. As a result, brand managers now have more time to focus on growing the business.
It’s one thing to build lots of hype and buzz about a product launch, but it’s another thing entirely to sustain that momentum through the launch and beyond. In this clip, John Felice discusses the moment when the Ford team realized this dilemma—during the Ford Explorer launch campaign—and how they successfully solved it.
Ford has made a number of big bets in its marketing strategy, from significantly increasing its use of new media and scaling back its use of traditional media, to asking local dealers to run advertisements focused simply on branding. Part of the secret to Ford’s success, John Felice explains in this clip, is “having the courage to be able to try things and learn quickly from mistakes.” He adds that it’s “better to act quickly and fail quickly” than to be left out of the game entirely.
Delve into more thought leadership on the topic of integrated marketing by visiting Monitor’s website. View a webcast explaining how engaging with consumers’ memories can lead to innovations in customer engagement. Watch videos that discuss the importance of integrated marketing and the structural barriers organizations often confront when trying to achieve it. And watch an animated video presentation that shows how eliminating silos to create a flexible and agile marketing organization is like modeling your organization after a hockey team rather than a football team.