Ford Driving to Digital

In their ongoing efforts to turn business around, Ford will outlay more money than ever on advertising in 2007. In addition to increasing the advertising budget, the automaker will also change where and how they advertise, according to insiders.

by Kristina Knight

According to John Felice, general marketing manager for the Ford Brand (via MarketingVOX) the company will be “placing more bets on emerging technology” next year. Spending heavily on marketing is the first step. No word exactly how much of the budget will be spent on emerging technology, but it is certain that some of the increased spending will come from the television budget. Felice is quoted in MediaPost as saying "it's still a very important element of your marketing mix," but "the days of running a 30-second commercial on three major networks are over."

In 2005, Ford Motor Company was the sixth largest advertiser in the United States. According to AdAge, the company spent $2.4 billion on advertising that year. Felice did not say how much the company would increase 2007 spending, only that increasing the budget was a way forward for Ford.

Felice spoke about emerging media like Video On Demand (VOD), mobile phones and online gaming as possible avenues for new advertising markets. User-generated content such as blogs and podcasts as well as viral video from sources like YouTube could also be used to increase revenue. Ford used user-generated content with some success in the launch of the Edge vehicle.