The Challenge:
Ford’s advertising was stuck in a rut. Thanks to Alan Mulally, the business had been turned around, very narrowly avoiding bankruptcy (side note, if you haven’t read ‘American Icon’, I strongly recommend it), but the brand and the advertising were still doing the s.o.s.
The Strategy:
Ford’s line up for 2017 was stunning. We take it for granted now as we’ve seen so many third generation Fusions and Focuses on the road, but in 2016, these vehicles were unmatched by the competitors and a quantum leap for Ford in both engineering and aesthetic standards. We needed a new creative vision that could could bring that sentiment to life.
The Idea:
“By Design” was a complete shredding of the car advertising playbook. Two simple words that acted as a springboard for storytelling the multitude of updates these vehicles had received.
The Execution:
Setting the Ford script free from the Oval was a great visual device for communicating brand evolution in a nanosecond.
When it came to a TV ad, our idea was less about car features and more about how a car can make you feel. We all instinctively know when we love something, when the design or the aesthetic speaks to us instantly. The reaction might be goosebumps, a warm feeling of butterflies in your stomach, a sharp inhalation of air. We wanted to convey these ‘instincts’ in a visually stunning way with the car at the center of every shot.
By Design
TVC | OOH | Content | Social
We continued the “Ford By Design” campaign locally, in Miami, by collaborating with the Huichol tribe of Mexico. Famous for their intricate bead work, their approach to design is unbelievable. They don’t sketch anything out, or plan their compositions, they just begin applying beads and the final results are astounding.
Their work was a perfect metaphor for the ‘By Design’ campaign; a work of art where every single detail of it is by design. We commissioned two billboards in time for Miami Art Basel. Ocean Drive, Aventura and Design District were just some of the locations where these billboards ran in Miami before being auctioned off, and all proceeds went back to the Huichol tribe.
The Results:
Ford Fusion saw a .3% rise in sales with even the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid model experiencing significant sales increases in 2017, placing it among the top selling plug-ins in the US that year.