Ford F-150: Marketing to Men’s Left, and Right, Brains
At this moment in time, you wouldn’t think an ad campaign for an American made, large-sized truck, would offer new ideas in reaching today’s consumers. After all, the big three auto brands, in general, and anything larger than a Prius, specifically, seem likely to be on their last legs (wheels?). And yet, the recent Ford F-150 effort begs to differ. Instead, it reaches men in the traditional ways with a twist: still touting the biggest and best qualities (left brain appeal), but with more emphasis on features and benefits (right brain appeal).
A MediaPost article by Karl Greenberg describes the scene well:
The new ad is the sixth in a series that launched last year to promote the 2009 F-150. The campaign, using voiceover by actor/comedian Denis Leary, takes a sharp detour from the traditional truck-as-hero mythology to focus on more straightforward illumination of features and benefits.
What I see is a interesting balance of classic, male appeal via status/positioning/machismo combined with a “softer” (more typically female) sell of safety and other features and benefits of “belonging” to the Ford F-150 brand: including being able to hang out with a celebrity who is basically known to epitomize the typical buyer. For instance, there is an assumption (always beware of that!) that safety is lower on the list of priorities for the average macho truck fan, but perhaps not when it is served up with Dennis Leary’s voice ranting about the dumb guy in the next car over. Or, maybe the idea of hanging out with celebrities is a promotional strategy most frequently used with a women’s market. But, deliver Toby Keith, in all his macho glory, and.. hmmm… the guys who would be F-150 buyers may well take you up on that – as long as the promotion is called “Biggest & Baddest.”
You see, the language and style of a campaign can always stay more male-pitched, even as the actual framework of the marketing strategy is inspired and guided by what we know of how women buy. No one will be the wiser.
A heavier emphasis on a brand or products’ benefits and features is a commonly touted way to better serve women, for certain – but could it really be about better serving any consumer who is seeing things with a more balanced – right and left brain – perspective? Yes. And, more consumers – no gender about it – are seeing things that way today.
Ford has done a good job with this new campaign. They know that they must still appeal to a specific core market of men, so they leveraged some of the usual status and macho positioning. But, with an awareness of this down economy and a more energy efficient culture, Ford also recognized that the men they need to reach are taking a lot more in than size, price, and well.. size – as they weigh a decision about what vehicle is really, and holistically, the best fit.
A male consumer’s path is starting to take a few more curves than it used to, especially on the bigger ticket items. Good thing you all already know how to identify and serve the most important curves along a buyer’s path! Thanks to your long study of how women go about it, you have no trouble delivering your product to both left and right brain traits.
