Titled ‘Surprisingly fast’, the initiative - conceptualised by MindShare and executed by JWT - for the Ford Focus Turbo Diesel is driven largely by out-of-home (OOH) executions and supported by press and TV ads.
According to Raul Villegas, JWT’s general manager, the media mix was a deliberate choice to establish the brand apart from its competitors.
According to Raul Villegas, JWT’s general manager, the media mix was a deliberate choice to establish the brand apart from its competitors.
“Given that the competition’s budget for traditional media far outweighed that of the Ford Focus, we saw a strong creative as well as economical opportunity in OOH to generate buzz and create a strong impact with our target audience,” said Villegas.
Targeting professional males above 35 years of age, the marque aims to dispel the prevailing notion that diesel-based vehicles are “slow off the blocks”, Villegas said. “We want to communicate the Ford Focus’ acceleration to the targets, who, when it comes to vehicles, value important factors like safety, performance and comfort.”
The advertising push begins with a teaser ad that shows a long, straight road in a desolate, rural area. The road is empty, save for a car that appears to be going at a high speed from afar. The minimalistic ad is subsequently replaced by another that features the Ford Focus up close.
In addition, large-sized wall murals showing the car ripping apart walls and stones as it speeds down the road were placed along a popular highway. The marque also ended up on the rooftops of populous bus sheds.
Ford’s new marque, noted Villegas, is up against the three Japanese brands that rule the automobile market: Honda Civic, Toyota Altis and Mitsubishi Lancer.
