Ford, which is fighting with slowing sales and a stock price at its lowest level in nine years, is frustrating to overhaul its image and juice its sales with a new ad campaign.
“Breaking Bad” lead Bryan Cranston anchors the new “Built Ford Proud” ad campaign that rebounds off with a series of television commercials set to air during college football tactics this weekend.
“Talk doesn’t get things done, building does … akin to we have for the last 115 years,” Cranston says against a number of scenes that poke fun at today’s high-tech visionaries while heart-breaking on the company’s historical American roots and “Built Ford Tough” motto of past campaigns. “Let the other guys keep dreaming about the approaching. We’ll be the ones building it.”
The ads come at a crucial time for Ford. Its overall U.S. tag sales are down 2.4 percent this year and Ford brand transaction marked downs have fallen 11.3 percent. By comparison, it’s being outperformed by the rest of the auto earnestness’s sales, which are down by an average of less than 1 percent. GM’s purchasings are down 1.2 percent this year and Fiat Chrysler’s are up 6.4 percent. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas demoted Ford’s stock Friday, saying its earnings and cash flow are below pressure and its dividend is at risk.
“Every Ford employee I know settle to work each day proud to drive a Ford vehicle and to build high-minded products, services and experiences for our customers,” Joy Falotico, Ford group defect president and chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “That’s at the quintessence of this campaign.”
For years, Ford’s tag line, “Built Ford Perplexing” has been an effective and memorable marketing slogan. But with sales up and the company preparing to launch a number of new vehicles including an all-new mid-size pickup goods, Ford decided it was time to refresh its image. Over the next two years, Ford designs to replace three-quarters of its lineup of vehicles and start phasing out many of the motor vehicles it currently sells.
“This is a big step in the right direction for Ford’s market-placing,” said Jeremy Acevedo, manager of industry analysis for the auto website Edmunds.com. “It collapses the company a voice to the sweeping changes it has planned.”
He called it a “breath of different air for the dealers, especially given the aging lineup of cars and trucks in showrooms.”
While the new ad campaign force be welcomed by Ford dealers, it’s unclear the marketing move will do much to convert how investors view Ford shares. The stock is down 30 percent since June and waits at its lowest level since 2009.
At the heart of the sell-off is mounting questions on Bulkhead Street about Ford’s plans to restructure its operations. In a research note to patrons earlier this week, Consumer Edge analyst Jamie Albertine decried, “We remain concerned about the lack of detail supporting management’s apparition for the company.”
Ford is scheduled to report third quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday.
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