Bold Moves - Ford's Urban Marketing Campaign

Jay Stevens
August 8, 2006

Ford Motor Company had already caught the attention of millions of U.S. residents of different races especially African-Americans through Ford’s marketing campaign called “Bold Moves”.

The advertisement campaign started last May 2, when Ford came up with a 60-second advertisement aired on Fox TV’s American Idol. The ad features a new song from Season 1 winner and two-time Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson. The main initiative of the first “Bold Moves” marketing campaign was to call out the attention of urban customers by starting out with new Ford Fusion and Ford F150 advertisements entitled “Dance” that was premiered on Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) top rated 2006 BET Awards.

Marc Perry, Ford’s Multi-cultural Marketing Manager states: "Bold Moves focuses on the choices people make every day about how to live their lives. What we're doing is putting a lens on that message to communicate with the various cultures that make up the United States."

The “Bold Moves” advertisement campaign is a major part of Ford’s marketing plan called “Way Forward” which goal is to restore Ford’s market profitability in North America.

“When we started out on our Way Forward plan, our first step was a reassessment of what people think of us today. What are our weaknesses? What are our strengths? Our research confirmed for us what we knew in our hearts. Ford’s strength and identity are defined by three words: bold… American… and innovative.” said Marc Fields, Executive Vice President of Ford Motor Company.

Ford’s advertising partner Uniworld Group, which is an African-American marketing agency, had developed two “Bold Moves” campaign that features urban customers. The first commercial entitled “Dance: Bold Makes it Happen” is a 30-second TV advertisement that features the lifestyle of an urban Ford Fusion owner. Unfortunately, the commercial did not feature quality Ford parts such as Ford Mustang parts. The second one is a 30-second TV spot about a pick-up truck owner who wants to renovate an old barbershop with the help of his Ford F150 truck along with three other friends.

Bold Moves marketing campaign will continue in developing advertisements for new Ford vehicles and other Ford products such as the all-new 2007 Ford Shelby GT500, the 2007 Ford Expedition and Expedition EL, 2007 Ford Edge, and the 2007 Ford Fusion all-wheel-drive. In addition, Ford will also create marketing campaigns, which will target the Hispanic-American customers in North America.