#Marketing

There is a new Ford patent for a system that would play personalized ads inside of cars, which would vary based upon numerous factors. Advertisements would take into account things like whether or not a vehicle was in motion, whether or not the people inside the vehicle are speaking, and even the driver’s present location. It even seems to respond to how vehicle occupants react to the chosen marketing materials. If that sounds rather invasive to you, then you’re probably not alone.

While the Mercury Capri never quite matched the Ford Mustang on the domestic market, the former became a performance icon in Europe. Chasing the success of the Cortina’s numerous sporting variants, Blue Oval thought the region might want a coupe to fill a niche similar to the Mustang’s. The gamble worked and the feisty little fastback went on to be a big success in Europe.

Absent from the market for decades, Ford has opted to revive the model. Sadly, the resulting product represents its predecessor in no way. Rather than being a sprightly lightweight coupe wearing the blue badge, it’s another electrified crossover.

Genesis has launched the “Genesis Track Taxi Nordschleife” program in Germany, offering rides around the Nürburgring. Members of the public who partake will ride shotgun while a professional driver takes a lap around the “The Green Hell” in a G70 3.3T.

At first blush, the South Korean automaker appears to be making some odd marketing decisions. But then you remember the company is overtly targeting German luxury brands.

Chevrolet will be debuting a new corporate slogan during the first game of Major League Baseball's World Series. The decade-old "Find New Roads" will be supplanted with “Together Let’s Drive” during a commercial for the Chevy Trax that’s focused on promoting the vehicle’s affordability.

The brand has had loads of slogans and some are definitely better than others. While we’re prone toward remembering whatever jingles were playing during our formative years, the true value of specific taglines can probably be measured by how long they stuck around.

Over the weekend, your author happened upon a rural Ford dealership seemingly frozen in time, still using signage from past decades and proudly eschewing whatever cold corporate design is currently being foisted upon dealer principals by The Suits in Dearborn. It was neat to see a store embrace its heritage.

Not all are so lucky, such as a San Antonio Hyundai dealer who is currently removing what many are describing as a local landmark. Why? According to the dealer group’s head of marketing, it’s not part of the “Hyundai experience.”

Last week, General Motors published an advertisement for its Cruise autonomous vehicle company in The New York Times. The marketing effort makes the claim that “humans are terrible drivers” and has subsequently been chided by former NHTSA administrator and safety advocate Joan Claybrook.

The ad in question states that human drivers cause millions of accidents each year and asserts that “Cruise driverless cars are designed to save lives.” But Claybrook and the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety are accusing GM of being overzealous with an untested product in addition to exercising some bad taste with its marketing materials. 

There are few things on this green earth that get up my nose further than people trying to shove their lifestyle onto others through loud media campaigns. Sure, there are some universal truths to which we should all adhere – be kind to animals, take care of yer children, and don’t anger the Managing Editor* – but loudly pushing ideals ain’t one of ‘em.

The impetus for this mini-rant is the appearance of billboards near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway bearing the phrase ‘Winners DON’T Drink Milk’ as part of an ad campaign by a non-profit organization bent on getting people to stop drinking the stuff.

Corporate tie-ups with successful gearheads aren’t new – witness any number of NASCAR sponsorships, for example – but those partnerships often just extend to a few photos of the star holding up examples of the product du jour and mugging for the camera.

That’s why it’s always a good day when the mashup results in a ten-minute film that's arguably better than some of the tripe trotted out by Hollywood. 

Ford conducted a lot of marketing research for its Edsel brand and was assured by many well-educated MBA types that its new lineup would be hugely successful. The research scientists said the unique styling and features Edsel offered would appeal to a broad cross-section of the American populace. After a television musical debut in the fall of 1957, Edsels were shipped to dealers where they remained under wraps until it was time for the ‘58 model year. 

Crazy styling aside, Edsel’s arrival caused some immediate brand confusion in relation to Mercury, and in more limited circumstances, Ford. Much of said confusion occurred in the company’s debut year when Edsel spread the “lots of new models” sauce a little too thin. We start at the brand’s second most basic offering: Pacer.

Ford successfully orchestrated a splashy live television musical debut for its new brand Edsel in the fall of 1957. The program was a culmination of a multi-year project to establish a new division of Ford that would compete more directly with the likes of Oldsmobile, Buick, and DeSoto. Edsels promised to be notably different from the Mercury with which it shared most everything except styling.

Edsel was to be much more value-conscious than the new-for-’58 unibody Lincolns, which sought to move the brand upmarket after the almost instantaneous discontinuation of the Continental Division. After Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby ushered in the Edsel name it was time to show off the all-new models in showrooms, and introduce a supposedly excited American consumer to the lineup.

Edsel received an honorary mention a couple of weeks ago, in our current Rare Rides Icons series on the Lincoln Mark cars. Then it was mentioned again the other day in Abandoned History’s coverage of the Cruise-O-Matic transmissions. It’s a sign. We need to talk about Edsel.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said he sees little reason for the automaker to bother using traditional advertising campaigns for electric vehicles. Considering how often I see the Ford logo grace whatever screen I happen to be peering into, this would seem to go against everything I’ve been conditioned to accept. However the company believes its EVs practically sell themselves already, with the executive noting that the Mach-E has been sold out for quite some time.

“I’m not convinced we need public advertising for [electric vehicles] if we do our job,” Farley said during Wednesday’s Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference.

Today’s Rare Ride was randomly mentioned among some other Lexus discussion on Twitter, and your author knew it immediately needed coverage here. This very special RX was conceived at a time when McCartney and Lexus were particularly chummy and financially interested in one another. Lexus worked up a bespoke special edition car as an homage to the legendary star. And though the resulting homage was even more cringe-inducing than its title might suggest, it was at least created for a good cause. You might say this particular Lexus RoX.

Pop quiz, hotshot: What job combines a Challenger Hellcat, wrestling champ Bill Goldberg, and a $150,000 paycheck? If you answered with something along the lines of Vince McMahon’s assistant or slightly-above-board import/export professional, we totally understand.

In reality, that’s the job description for Chief Donut Maker at Dodge. Yep – you read that correctly.

Sort of like the Cimarron we covered in our last edition of Abandoned History a couple of months ago, today’s vehicle is pretending to be more than it is. It’s the luxury X-Class truck Mercedes-Benz sold in markets outside the USA. Can you tell what it actually is?