Analysis of Ford's 'Tough is Not Enough' Marketing Campaign

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Ford Motor Company's 'Tough is Not Enough' advertising campaign. It examines the application of promotional mix theory, integrated marketing communication (IMC), and the strategic use of both traditional and online media. The report explores the campaign's objectives, which included increasing Ford Ranger sales and brand awareness, and the strategies employed to achieve these goals. Key aspects covered include the importance of market research in identifying target audience perceptions, the role of media planning in selecting effective communication channels, and the specific tactics used in television and digital advertising. The analysis highlights how Ford aimed to break stereotypes and position the Ranger as a vehicle for a broader audience. The report concludes by summarizing the campaign's successes and the strategic insights gained from its implementation.

Running head: ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
Advertising Theory and Practice
Ford Motor Company: Tough is not Enough
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

1ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
Executive summary
This report contains an analysis of the Ford motor company’s tough is not enough campaign. The
theory of promotional mix, integrated marketing communication along with traditional and
online media has been discussed in the following report. The analysis of the campaign has been
divided according to the medium that has been chosen to communicate with the audience. Some
of the significant findings of the analysis is the importance of market research along with the
prominence of media planning and media selection to ensure the maximum effectiveness of a
communication campaign.

2ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
2. About the company and background of the case study............................................................3
3. Integrated Marketing Communication.....................................................................................4
4. Role of media planning in IMC................................................................................................5
5. Analysis of the Ford campaign.................................................................................................6
6. Traditional media used in the campaign by ford......................................................................7
7. Online media used in the campaign by Ford............................................................................9
8. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................10
9. Reference list:.........................................................................................................................11

3ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
1. Introduction
In strategic management of a business organisation there are fundamentally four Ps in the
marketing mix is used as a guideline to develop an operational framework for the company.
These four Ps are: price, product, place and promotion. Therefore, it can be said that promotion
is one of the key elements in the success of a business enterprise. Business organisations send a
lot of investment on the promotional aspect of the product or services in order to increase the
profitability and the sales of the business (Khan 2014). Promotional mix is the way of
communication for the organisation with the end customers, with the help of the strategies
developed in this department an enterprise reaches out to the end customers in order to not only
communicate but also develop a valuable relationship. Promotional mix includes: public relation,
advertising, sales promotion direct marketing, digital marketing and personal selling (Kumar
Patra 2017). These can be further subdivided in several categories depending on the type of
medium used or the kind of promotion that is being done. In this report the campaign of Ford
motors taking over the market is discussed. With the help of Integrated Marketing
Communication and strategic communication the organisation gained an edge over the
competition in the market (Haughton et al. 2015).
2. About the company and background of the case study
Ford is an American multinational organisation that manufactures automobiles. The
company was established in the 1903 and has over the years gained good reputation and
goodwill from the market as well as the customers (Corporate.ford.com, 2018). The subject that

4ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
is going to be discussed in the report is regarding the strategy the company had undertaken in
2013 to become the market leader in 5 years in the 4x4 pick-up truck/Ute market. In the
Australian market Toyota HiLux was a tough competitor and one of the major threat to Ford as
the popularity of the vehicle was immense. Ford was up for challenge as the vehicle that the
company was launching was not only facing a tough competition it was also going to face
challenges due to the higher price. The company had gained a lot of good reputation in the
personal vehicle segment but this was a big step hence the management has a strategic
communication planned to deal with the competition.
3. Integrated Marketing Communication
IMC is the process by which a business organisation effectively incorporates the
resources in order to connect all the medium of communication so that the outcome of the
process yields maximum profitability to the organisation. All the promotional tools that have
been mentioned above are used strategically in order to ensure the desired outcome of the
process. Business organisations incorporate IMC in the marketing strategies in order to build
brand images emphasis and add depth to the messages they want to send to the consumers as
well as ensure that the target market is communicated properly without a gap (Mazzei 2014). A
gap in the communication process is one of the significant barriers in the process of marketing.
There are four stages of IMC: strategic communication and marketing, understanding the scope
of the medium, application of technology and financial management of the decisions. In the case,
the Toyota Hilux had formed an image of commercial vehicles which was hard to infiltrate, the
company focused on the promoting the image of a commercial vehicle being related to
toughness, durability etc (Shkurupskaya and Litovchenko 2016).

5ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
Ford used one of the most important tools in marketing i.e. market research. In order to get
insight of the target market, it was found that the behavioural and physiographic stereotyping
regarding the target market was wrong not only that it was also discovered that the target market
was also not pleased with the image companies had regarding their image (Grigorescu and Lupu
2015).
4. Role of media planning in IMC
The promotional mix constitutes of several tools which can be implemented by an
organisation to ensure the communication process leaves no gap. This tool that has been
mentioned above have the various segments for example: advertising can be divided according to
the medium that is being used. Print medium like magazine, newspaper and pamphlets, on the
other hand, there broadcast medium like radio and television advertising have its own set of
advantages and disadvantages (Haughton et al. 2015). Media planning helps the organisation
analyze the effectiveness of the medium with respect to the target market and the budget of the
organisation. Here are some of the steps that are followed while deciding the media that has to be
incorporated in the promotional mix of the product or service. First the objectives have to be set,
then the strategy to proceed in order to achieve these strategies, selection of the group of
promotion along with selecting the particular media lastly the significance of the medium chosen
must be established in order to ensure maximum output. Some of the aspects that should be kept
in mind are: target market, compatibility of the message with media and the process of selection
(Grigorescu and Lupu 2015).

6ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
Ford with the help of research grabbed the opportunity to cater to the requirements of the
new target of the market that was discovered. The company largely used broadcast media to
change the outlook as well as the image of the target market.
5. Analysis of the Ford campaign
The objective of the campaign is that was set by the organisation were in twofold:
Primary objective:
 To increase the growth of the Ford Ranger two times, in achieving this objective it would
mean gaining an edge over the competition
 To boost the profitability by increasing the revenue as well as boosting the average retail
price
Secondary objective:
 To use advertisement to boost the awareness regarding the vehicle
 To develop a brand image for the vehicle
 To gather online traffic in the and searches about Rangers on Ford.com.au
It is difficult to enter a market that has stiff competition, becoming the market leader is a
matter that can be disused later, Ford while entering the Australian commercial vehicle market
was aware of the macro business environment. In order to combat the situation the organisation
took several strategic marketing steps. The motive behind of the campaign was to break the idea
that the being rough and tough is the only attribute required for a truck; it is much more than just
being tough (Shkurupskaya and Litovchenko 2016).

7ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
The company not only focused on the strengths of the company it also concentrated on
the gaps that was created by the completion. The first strategy that the company had undertaken
was to break the stereotype surrounding the target market. As discussed the use of market
research had helped recognize the gap in the target audience and the agitation among them
regarding the brainless stereotype. The organisation found that the target market are men and
women who are successful accomplishers in life who have understanding and knowledge this
was most of the times misinterpreted by the ruggedness of the image by automobile companies
while setting the target market.
Ford in the next strategy grabbed the opportunity of catering to the new found target
market. Critics awarded the vehicle which helped the vehicle gain goodwill among the new
identified market. The company placed the vehicle with a new outlook towards a truck it was not
supposed to be any other old truck, the performance and the features in the vehicles were all top
notch and it was not anything like a traditional truck it was positioned as a new commercial
vehicle catering to the requirement of the people who are beyond brawn.
Placing the vehicle as a smarter alternative was the next strategic move of the marketing
team. Smart engineering, intelligent features and cutting edge technology for consumers who are
smart and ahead of being brawn were implemented in this campaign. The image of the Ranger
was like an advanced mechanism in the ute buyer market (Haughton et al. 2015).
6. Traditional media used in the campaign by ford
Some of the traditional medium of advertising is the radio, newspaper, magazine,
television etc. According to the target market and also the budget of the organisation the medium
is selected. In 2014, Ford opted to advertise the new smarter version of the truck they had created

8ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
in television. Examples of real life ranger drivers were taken and used to advertise the diverse
features of the vehicle. The advertisement had followed the model of AIDA (Attention, interest,
desire and action) to create awareness among the target market regarding the role of a truck and
how it is helping a the driver get to his workplace (Grigorescu and Lupu 2015). The driver of the
vehicle on the other hand are people who are not from the blue collar segment rather one of them
is an aquatic ecologist and the other individual in this series was a trail designer (Woo et al.
2015).
The Advertisement made sure that the profession of the drivers along with the utility of
the truck is the focal point of the message. The visuals used in these advertisements are
empowering and encouraging, the narration in the 30 sec ad film added to the communication
process and gave extra information regarding the person as well as the vehicle. These
commercials were aired in national television which is one of the most common platforms for
any automobile advertisement (Shkurupskaya and Litovchenko 2016). Some of the advantages of
using traditional media like television for advertising the product or services are: As television is
an audiovisual medium it has a stronger impact than any other traditional medium, in order to
change a set of perception it is important for the stories of the two individuals to reach out to the
audience so that they can comprehend with the situation in a improved way and also adds to the
credibility of the vehicle in terms with the claims that the company is making. The Ad film that
has been created has performance and human approach towards the product and the image of the
driver. Another advantage of advertising in this medium is using the popularity of the medium to
reach out to the target market and also it is a medium that has a large coverage (Roberts 2013).

9ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
7. Online media used in the campaign by Ford
Digital media or online media is the contemporary addition to the promotional mix. With
the advancement of technology and the increased usage of internet among the common people
digital media has quickly gained importance in the promotional mix of a product or service
(Baltes 2015). The reach and coverage of online media is beyond the geographical boundaries
another significant strength of the digital platform is that the company can easily get feedbacks
from the customers which helps the company build the fundaments of a valuable relationship
with the customers. In the next campaign Ford has used this platform to deliver the message to
the target market (Jackson and Ahuja 2016).
The point of initiation of this campaign is also based on a research which revealed that
the customers had lot of queries regarding the products which remain unanswered. The new
information that was gathered was transformed in to content for the series called “the science of
truck” (Ford.com.au 2018). In the series set of questions were answered by the ford engineers
which in turn focused on the smart science and technology that was involved in making of the
Ranger truck, this ensured that the message of reassuring the that this vehicle is much more than
just an old truck that is strong, it is rather an ergonomic instrument that fits in the utility of the
consumer. The content was generated for an audience that was looking for answers hence the
process gained popularity instantly (Seyyed Amiri et al. 2017). The company used social media
platforms like Facebook and YouTube along with other digital medium like popular automobile
websites to launch the trailer. “The science of truck” page in the official website of Ford
Australia. This campaign links with the objective of increasing the traffic of the official website
of the company in the Ranger page as well. This camping not only fulfils one objective it also

10ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
ensures that the gap in communication that was created by other competitors regarding the
reputation of the driver and a truck being a bulky vehicle was changed (Dahl et al. 2015).
Strategic and information driven content was developed as trailer for the show which was
circulated in the digital platform that has been discussed above, by targeting specific audience
with the help of searches and content usually viewed by the people. Ford developed content in
this series keeping up with the queries by the target audience which made it easier for the
company to grab the attention; this also increased the reliability of the product. Digital media has
offered business organization with a plethora of opportunity to not only communicate but also
interact with the end customers. Instant feedback and immediate reaction to an idea can help the
business in a significant way (Dahl et al. 2015).
8. Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discussion that even with tough competition and
traditional target market companies can enter a market and gain edge over the competition with
the help of an advanced product which recognizes the requirement of the customers and a good
promotional mix support. It can be said that in the two Ford campaigns that has been discussed,
market research plays a key role. The identification of the gap in target market as well as the lack
in knowledge was discovered with the help of research. Important contrast in traditional and
online media has been gathered that the process of gathering feedback ensures a complete cycle
of communication; this process is rapid and quick in online advertising than in traditional
medium. This gives digital media a great advantage over traditional media.

11ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE
9. Reference list:
Baltes, L.P. 2015, "Content marketing - the fundamental tool of digital marketing", Bulletin of
the Transilvania University of Brasov.Economic Sciences.Series V, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111-118.
Corporate.ford.com 2018. About Ford. [online] corporate.ford.com. Available at:
http://corporate.ford.com/company.html?gnav=footer-aboutford [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018].
Dahl, S., Eagle, L. and Low, D. 2015, "Integrated marketing communications and social
marketing", Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 226-240.
Ford.com.au 2018. The Science of Truck. [online] ford.com.au. Available at:
https://www.ford.com.au/commercial/ranger/science-of-truck/ [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018].
Grigorescu, A. and Lupu, M. 2015, "Integrated Communication as Strategic
Communication", Revista de Management Comparat International, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 479-490.
Haughton, D., Hua, G., Jin, D., Lin, J., Wei, Q. and Zhang, C. 2015, "Optimization of the
promotion mix in the healthcare industry", International Journal of Pharmaceutical and
Healthcare Marketing, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 289-305.
Jackson, G. and Ahuja, V. 2016, "Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing
mix", Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 170-186.
Khan, M.T. 2014, "The Concept of 'Marketing Mix' and its Elements (A Conceptual Review
Paper)", International Journal of Information, Business and Management, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 95-
107.