Ford Sees the writing on the wall … and it’s at the top of the funnel

As more and more of the car buying process is accommodated online, and the customer journey skips across several online experiences researching inventory and promotions etc., capturing the customer in the very first few steps of their journey is becoming more and more critical to the success of dealerships and OEM’d alike,

Ford Credit is acutely aware of this trend and is investing heavily to get out in front of it by going direct to the customer with their value proposition for the first time since it was founded,

 The messaging “The best Ford ever … Is the one you can call yours.” is intended to play on the emotional ownership of perspective buyers and encourage them to get pre-approved before they continue on their journey.

• The digital-only effort from VMLY&R includes buys on Instagram and Google search, as well as in streaming content and display ads. Mindshare handled the media buy.

Ford Credit, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Co. founded in 1959, only provides loans to buyers of Ford and Lincoln brand vehicles. About 40% of the buyers of those brands use Ford Credit, according to Andrea Morris, Ford Credit’s head of global marketing. Part of the goal of the campaign is to increase that percentage by raising Ford Credit’s awareness, while also fending off new lending competition, she said, noting that spending on auto loan advertising has increased by a factor of 10 in the past couple of years. *

The Ford Credit campaign will seek to position it as “a frictionless finance provider that offers ease, clarity and flexibility,” it stated in a press release.

The buying “journey is shifting,” Morris said. Previously, people would think about financing at the end of the process at the dealership, she said. But now, “people are doing extensive research prior to going to the dealership to understand their options.”

It is this shift in the buyers journey that results in the increased importance of every element of customer contact in the initial stages of interaction with the dealership. 

Leveraging the industry leading solutions of BDC United gives dealers the capability to optimize their business development interactions with prospective customers without taking on the overhead and turn over of an internal BDC team. 

*https://www.autonews.com/finance-insurance/ford-credits-first-consumer-campaign-debuts