Ford #DiscoverMoreInYou
The passenger vehicle category had hit an 18-year low in 2019. What can one possibly do if the category is declining this fast? Line-up new launches. Offer heavy discounts on existing cars. Increase budgets to stay top of mind. These were options that most brands exercised.
But with no new car to launch, can you disrupt the market? If you have no deals or discounts to offer, can you unsettle the competition? If you don’t have huge money to burn in media, can you turn down the high decibel levels of your competition?
Well, YES! Because for Ford giving up was not an option. The challenge was to become the most preferred and loved SUV brand despite the odds. So, we decided to look at the SUV category with fresh eyes. For decades the category was speeding on a set formula.
SUV = Big
SUV = Brawny
SUV = Beastly
Well established category conventional norms and motivations -that big cars are sold because it feeds big egos. But a deeper understanding of our consumers told us otherwise, that our cars give them confidence to discover bigness in them and this truth became our disruptive differentiator. Big cars feed egos but it didn’t feed our TG. The Ford lovers. The opportunity was to create more such Ford lovers. To make Ford the SUV for those who go above and beyond themselves.
We launched #DiscoverMoreInYou - challenging the conventions of SUV advertising, we focused on the people and not the car.
A three film campaign addressing the perceptions around SUV owners as they embark on a journey of discovering more in them. This tore through the social fabric. Existing Ford users rallied the sentiment with #DiscoverMore drives. Social media was swamped with stories of self-discovery. Taking the campaign forward, we launched The Blue Band Movement to take on the honking epidemic among car drivers. It soon turned into a national conversation when children took to the streets giving away blue bands and spreading awareness around the seriousness of the issue. RJ Naved among other influential Indians also joined in. As a pleasant departure from the Indian auto advertising, the story changed from what’s on the wheel to who’s behind the wheel.
Impact:
Ford saw a gain in the premium segment with Endeavour- gaining almost 8% Market Share.
And overall, with a loss of only -0.24% as compared to previous quarter, Ford had managed to stop the erosion of MS in a category that further declined by 8%. A result achieved with limited spends as compared to launching a new car.