Building Awareness of Our Products and Services
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 are working to get this information to consumers in several ways. 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. Finally, we use 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. In 2007, we spent $5.4 billion on advertising globally, up from $5.1 billion in 2006 and $5.0 billion in 2005. The following chart provides an overview of how we spent our product marketing dollars.
2007 Ford Motor Co. U.S. Advertising Spending
| Category | Spend | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate | $9,809,503 | 0.46% |
| Product* | $1,675,306,426 | 78.63% |
| Dealer Assoc.** | $445,423,410 | 20.91% |
| Total | $2,130,539,339 | 100.00% |
| Hybrid Vehicles | $40,082,966 | 1.88% |
Source: Ad-Insights, February 18, 2008
* Tier 1 Spend
** Tier 2 Spend
Brands include Ford, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Volvo
Media includes network TV, national cable TV, local TV (top 100 markets), national magazine, national newspaper, local newspaper (top 100 markets), radio (top 27 markets), outdoor, Internet (excluding sites that require zip codes)
Corporate and Hybrid spend does not include radio, outdoor or Internet
At the product level, we are working hard to increase consumer awareness of our great quality, safety innovations and environmentally friendly vehicle offerings. For example, we are continuing to increase consumer awareness of our hybrid vehicle offerings, including the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid compact SUVs, and their sister product, the new Mazda Tribute Hybrid. The Escape and Mariner Hybrids are the most fuel-efficient SUVs on the planet. These hybrids provide a no-compromise vehicle option that allows people to maintain their environmental values and get great fuel economy without giving up functionality, roominess or performance.
The Ford Escape Hybrid is an important product for the Company. It was our first hybrid vehicle, and therefore represents a key element in our strategy for developing cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles. This vehicle has also played an important role in bringing new customers to Ford Motor Company products. Approximately 60 percent of all Escape and Mariner hybrid buyers are "conquest" buyers – people who previously owned other brands. We are constantly working to increase awareness about this superior product.
Last year, we debuted an advertising campaign for Lincoln featuring amputee athlete Sarah Reinertsen. In 2005, Reinertsen became the first female above-knee amputee to complete an Ironman competition – a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. The ads, which prominently feature her prosthetic leg, appeared on television and in print in publications such as BusinessWeek and Fast Company.