Jan 19 2011
More than you can afford… Ferrari
It’s interesting to me the varying levels of advertising and marketing needed when it comes to the car industry. How many car ads do you see throughout the day? I probably don’t count, as I spend most of my days on websites such as Car and Driver, Road and Track, Top Gear etc… But what about the average person, whether it be TV, magazines or bill boards? How many Kia ads do you see compared to Mercedes-Benz? It seems to me that the least expensive cars have the highest number of ads. This probably comes from the consumer, the company and the competition.
How many Ferrari commercials have you seen in your life time? I can honestly say I can count them all on one hand. It’s a brand and a product that basically sells itself. There are only a handful of companies that compete with Ferrari, and a very small customer base of the super rich. Because of this, Ferrari can spends millions of dollars building theme parks in Abu Dhabi, instead of advertising campaigns. 
At the other end of the spectrum, the entry level, competition is fierce, there is a huge customer base and generally larger companies. An inch gained in marketing and advertising, is a mile gained in sales. In today’s society, a car is much more than just a mode of transportation it becomes a statement. It has to be cool or enviromentally friendly or tuneable and so on. The marketing divisions need to create campaigns that touch on these and make their car appealing to the consumer. The more it’s aired, the deeper the message is sent. But bad marketing can ruin a car’s or even a companies reputation. It’s a thin line that marketers must walk. Here’s one of my favorite car ads.