Now if only ford would just

Roberta — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:08:53 -0500

Now if only ford would just pimp my ride-I'd be thrilled.
(for the record I tell my kids that commercials are evil marketing tools made by liars to get kids to eat/buy horrible things-lets see how long they listen.)

Birdsword

Beware

heivilinj — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:16:19 -0500

Who was it who said "let the buyer beware"?

Jim Heivilin

In the age of fake news...

Catherine Morgan — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:31:03 -0500

In the age of fake news and fake press conferences...I'm sorry to say that fake market research really doesn't surprise me one bit. I think I would be more surprised to find out that we are ever at a point where we are not being lied to and manipulated by government and corporations.

Lying is the new truth.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

Ford Creates Fake Marketing Research Company for "Swap your Ride" Campaign

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:27:18 -0500

In a recent blog, Toby Bloomberg complains "What is wrong with marketers and advertisers?"

She points readers to Ford's recent advertising campaign, "Swap Your Ride," which includes a television commercial with this voiceover: "We didn't tell them we were from Ford; we told them it was... market research." The tag line on Ford's website supporting the campaign reads - "No Scripts Or Prompts. Just Real People. Telling Real Stories." (Bloomberg adds slyly, "To a Fake Marketing Research Company.")

Officially: "To ensure the authenticity of the responses, Ford made certain none of the consumers knew beforehand that they were participating in a Ford-sponsored event. To keep its participation under wraps, Ford created a market research company, 'In Home Test Drive Experience LLC,' to recruit almost 90 competitive vehicle owners to evaluate one of 11 Ford vehicles, including a Ford Fusion, Focus, Mustang, Taurus, Edge, Escape, Escape Hybrid, Expedition, Expedition EL, F-150 or F-Series Super Duty during a week-long test drive."

As one who has had several opportunities to evaluate vehicles with extended seat time, it's seems easy to love any new car with a full tank of gas that displaces one's own 'ordinary transportation' for a few days. I'm immediately curious to know how many of those "Real People" didn't love their week-long swap, and preferred to keep their own regular ride.

According to official PR, "Swap Your Ride" participants were asked before and after their test-drive experience whether they would be open to purchasing or leasing a Ford vehicle in the future. The results: Purchase consideration following consumers' week-long product evaluation doubled to nearly 80 percent.

Bloomberg also asks: "Is this stealth marketing? Sounds like gray marketing at the very least to me. Not to mention that I feel it discredits the marketing research industry."

She also wonders what will happen the next time Ford (and I add, "or any other manufacturer") conducts "real research." Will respondents, who saw the commercial, assume that they're talking to a 'Fake Marketing Research Company?'

What do you think?

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
www.carblabber.com

BlogHer - Ford Creates Fake Marketing Research Company for "Swap your Ride" Campaign - Comments

Now if only ford would just

Beware

In the age of fake news...

Ford Creates Fake Marketing Research Company for "Swap your Ride" Campaign