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So while posting about the OEM tires I remembered about Ford giving auto writers a first look/drive in the Fuspo in H e l l, Michigan. My mind went on a bit of a tangent and here are those thoughts in case you are interested.
We've talked in the past about Ford's confusing marketing and/or lack of marketing. First we got Ford Marketing announcing the car with huge claims. Trying to compare it to cars that are honestly out of its class(even if they are less fun to drive). Everyone who heard about it is excited and waiting. Then Ford pretty much goes radio silent.
As it turns out, they hold a secret pre-sale industry stunt/reveal (this may not be unusual for a new sports car or something, but this is a Fusion). Makes you think they were trying to build up to something no? Still silence, writers can't print their stories, apparently.
OK, so once car goes on sale there is going to be a big media blitz right? Get attention, sell cars right?........ Crickets....... No press reports(even though press has seen/driven car). No Ford marketing, nothing. I don't remember exactly how long I owned my car before the stories from H e I l came out, but it seemed like an eternity. When they did come out, most came out on the exact same day, as if it was christened by Ford. And they were just little teasers too, seeing as they all just got an introduction and small test drive. Which would be understandable, had these reviews come out before or when they went on sale, BUT at this point they had been on sale for some time. Took another eternity(why?) for anyone to do a serious review.
At this point there was no excitement around the car(except on this forum). Ford completely dropped the ball. Had Ford made an effort to market the car, drum up interest, don't you think the auto industry would have had more incentive to write about it? Sure they all did in the end, it's a great car and their job. But the frying pan was room temperature at best by then. The reviews were far from cover stories.
I just don't understand, either Ford marketing didn't know what the heck they were doing or something else was behind their lack of support for the car. I mean, it seems like they purposely didn't want too much or any attention brought to the car when the time came for it. DOA. Even if sales of the Sport would have been exactly the same, they certainly could have gotten good hype for the car (without even embellishing it) and more people in the dealerships. I don't know, I do like my Sport being more unique, unlike thousands of Mustang GT's, but I just don't get what Ford was doing here. Every local and national commercial that Ford has, that mentions or shows a Fusion, uses the Sport as the model seen.(cause everyone knows it's the best looking variant) But on only one commercial that I remember, did it actually mention the Sport. And that depiction was far from flattering(four women getting in and....and I don't know). And I only saw that commercial once, maybe twice because it was posted on here.
I just don't get it. I would like Ford to succeed(their name is on the wife's paycheck for one), but they sure aren't helping themselves. Anyone see any commercials for the Lincoln Continental. Boat load of money spent on car, where's the marketing? Use to see a lot of McConaughey ads for them prior to Continental release. Maybe SE MI is to poor to target. Ford and Lincoln dealerships in my area aren't even putting ads in the major newspapers. All other brands, pages of ads.
Oh and now Ford's sales for first quarter were just released. Down 35% from last year.
When my lease is up, I want there to be a FuSpo for me to buy/lease, preferably a new and improved one, but at least one as good as I have now. But I get the feeling if Ford doesn't get off their butts, the FuSpo and the platinum variants will be a thing of the past and folks like me will be buying Regal GS's, Kia Stingrays, WRX's, insert fun/fast 4-door here.
We've talked in the past about Ford's confusing marketing and/or lack of marketing. First we got Ford Marketing announcing the car with huge claims. Trying to compare it to cars that are honestly out of its class(even if they are less fun to drive). Everyone who heard about it is excited and waiting. Then Ford pretty much goes radio silent.
As it turns out, they hold a secret pre-sale industry stunt/reveal (this may not be unusual for a new sports car or something, but this is a Fusion). Makes you think they were trying to build up to something no? Still silence, writers can't print their stories, apparently.
OK, so once car goes on sale there is going to be a big media blitz right? Get attention, sell cars right?........ Crickets....... No press reports(even though press has seen/driven car). No Ford marketing, nothing. I don't remember exactly how long I owned my car before the stories from H e I l came out, but it seemed like an eternity. When they did come out, most came out on the exact same day, as if it was christened by Ford. And they were just little teasers too, seeing as they all just got an introduction and small test drive. Which would be understandable, had these reviews come out before or when they went on sale, BUT at this point they had been on sale for some time. Took another eternity(why?) for anyone to do a serious review.
At this point there was no excitement around the car(except on this forum). Ford completely dropped the ball. Had Ford made an effort to market the car, drum up interest, don't you think the auto industry would have had more incentive to write about it? Sure they all did in the end, it's a great car and their job. But the frying pan was room temperature at best by then. The reviews were far from cover stories.
I just don't understand, either Ford marketing didn't know what the heck they were doing or something else was behind their lack of support for the car. I mean, it seems like they purposely didn't want too much or any attention brought to the car when the time came for it. DOA. Even if sales of the Sport would have been exactly the same, they certainly could have gotten good hype for the car (without even embellishing it) and more people in the dealerships. I don't know, I do like my Sport being more unique, unlike thousands of Mustang GT's, but I just don't get what Ford was doing here. Every local and national commercial that Ford has, that mentions or shows a Fusion, uses the Sport as the model seen.(cause everyone knows it's the best looking variant) But on only one commercial that I remember, did it actually mention the Sport. And that depiction was far from flattering(four women getting in and....and I don't know). And I only saw that commercial once, maybe twice because it was posted on here.
I just don't get it. I would like Ford to succeed(their name is on the wife's paycheck for one), but they sure aren't helping themselves. Anyone see any commercials for the Lincoln Continental. Boat load of money spent on car, where's the marketing? Use to see a lot of McConaughey ads for them prior to Continental release. Maybe SE MI is to poor to target. Ford and Lincoln dealerships in my area aren't even putting ads in the major newspapers. All other brands, pages of ads.
Oh and now Ford's sales for first quarter were just released. Down 35% from last year.
When my lease is up, I want there to be a FuSpo for me to buy/lease, preferably a new and improved one, but at least one as good as I have now. But I get the feeling if Ford doesn't get off their butts, the FuSpo and the platinum variants will be a thing of the past and folks like me will be buying Regal GS's, Kia Stingrays, WRX's, insert fun/fast 4-door here.
