Hey everyone, this is my first blog post.
I don’t often get to watch TV in my spare time these days, but when I do get the opportunity, it kills me to have it wasted with commercials like the above. I physically cringe when I see it. This is the “Way of Life” campaign from Ford. Gone are the days when Ford F150 was associated with patriotism, America, and the ranch life. This campaign sets to prove that the F150 is a “real man’s” truck. From a marketing perspective, its clear what Ford’s strategy is: single out and communicate exclusively to its target market.
I find most commercials purposely broad and vague, as they are trying to promote their product in a way that it will reach as many people as possible. Although there is probably an obvious target market behind their products (eg; makeup for women), they do not exclude or ostracize other demographics purposely. Why bother? The reason behind it must go something like “why focus exclusively on a certain demographic, when profits may exist in others?” It leaves open the possibility for additional revenue outside of their focus, which is never a bad thing.
Ford F-150 decides to abandon this traditional model, and just comes out with fingers pointing towards their target market. In this case, those happen to be the construction-type laborer workers who earn their money through the sweat and dirt on their hands. To appeal to this demograph, Ford made use of the following clichés:
- Rock music – check
- Dizzying camera movements and flying blocks of text crashing into the ground to simulate the chaotic and fast paced nature of construction work – check
- Condescending narrator with a fake Boston/New York accent speaking in everyday laymans language. No fancy commercial script here, but a really gritty conversation with your average “construction worker” – check
- Constant visual and dialogue references to construction work / tools / hauling payloads – check
- Reference to burbon (a real man’s drink)- check
- Did I mention constant implications that F150 is for a real man’s work? Yup, women don’t fit in their commercial. No women – check
- Not-so-subtle slant at geeks, hippies, and white collar workers (the bane of all construction workers) – check
The list could go on. To better illustrate the above, here are a few direct quotes from the clips
The engineers who built the ’09 F150 are probably the same guys we cheated off of in science class. We’re thinking about pizza, they’re thinking about aerodynamic wake properties
Chances are you’re not making money pushing a pencil, or hand modelling
You don’t want your cargo swaying like hippies around a campfire*
Conclusion: It’s a bold move. Ford decided that they only need to target the market who they feel will be the primary buyers of the F150 (or at least provide the bulk of their revenue). They feel no need to extend its product to other demographics, and instead exclude and take jabs at them. This of course is done to further delight its target market, so that they may better identify their values with Ford F150. From a marketing perspectives, Ford has made the strategic decision to tailor its product almost exclusively for a small niche market, and hope to capture enough of this niche market to outweigh the losses they will suffer for not marketing to all the demographics. This risk is taken to promote product loyalty and to capture the market for that niche. It’s essentially a different approach to promoting their brand and increasing profits.
All that being said, I don’t identify with this commercial at all. It’s unethical, rude, and really just panders to the crass, crude macho-man-wannabe’s. Oh, and the narrator’s attempts to mimic the everyday laborers’ personality is just pathetic.
*Couldn’t actually find this commercial from YouTube, but I know it exists. It’s so cliché, that it’s one of the reasons I hate this commercial campaign so much; my inspiration for my first marketing blog post.