The new Ford models: an advertisers dream!
As someone very interested in the world of advertising, I often find myself sitting in front of the television, dissecting the means and motives of virtually all advertisements. One minute I’ll be debating the Brechtian pseudo-alienation techniques of a breakfast cereal ad, and the next I’ll be questioning the designer’s motivation for an oven wax ad. Either way, I am very interested in how the marketing world tries every possible trick to try to manipulate the viewers and potential consumers with various tricks. One industry guilty of this more than any other would be the auto industry.
Over the years, car ads have become increasingly complex in their attempts to get viewers interested in shelling out their hard-earned cash. There have been CGI drama fests full of danger and peril, and at the opposite end of the spectrum there have been Franco-English romantic couples at war with more sexual undertones than a Carry On script. However, two car ads in particular have recently baffled me and it took me a while to understand why. The ads I’m talking about are for the new Ford Fiesta and the new Ford Ka.
At first glance, these ads look like regular flashy car ads, with the obligatory “pumping” soundtrack and plenty of pretty colors to keep your eyes on the screen. However, at the end of the commercials, you realize that something is missing; something that I would consider quite fundamental in the sale of a car, but which is nevertheless missing. You don’t actually see the cars moving.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but the same Reason to be because a car is movement, so surely the best way to advertise one is to show it moving (preferably fast) in a dramatic way. Ford has chosen to go with a more left-handed advertising strategy and I’m not entirely sure if it works. I have thought about this topic for a while and I think I have come to some selected conclusions.
Both the new Ford Ka and Fiesta have had a makeover, bringing them screaming into 2009. The Fiesta looks like the sportiest hatchback available on the market and the Ka’s bubble-dome look has been reworked into a similar model ( albeit a bit smaller). ) Form party. These rather drastic cosmetic changes betray the fact that very little else has been done to the two Ford Superminis. In terms of engineering, you’re looking at pretty much the same Fiesta and Ka that have been available for years. That would suggest that the new models are purely to reflect a change in what is considered fashionable car form.
This brings me back to the television advertising for these two popular cars; it’s about the image and using it to distract from the performance. Of course, I’m not trying to imply that the Fiesta and Ka can’t work; Anyone who’s driven one or both will know they’re pretty much class-leading in drivability, handling and build quality, but with Ford’s reluctance to change much under the hood, you can’t blame them for not wanting to draw too much attention. to engineering
That said, the ad (for better or worse) seems to have worked; has people like me talking and thinking. We all know that on the road, the Fiesta and Ka are superior to their competitors in their respective price ranges, so advertisers just point out that today, Ford’s two superminis also happen to be the most stylish around.
These two cars must have been a dream for advertisers to work with; they didn’t need to move, just look pretty and be manipulated with digital effects. Simple… effective target.