Building Customer Awareness

One important goal of our marketing and communications activities is to increase consumers' knowledge of our products and our corporate performance. We are particularly focused on improving consumers' awareness of the Company's excellent quality, safety, environmental and social performance. We use a range of communication methods to share information about Ford with potential customers and to get feedback from drivers. This sustainability report is one key element of our strategy. We also engage in two-way communications with consumers and other stakeholders through a variety of stakeholder engagement forums.

In 2008, we launched an aggressive social media communications effort that uses Web-based social networking channels – such as Facebook, YouTube and blogs – and fosters word-of-mouth marketing. Social networks and blogging are becoming an increasingly important way to communicate with consumers, especially with the so-called "millennial generation" – those born from the late 1970s through the late 1990s. Opportunities for discussions and blogging on the Internet are countless. So, we are empowering our employees to communicate about Ford in the "blogosphere" by making our Online Communications Guidelines more widely available and giving employees the information they need communicate successfully in these arenas. We think that allowing employees to have open and real communications within their digital communities sends a clear message that Ford is committed to forging relationships online and being accessible to its audiences. We are also actively using the Twitter message service to engage with fans, detractors and the general public on all matters. And, we are making it easier for visitors to our Ford Web sites to find third-party content about Ford online, particularly with the ever-evolving "Ford Story" site. We hope that integrating third-party information into our sites will provide a valuable service to consumers and will show our confidence in the vehicles we're producing.

Through these and other methods, we are seeking to stimulate user discussions about our products. For example, in 2009, we started a program called the "Fiesta Movement" to support the launch of the Ford Fiesta in the United States in 2010. Through this program, Ford will select up to 100 online "influencers" to drive a Fiesta for six months and then relate their experiences through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. By delivering Fiestas to specially selected consumers, we will have the opportunity to learn more about consumer wants and needs in the rapidly growing small car segment. This program will help us get a wealth of feedback early on in a new vehicle program. It will also provide a unique approach to raising awareness about the Fiesta – via unfiltered information from real drivers.

We are also working to improve the effectiveness of our auto show appearances. Approximately 24 million people attend auto shows in the United States alone, so these are important opportunities to share information with potential customers. At the 2009 Chicago Auto Show, for example, we used a wide range of interactive exhibits that helped us better engage visitors. The exhibits, which highlight our "Drive One" strategy, focus on fuel economy, quality, safety and smart technologies. For example, the displays included a hands-on experience with the Fusion Hybrid's SmartGauge™ with EcoGuide technology, as well as interactive touch tables illustrating the environmental benefits of soy-based seat cushion foam and EcoBoost™, our new fuel-efficient engine technology.

Through our Drive One campaign we also offer a range of opportunities for people to experience our vehicles firsthand. The goal of Drive One is to encourage people who might not otherwise be considering a Ford product to see for themselves what we offer. Drive One is based on our belief that, when people drive our vehicles, they will have more positive opinions of our products and will be more likely to buy them. The campaign highlights Ford's four key areas of focus: safety, quality, green technologies and smart technologies.

One of our Drive One efforts is the Drive One 4 UR School campaign. Through this program, people can test-drive a Ford Flex, Focus or other new Ford vehicle and help raise money for their local school. For each test-drive taken at the one-day events, Ford donates $20 (up to a total of $6,000 per event) to fund special projects and activities at the designated school. We launched this program with high schools in 2007 and added middle and elementary schools in 2009. As of March 2009, more than 280 Drive One 4 UR School events had taken place in the United States, raising more than $750,000 to support local schools. These events enabled more than 37,500 participants to test drive a variety of Ford products. Feedback from these events shows that both purchase consideration and opinion of the Ford brand improved after individuals had a chance to get behind the wheel and experience the vehicles firsthand.

Finally, we use traditional advertising to inform consumers about our products and our corporate performance. We use three primary advertising strategies: corporate-level communications about Ford Motor Company, advertising about our brands and specific products, and dealer-level product advertising. The goal of these advertising strategies is to sell vehicles. But just as important, we are aiming to increase general awareness about the excellence of our products and our corporate performance among people who are not yet in the market for a vehicle. To develop new products, we respond to market demands through our market research and product development efforts. Through our advertising, we hope to increase interest in and preference for our vehicles and our Company based on the excellence of our products and the positive actions of our Company. The following chart provides an overview of how we spent our product marketing dollars in 2008.

Ford 2008 U.S. Advertising Spending

As part of our One Ford transformation, we are working to improve the effectiveness of our advertising communications by involving dealers more closely in the development of our advertising strategies. Dealers communicate with our customers everyday, and they have special knowledge about consumers' needs and wants. We included our dealers from the start in the development of our Drive One campaign. In fact, prior to developing the Drive One idea, we sought input from our entire Ford dealer body, and that feedback informed the campaign's development. Together we arrived at a campaign that works at the corporate, brand, product and dealer levels.

We are also improving alignment between our public relations efforts and our marketing efforts, to improve the effectiveness of all our communications. In 2009, a key focus of our communications will be improving customer awareness of our quality and fuel-economy achievements. For example, we have launched a new ad series for the Ford Focus in which customers describe how the Focus delivers on their personal definitions of quality. And in March 2009 we launched an ad campaign for the 2010 Fusion, to raise consumers' awareness of the Fusion's best-in-class fuel economy, world-class quality, increased resale value and smart technology, including the voice-activated SYNC® multimedia communications system. We are also highlighting that we make the world's most fuel-efficient small SUV – the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner Hybrid – and that we are doubling the size and volume of our hybrid lineup. And, we are emphasizing the introduction of the EcoBoost engine lineup, which can deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy and up to 15 percent fewer CO2 emissions versus larger-displacement engines.1