Ford takes on Toyota at its youth marketing strategy

John Farley was a former VP at Toyota, the company that brought you the kick-ass youth auto offering Scion. After some time out of the industry he has ended up at the Ford Motor Company. What is he doing there? Launching Ford’s answer to the Scion - the Ford Flex.

Ford said its participating dealers will feature new interactive accessory and customization displays in their showrooms. “The display will highlight accessories, electronics, wheels and tires, and will allow customers to configure and order these items for their new vehicles,” Ford said in a statement.

What is going to excite young consumers more than anything? Dem 22″ bad-boy Bling-Bling rims… “The first phase will include seven wheels across 14 vehicle lines; the second phase launches in summer 2008 and 15 additional wheels come in 2009. The wheels will range in size from 18 to 22 inches, with even larger wheels possible in the future.”

Clarity and Partnership marketing

The Scion broke new ground by truly embracing two web2.0 buzzwords although being a distinct old-world offering - clarity and partnership marketing.

In the context of Partnership Marketing, like Red Bull, Boost Mobile, Nike, Etnies, O’Neill, Billabong and the countless list of strong identifiable youth brands, Scion worked to establish a partnership with its consumers. Scion sponsored West-Coast hip-hop jams with a low key presence, supported by its urban music magazine. It was hardly Toyota in Jeans, but an altogether native entity that, like Lexus, had the freedom to define its own brand identity.

According to Wikipedia, other forms of marketing include their sponsorship of VBS.tv’s show Thumbs Up!, which features David Choe hitchhiking across the United States. Scion has also teamed up with Gaia Online, providing the xB as a choice for user car, as well as other things across the site.

Beyond that Scion (like Nissan incidentally) has been keen to explore virtual worlds such as Second Life and There. Read this article for more information.

Clarity is power in defining a brand in a cluttered market because clarity not only helps consumers associate emotion to the brand, it also engenders trust. Scion offered “Pure Price” marketing strategies which basically stated the final price as the final price (no hidden extras), a relief to many young consumers who felt initially duped by the false economies of rival “cheap offerings” that failed to factor in the all-expensive extras and fittings.

So it’s easy to see how Farmer can help a rather non-descript brand such as Ford build dialogue and trust with young consumers, starting with the Flex. The challenge will be how much slack Ford can cut him without themselves losing trust in his operations for fear of “going native”.

See also

• Beware the “Value Chain”