Case Study: The Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta
Writing in the Wall Street Journal just ahead of the launch of the Ford Fiesta, Dan Neil rhapsodized about the car’s styling, the sweeping curves of the body panels, and the crazy, oversized quad headlamps. “Built like a Russian gymnast,” he declared. “In this segment, it’s hard to build anything that doesn’t look purely twee and adorable (Honda Fit or Chevy Aveo), so even a trace of malice, as the Fiesta has, amounts to car-styling genius.” He concluded, “If you’ve ever rented a small American-brand car overseas and thought “Why can’t we get this back in the States?”—well you can.”1
“Do Americans think that? I don’t think so,” said Chantel Lenard, group marketing manager for Global Small Car and Midsize Vehicles for the Ford Motor Company. “American brands are not even on the shopping list. The Ford name on a small car doesn’t help it one bit—in fact, it’s a liability. Ford is associated with F-150 trucks.” Lenard reflected on the fact that most of Ford’s customer base, and the traffic in its dealerships, were white, suburban family men. The target customers for the Fiesta would be very different. They would be much more ethnically diverse, they would include women and men, and they would tend to be city dwellers. And most significantly, they would be younger than Ford’s current market. The Fiesta would be targeted at people under 30, known to demographers as “millennials” because they had come of age after 2000. Marketing to millennials under the Ford name would be a challenge. (Excerpt).Discuss the following questions in 3~5 pages (Times new roman 11pt, 1inch margin, 1.5 spaced)1. Appraise Ford’s marketing strategy for the Fiesta in the U.S. against the challenges it seeks to overcome.2. How is the Fiesta Movement performing by the metrics reported in the case? Should other metrics have been used?3. Is the campaign under control? What are the controls?4. Are you satisfied with the reach of the campaign?5. What is your advice to Chantal Lenard? Stay the course or make material changes?