Ford undergoes internal brand transformation

Ford has undergone an internal transformation with its new brand positioning, “Adventurous Spirit”.

In a blog post supplied to Campaign, Peter Zillig, marketing director at Ford Europe, said: “It’s the philosophy that will inform and add meaning to everything we do on our journey to reinvent the Ford product portfolio and customer experience in Europe.”

He explained that this new ethos would not feature in any advertising campaigns from the car marque, but it was something Ford was seeking to embody with the launch of products in the future.

Zillig, who joined Ford from Cheil UK in June 2020, said the company had spent a lot of time “introspecting” about what it wanted customers to feel when they came across the Ford brand.

He added: “Adventurous Spirit is the ethos that will help drive our transformation in Europe, by helping us connect emotionally with consumers who say they know we’re American, but don’t feel we’re American.”

Zillig cited the launch of Ford’s first all-electric vehicle, Mustang Mach-E, two years ago as being the first time the brand embodied “Adventurous Spirit”. During the launch, Ford said the vehicle stood for “freedom, progress, fast performance and a touch of rebellion”.

As part of the brand transformation, Ford has split its passenger vehicles into four categories: “Wild Performance” embodies the Mustang family; “Urban Escape” characterises models like Puma; “Active Adventure” defines SUVs such as Kuga; and “Ultimate Outdoor” defines Broncos and Ranger Raptors.

Speaking to Campaign, Zillig said that Ford was set to launch a new, all-electric vehicle in Europe next year and added that it would “live up to everything” described as “Adventurous Spirit”.

He added that the company had already begun testing its new brand platform in Germany, where “Adventurous Spirit” is defining its product range, customer experiences, social interactions and dealer partner mindsets.

He said: “Our aim? When we ask consumers in future what they feel about Ford, we want them to respond with the notion of Adventurous Spirit, even if they don’t realise it. We want them to feel what we feel.”