If I asked you to name the least trustworthy figures in the American landscape these days I bet politicians would rank high on the list. I would also wager a tidy sum that corporate execs would not be far behind. It seems like most things, a few bad ones can really muck up a good thing. Maybe todays high priced CEO's deserve our scorn and maybe they don't. It doesn't matter much. We all seem to think they're a bit shadier now than we used to. The execs know it too. Ask Martha. That's partly why I was completely baffled by the new "Eco-ad" ? campaign the Ford folks have begun. They've managed to take a corporate exec and make him look like a politician. Brilliant! Photo of ad With the difficulty domestic manufacturers are having with ever stricter caf standards and EPA regulations, coupled with rapidly increasing foreign competition, this is the most compelling stuff Ford has to buy their eco-products; a corporate exec, in the politicians pose, lecturing his voters, I mean customers? If so, Sayonara! Buying a car, any car, is an emotional experience. Especially these hybrid wind up toys this ad is supposed to be selling. The verdict is coming in rapidly that these vehicles simply don't deliver economically or ecologically as first promised. Yet people continue to stand in line to pay an 8 grand premium for 20% better fuel economy. You would need to drive 60,000 miles to begin to break even. Never mind resale value. In 5 or 6 years when these cars are no longer a novelty, who will be willing to spend 15k for an 80,000 mile used economy car when new ones are $20k? I'm not trying to argue for or against these cars. Others have already done that. My focus is on the marketing. People buy a Prius or Insight because it makes them feel better about themselves. They think they're doing their part to make the world better. If it were purely a cerebral decision most of us would be driving used Accords or Vespas. People want to feel good about their cars and the reasons they bought them. The only thing this ad makes you feel is sleepy. I'm sure Mr. Ford is a very nice man. But either ego or bad advice created this mess, not sound marketing. CEO's can be terrific spokespeople, but you never saw Dave Thomas without a hamburger, The Colonel always stood behind a bucket of original recipe, and Iacoca always had a Caravan or K-car behind him. Without the products, they're just goofy looking vacuum cleaner salesmen. No offense Mr. Orek. What's the point here? Proving Ford is concerned about the environment and committed to being Green? Who cares! Corporations should focus on achieving better profits through superior products and do it ethically. Ford should work on getting the cost down on these Eco-cars, make 'em fun to drive, and make 'em go like stink. Put the actual cars back in the ads instead of a stuffed shirt who inherited an empire and they'll sell the cars. In the mean time, the domestics should invest their alternative fuel and hybrid energies in the fleet and commercial market where it makes sense. If private and government fleet operators were the audience, this campaign would make complete sense. If Ford offered superior alternative fuel commercial trucks and fleet vehicles that are subject to high mileage or were prone to stop and go use, and got the government to allow tax savings for purchasing them, they wouldn't be able to keep up with demand. A fleet manager or operator would be able to recoup his investment in a year or two instead of a decade. How many barrels of oil would be saved yearly if Police cars across the country idled on propane or CNG instead of gasoline? Why aren't all Fedex and UPS trucks Hybrids? That would allow the technology to be produced in a volume large enough to bring the cost down for the consumer market. For me, I'll buy a hybrid vehicle the day after the government delivers my tax credit in an electric Jeep. |
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