New F-150 Advertising Thoughts

Adrants pointed out the new Ford F-150 ads this morning. Caught these a couple weeks ago during the Vikings game and meant to note a couple things here.

The first thing was about the ads overall. Having grown up on a farm and worked a couple manual labor jobs early in college with guys who need and love their trucks, I think they've done a good job with the creative approach they chose. I think it's especially dead-on for a younger truck buyer who maybe hasn't vowed their undying loyalty to Ford yet.

As for older truck buyers, I ask myself, do they talk to my dad, who still farms and drives a pickup? Mmmm, not so sure there. But that's the beauty of Ford trucks. Ford pickup drivers (to my knowledge) are fiercely loyal. If my dad were a Ford man, he doesn't need a commercial to have him buy a new one when he's ready.He'd just go do it, no questions asked.

The second thing I wanted to note was the typography itself. It's a very interesting way to get people to engage with an ad that talks a lot about features of the truck itself, which usually is pretty boring stuff to listen to. On top of that, it plays well in noisy bars during NFL games - you don't have to be able to hear it to get it. Beyond that, it reminded me of a video* for a typography project I thought was really well done in early 2007.

*Just a heads-up that it's a scene from Pulp Fiction w/adult language. Might want to turn down the speakers.

Comments

[windo]

It does seem that pick-up truck owners are fiercely loyal. Have you ever seen those stickers showing Calvin/Hobbs pissing on Ford or Chevy logo on the back of a pick-up truck window? I wonder if you'd find that same type of loyalty/rivalry among the other types of vehicles? will have to ask someone who works on an automotive biz.

Yeah i like the typography treatment on this execution much better than the recent one from Starbucks "free coffee on election day." Maybe i'm feeling that way cuz it was a rip-off of the "girl effect" video? Do you think we'll see more of this typography treatment in more ads, like we did with "morphing effect" after T2 or "bullet time" after the Matrix? or how about the "3D block letters" from Little Miss Sunshine and Fringe? damn, i'm watching too much of the TV.

[Claire Dalton]

Windo, I definitely think we'll start seeing more of these typography treatments for a time. Different fonts and styles always go in and out of vogue (I sometimes tease my dad, an AD, that every ad he made in the 80's looks the same as every other ad). Strangely, there's a commercial for Ethan Allen that uses this same exact treatment...and the same exact font as The Limited uses (fun fact!)

I'd love to see more people use this same idea on a large-scale environment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd3zjozVSEg

Interesting connection you made with the TV shows though. I wonder if anyone has looked into the evolution of fonts in TV/movie title cards.

[Jonathan Dueck]

I've watched as some of my favorite brands abandoned my demographic in search of new market opportunities, with varying degrees of success. (Think Abercrombie and MTV in the 90's).

Here I think Ford can afford to "skew young" in ads like this one, because even though the stylistic treatment might not resonate with a farmer in mid-to-late middle age, the truck's value proposition has remained consistent for decades.

And as you said, they have strong brand loyalty.

[Monoranu]

You're so right about the typography. Due to unknown causes i couldn't hear the sound when I watched the TVC here and frankly I dindn't need to. I got the message "loud and clear" without hearind a sound.
I am no where near the targeted consumer because I'm not a farmer and most important I live in Europe (Romania to be more exact) but even from here the message looks very efficient. It's a product that tries to keep up with the financial crisis but still remains very conservative regarding the size. In Europe, pick-up trucks are a lot smaller and they do their job pretty good and with a better fuel consumption. I expected a growth in such products' demand in the USA but it seems that Ford is very much aware that the americans are not ready to cut down on pick-up trucks' sizes. :)
I'd say, overall, it's a good commercial and it tries to keep the american dream in motion. I don't know if the americans think about towing their boats right now, or even about going on a fishing trip but Ford keeps the optimism at a high level. Nicely done!

[juliek]

Sure, it's about a farmer or a Ford guy. But it's also to the blue-collar identifying guy who might live in Blaine or Lakeville. Maybe he hunts, maybe he grew up in a small town, maybe he does drywall. He might even push a pencil. And he might be driving a used Honda accord right now. He definitely thought Palin was kinda hot.

The VO was a perfect choice for this. Denis Leary. Not ye olde "heartland of america/like a rock" booming generic midwest everyman. East Coast, assertive, unrepentant, and maybe hitting on your girlfriend when you're taking a leak. It's a bar guy, a guy's guy, not necessary dad energy.

It's not the most exciting spot but I think it will appeal to that guy (and his dad, his grandpa and probably his girlfriend too).

[Sarah]

I think that the execution was on point but regarding the placement, i will give it a 5 out 10 rate. I received an email from AdAge.com regarding a company called Brand Connections. What caught my attention is that how innovative Brand Connections is. Marketers are using them because the placement of their ads work. If anybody wants to see the article, here's the link http://adage.com/video/article?article_id=132580

[Sami Salmenkivi]

It's interesting how advertisers want to ride worn out trends instead of differentiating. Or, is this typography animation still fresh?

The Ford commercial and the similar Starbucks ad, sparked an interest to go through YouTube for more of the same.

I found about 50 ads using flying around typography, and posted some examples: http://deceptivecadence.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/again/

[Claire]

Toyota just released a commercial with the same treatment. It's for financing cars and they even have similar colors. So lame.