Car selling season is upon us and U.S. manufacturers hope to increase their market share. In particular, Ford is determined to make a success of its new subcompact car.  Part of the company’s strategy has been to train dealers on how to sell smaller vehicles. The other part of the strategy is all about marketing.

Ford is positioning its new Fiesta to compete against the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and Nissan Versa. And the company is looking for the car to sell well in the following large urban areas: Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The Fiesta, already launched in Europe, is just the start of a product line change. Ford hopes that increasing  car sales (now at 38%) as a percentage of total sales will decrease its dependency on large trucks.

Writing for the Free Press, Brent Snavely reports that Ford is targeting Millennials with the Fiesta.  Consumers in this demographic, younger than age 30, will find themselves the focus of a social-media campaign being managed by local dealerships. Ford dealers have been learning how to employ Facebook and YouTube techniques in the past few months.

All this is happening on the heels of the corporate social media campaign the company engaged in earlier this year. In his blog for the Harvard Business Review, Grant McCracken highlighted how the company gave “ 100 consumers a car for six months and asked them to complete a different mission every month.” Their experiences were then documented on YouTube and earned  Fiesta 6.5 million YouTube views and 50,000 requests for information about the car.

Another unique feature of the Fiesta is that purchasers can have a custom graphic applied to the side of the car. The availability of this option shows that Ford clearly understands the desire of the target market to personalize their possessions.

If the Fiesta sells as well as Ford hopes, other car manufacturers may be offering new vehicle features and looking for creative ways to employ social media in their marketing efforts.

[Source: Snavely, Brent. “Ford Trains Dealers to Sell Subcompact.” Detroit Free Press. 5 May 2010. Web. 12 May 2010; McCracken, Grant. How Ford Got Social Marketing Right. 7 Jan. 2010. Web. 12 May 2010 ]

In the past decade, automakers broadened their strategy to reach ethnic audiences. Manufacturers typically hired separate agencies to develop ad campaigns to promote their vehicles to African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics. But the recession changed all that. Last year, automakers cut marketing and the cuts extended to the ethnic demographics.  While general automaker advertising dropped 13% overall in 2009, the budgets for Hispanic TV, magazine and radio shrank by 38% and ad spending in those same categories when targeting black consumers dropped 18%.

What are automakers doing to compensate for these changes?  Writing for Automotive News, Laura Clark Geist says that many companies either cut the budgets for separate agencies or moved the business of creating advertising for ethnic groups to the general-market agency. This seems to be the strategy of General Motors CMO Susan Docherty who said that when it comes to creating ads for publications targeting blacks, “I think I can use my general-market agency and make sure that the creative is specific.”

Some industry experts believe that slighting the diversity market could be a mistake.  According to Randi Payton, president of the media company On Wheels, ethnic minorities buy nearly 1 out of every 4 cars sold. The budgets allocated to minority marketing are limited and any automaker who does increase investment in this area can expect huge returns.  “These consumers are starving for relevant content on products and services that speak to their culture,” says Payton.

Some automakers may already be getting the message.  BMW noted that there’s an intent to increase African-American marketing in 2010. As consumers begin buying cars again, automakers may up marketing budgets to target diverse groups.

[Source: Geist, Laura Clark. Recession slashed ethnic marketing efforts. Automotive News. 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010]

If consumers like the sound of something they hear in an ad, are they more likely to buy? Ads are a complex combination of human voice, music, images and words designed to interact with a  listener’s acculturated experiences and influence aspirations. Some ads achieve their goals while others fall flat. Could the success rate of ads be linked to gender bias based on the voice used? Harris Poll recently surveyed consumers on this topic.

On the surface, some consumers say voice makes a difference:

• Women’s voices are more persuasive: 19%
• Men’s voices are more persuasive: 18%
• Makes no difference: 64%

The typical consumer does make definite associations with specific voices. For example, 48% of consumers say a male voice is more forceful. On the other hand, 46% of consumers perceive a female voice to be more soothing.

The poll also queried consumers on the use of voice when it comes to buying two specific products: computers and cars.

For all consumers, the following voiceover would be more likely to sell a car:

• Male voice 28%
• Female voice 7%
• Makes no difference 66%

For all consumers , the  following voiceover would be more likely to sell a computer:

• Male voice 23%
• Female voice 7%
• Makes no difference 69%

In addition, nearly 1 in 3 men say a male voice is more likely to them sell a car while 1 in 4 say the same for a computer purchase. When measuring women’s responses separately, the survey revealed that just under 1 in 4 women say a male voice is more likely to sell them both a car or  a computer. Based on these results, we can expect to see more auto and computer dealers looking to use additional male voices in their ads.

[Source: Are Consumers More Responsive to Male or Female Voices in Advertisements? Harris Interactive. 12 March 2010. Web  15 March 2010]

A key aspect of any auto manufacturer’s marketing mix is the auto show. These events have long served as showcases where manufacturers can tout their latest designs for reporters and consumers. But given the expense required to participate in an auto show, can a manufacturer expect a return on investment? According to Foresight Research, a market research firm, the answer is yes. After reviewing this topic for 5 years and surveying consumers on purchase habits, Foresight released its study and emphasized the following findings:

• At least 1 in 5 new car buyers attends an auto show in the year preceding the purchase
• The Midwest markets, with larger emphasis on auto shows, experience an even higher visit rate. Over 1 in 3 new car buyers in the Detroit and Cleveland markets has visited auto shows in the year preceding the purchase
• Walking through the show and watching demonstrations influences 39% of the buyers either completely or partially when it comes to final brand selection
• Auto show participants who are lucky enough to ride and drive a demo vehicle report even higher rates of influence: 54%

Steve Bruyn, President of Foresight Research, who notes that auto shows play an integral role in consumer purchase decisions says “consider the fact that a whopping 70% of auto show attendees who said they were influenced to purchase a new vehicle by the show recalled spending 30 minutes or more at the display of the brand they ultimately purchased.”

Based on these findings, it seems that auto manufacturers would do well to continue investing in auto shows as part of their complete marketing package.

[Research Reveals Influence of Auto Shows, Foresight Research, 2.9.2010]