Customer loyalty, marketing communication, and branding are all essential elements of any marketing strategy undertaken by a company in a bid to promote its brand image with an ultimate goal of increasing their sales through continuous customer loyalty (Kottler & Keller, 2003). A brand strategy is a development plan a company puts in place for its products and services. Marketing communication, on the other hand, entails informing customers and potential customers of product and service offerings of a company with an aim of attracting and retaining them in the long run (Kottler & Keller, 2003). Lastly, customer loyalty is an outcome of always giving customers a great experience while using the company’s products and services. It basically involves a preference by customers to use the products of a company as compared to the other brands available in the market regardless of their price. This is the major goal of most businesses (Kottler & Keller, 2003). Ford is no exception. When it comes to its F-series, careful situational analysis has to be conducted if the product life cycle of this truck series is to be extended despite the fact that it has been on the market for over 35 years.
Situational Analysis
Ford’s Strengths and Weaknesses: The Company’s major strengths are its strong brand image, innovative processes and its supply chain globally. The strong brand image contributes considerably to the attractiveness of the brand which has a positive impact on customer loyalty.
Killing is commanded – Exodus 32:27 – And he told them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your hip, every one of you! Now go up and down the camp, from gate to gate, and slay your own kinsmen, your friends, and neighbors!”
Rugged, stylish, comfortable, economic, and most of all, dependable. The Ford F-150 is the pickup truck that changed the nation. From its very beginning, the Ford truck has taken care of its owner’s necessities from hauling hay to visiting family and friends. Since its inception, the Ford Motor Company (FMC) has earned the loyalty of its customers. Most of all, the ford pickup truck has earned the respect of farmers, families, and businessmen alike. How did the FMC earn the loyalty of the people? By creating the highest value possible for its customers. Ford provided the most reliable and economical vehicle in its time.
Even today Henry Ford’s strategies and beliefs are being reflected in the Ford’s corporate strategies. Main feature of all Ford’s brands is their reliability, high quality and innovativeness. After BMW, Ford is considered to be a renowned brand whose focus is on innovation and creativity. Along with cars its effort towards social responsibility also plays an important role in
The research and development of Ford is very strong because every time they have introduced many new cars and brands and also represents renowned brands like Formula One.
Ford Motor Company has tough competition with European and Japanese manufacturers, therefore the company did not respond well and suffered
"Trust our company, love our brands and delight in our services." This is the theme of Ford's global brand strategy. Ford's approach to brand marketing is that of six distinctive vehicle brands and four distinctive service brands. Among these vehicle brands are Mercury, Lincoln, Ford, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Mazda, and soon Volvo. With several different brands under the name Ford a number of products with an overwhelming set of characteristics has been developed. These strong brand names, along with unique models within each brand assist Ford to build long-term, sustainable links to customers throughout the world. (For a listing of Ford models, see appendix.) People automatically associate certain nameplates to Ford, such as the Mustang, Thunderbird, and the ever popular Taurus. The brand characteristic of a Ford truck is "Built Ford Tough," while the characteristics of a sport utility vehicle is ,"go anywhere, do anything, practical adventure." The Jaguar XJR is another example of a unique brand of Ford. There are no others like it on the market today. The XJR is targeted at those customers who are looking for that extravagant "muscle" car. All of these sub-brands share the same global promise of the Ford Motor Company.
Typically, our firms performance objectives was to be sustainable and profitable as a business while at the same time achieving customer satisfaction for our main consumer segments; singles, family, and enterprisers and value seekers. Our generic marketing strategy was focused around a balance of cost leadership, and product differentiation. Cost leadership was employed strategically for our economy and family car, executed with emphasis on efficiency and safety. In period one, our firm was positioned positively and strong; sales were at a profitable level of $20,516.
United States Securities and Exchange Commission, (2012).Ford motor company 10-k . Retrieved from Ford Motor Company website: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=87772&p=irol-SECText
Profitability (performance) ratios are used to assess a company’s ability to create equity as compared to its debt and other appropriate expenses created during a particular time frame. A favorable analysis of profitability ratios will reveal that a company’s value is higher than a competitor’s value.
Ford in 2011 is on the rebound, having recovered from the darkest hours in the late 2000s. The company for the company is that many of its competitors are also rebounding, and there are significant long-run changes in the automobile industry. Ford needs to determine a strategy that will take the company through the next decade, and improve the company's competitive position. The company has four of the top fifteen best-selling cars in America, but also needs to set strategy globally, as many of the best automobile growth markets are overseas. Another strategic consideration is that CEO Alan Mulally remains in the process of changing the organizational culture at Ford, which had become stagnant and unresponsive to the changes in the industry environment.
Faced with an overwhelmingly complex situation, Alan Mulally has been brought in as Ford Motor Company's new president and CEO. As diverse global dynamics confront the company and competitive pressures continue to build, he has the challenging task of improving Ford's brand image and returning the company to profitability. Mulally has invited your consulting firm to advise his management team on restoring the company's reputation and viability. Assigned to the project, you have been asked to evaluate Ford's situation and prepare a report with the following content:
Q: 1 Why are Ford and GM entering the Russian car market now? Why did they not invest earlier, and why do they do not postpone investment until the market is bigger?
The development of marketing concept from a Product orientation to a Sales orientation and finally a Marketing orientation has signified an important change in how we understand and conceptualizes marketing in the 21st century. It signified an increased focus in the behavior of consumers and how by applying different marketing strategies organizations have been able to influence the way in which consumers react to their potential needs and how marketers can change their strategy to target different consumers wants. An assessment has been made in this essay looking at the development of the Volkswagen (herein referred to as VW) polo hatchback model.
The term “Brand Loyalty” also called as “Customer Loyalty” has been in the business industry since a very long time as a model to be used in conducting business. But it wasn’t until the mid to late 1900’s that the term was actually given its due importance by making it a vital part of advertising and marketing. The concept of marketing evolved substantially from being focused on sales of a product to having Customer satisfaction to be its focal point. Studies further revealed that there was a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and Brand Loyalty.
Ford Motor Company is one of the world’s largest producers of cars and trucks and one of the largest providers of automotive financial services marketing vehicles under the eight brands shown below. The Company is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. During 2002, the company made 6.7 million vehicles and employed 328,000 people worldwide. Business partners include 25,000 dealers and more than 10,000 suppliers.