ASIAN MARKETING Ford Marketing Drive Aims To Sell Asians on Taurus
March 29, 2011
Ford Motor Co. is hoping its big American-made Taurus will win over Asians looking to move up from small Japanese cars but not ready to pay for European luxury models. But analysts say it is going to take a heavy dose of marketing to get consumers in the region to even look at Ford. ``The problem with Ford is that they have come into Asia believing that consumers know the brand,'' says Petrina Ahn, a senior auto-industry analyst with UBS Securities in Tokyo. ``But they don't know what kind of company it is or what products Ford sells.'' The No. 2 U.S. auto maker is trying to remedy that problem with several marketing initiatives as it tries to sell about 13,000 imported 2011 model Tauruses in 10 Asian countries this year. The nameplate is expected to help lay the groundwork for Ford to reach its stated goal of gaining a 10% share of Asia's auto market by the year 2020, up from about 2% this year. Television Campaign In Singapore, where the company introduces the Taurus this week, Ford will present a television special on the Premiere 12 channel on Thursday to promote the car to consumers in the city-state. The show, the first of its kind in Asia for Ford, will focus on the car's safety and styling, as well as on Ford's history, says Ion Warner, South Asia export manager for the company's Ford Motor Co. (Japan) unit. The 15-minute show, paid for by Ford -- which declined to comment on the size of its advertising budget -- has been heralded this week with ads, much as a car advertising campaign would be touted in the U.S. Ford expects to sell just 75 to 100 right-hand-drive Tauruses in Singapore this year. It hasn't announced pricing for the model. Ford also has started airing commercials in South Korea, where the Taurus already has been introduced, under the banner ``Ford Today.'' The ads are mostly informational, focusing on Ford's safety features and environmental policies. The ads also have aired in Thailand, where Taurus is expected to go on sale in November, competing against its main rival in the U.S., the Toyota Camry. Local Marketing Around Asia, Ford plans to localize its marketing for each country since Taurus will be targeted at consumers with different demographic characteristics in countries as diverse as Thailand and China, company executives say. While that won't preclude a regional approach to advertising at some point, ``we don't plan to start out with a regional campaign,'' says Kenyatta Dean, director of public affairs for Asian markets. Ford executives in Singapore for the Taurus launch are optimistic that the U.S.'s best-selling car for the past four years can be popular in Asia. ``If you look around Singapore, Hong Kong and even Tokyo, you see that cars are getting larger and larger,'' says Johnetta Merrill, director of sales and marketing for Asian-Pacific export markets. ``We know in Singapore the styling is going to be important, and in Hong Kong it's safety.'' But styling and safety have yet to make Taurus a hit in Japan. By the end of June, the company had sold 2,500 cars, compared with its announced target of 4,500 to 5,000 in the model's first three months on the market. Ford previously sold Taurus in Japan only as a left-hand-drive vehicle. Comparison With Opel UBS's Mr. Ahn says the disappointing sales are due primarily to Ford's lack of advertising for the Taurus nameplate or the company's overall brand name. Ford kept the pricing in the same range as its previous Taurus, between 2.5 million yen and 2.7 million yen ($22,700 and $24,500). By comparison, Mr. Ahn says General Motors Corp.'s Opel brand has been successful in part because GM has spent money marketing the name and what it stands for. GM has been running a regional advertising campaign for Opel for several months. Other industry observers say that regardless of the difficulties for Ford right now, the company has to start building a presence in Asia somewhere. ``You just have to push a new product into Asia and look at what it can do,'' says Timothy Cochrane, director of market research at Automotive Resources Asia Ltd. in Bangkok. ``The Taurus is the best of what Ford has to offer. For Asians, it might be just what they are looking for.''
