Old brands, new looks

Credit: Ford

Two legendary brands have shifted their marketing to better appeal to Gen Z.

Ford has launched its first global brand campaign since 2012.  It is called “Ready, Set, Ford.”  It is more overtly consumer-focused and aspirational than its previous global campaign, “Go Further,” which tilted toward a product focus. 

Ford is stretching four fundamental brand promises (Capability, Passion, Community, and Trust) across three consumer segments:

• “Explorers Seeking Discovery,” who may gravitate toward the Bronco 

• “Boundary Pushers Craving Speed and Performance,” who may prefer the Mustang

• “Doers and Creators,” for whom the F-Series trucks do the trick

It hopes this campaign refreshes the brand’s image in the face of industry-wide challenges and wavering consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, Nike has “changed” its tagline from “Just Do It” to “Why Do It?” to get the attention of younger consumers who may need a little push to put down the video games and social media, and challenge themselves.

Adweek’s Mark Ritson, usually a curmudgeon, likes the change.  For one thing, he doubts it is a permanent one. Many heritage brands tweak their brand assets temporarily to get attention.  That’s why he thinks it is a good idea. The temporarily modified tagline keeps the brand fresh and alive.  

He argues that a brand’s challenge in its first 30 years is consistency in order to build the brand. After that, the challenge is to stay true to that core while still innovating and transforming.

That seems to be what Ford is doing, too: changing, but not too much, so that the brand doesn’t grow dusty.  Do you think it’s too much change, not enough, or just right?