Ford turns to Benz to benchmark new car

<p>TAIPEI: Mercedes Benz gets a back-handed compliment in Ford Lio </p><p>Ho's campaign to launch its luxury model, Metrostar, which uses its </p><p>rival to benchmark the latter's German craftsmanship. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The J. Walter Thompson television campaign features a blind man to </p><p>demonstrate Metrostar's German craftsmanship and how it could be easily </p><p>mistaken for a Mercedes Benz. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the commercial, two well-dressed men, one of them blind, walk along a </p><p>tree-shaded street in Taipei. A leaf falls to the ground and the blind </p><p>man says, "maple." His companion is duly impressed. A woman walks by in </p><p>high heels. "Chanel," is the blind man's comment this time, and again he </p><p>is right. Nearby a man snaps a photo, and with 100 percent accuracy, he </p><p>says it's "Lecia". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Next, someone steps out of a vehicle and closes its door; and his answer </p><p>is "Benz". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>His companion glances back as they pass, but is surprised to see that it </p><p>is a Ford instead. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Eddy Fu, JWT's director in charge of Ford, said: "This creative was put </p><p>to test long before the launch, and it was overwhelmingly preferred by </p><p>respondents. There is the belief that the blind have acute hearing, and </p><p>our strategy was to use that to benchmark Metrostar's German </p><p>craftsmanship." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Metrostar is Ford Lio Ho's flagship vehicle for Taiwan. It is a version </p><p>of the Mondeo which debuted in the country in 1997, but it was </p><p>re-designed in Germany according to that country's guidelines for </p><p>craftsmanship. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Last April, Ford Lio Ho sent a team of Taiwan automotive journalists to </p><p>its design facilities in Germany, and they generated features in </p><p>specialty magazines such as Car & Driver, and mainstream newspapers, </p><p>including China Times, and United Daily News. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This public relations effort resulted in 500 orders for the Metrostar </p><p>prior to its launch. "That is very high," said Fu."Usually you get </p><p>something slightly more than 200." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The publicity stressed the 'solidness' of Metrostar. To Taiwan car </p><p>buyers, this is a very important attribute, ranking high in all car </p><p>focus groups, and the ultimate measure of solidness is the sound of the </p><p>car door closing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Mercedes' doors make a very distinctive sound, very different from the </p><p>'tinny' sound of a Japanese car," said Fu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>JWT and Ford demonstrated the sound of Metrostar's door being closed to </p><p>dealers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Said Fu: "What we did was different from the usual dealer meeting. We </p><p>hid a Metrostar and a Mercedes behind a curtain. Then we shut their </p><p>doors repeatedly, and asked the dealers to guess which was which. They </p><p>couldn't tell by listening." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Fu said the demonstration and TVC got the dealers fired up - two weeks </p><p>before Metrostar's launch on July 7, more than 8,000 curious car buyers </p><p>flocked to Ford dealerships around the island. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The initial burst of 60 and 45-second spots on TV was supported by </p><p>print, radio and a feature-oriented website. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Key people on the account at JWT included Fu, account director Wang-ming </p><p>Yang, and executive creative director for Ford, Murphy Chou. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>