Go Further.

Maybe a few of you out there can relate; the first few years out of college are FULL of bills you never knew you had. But, one bill I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid is a car payment. The car my parents got my brother and I in high school was nothing fancy and good enough to get us from A to B.  When college graduation rolled around I had this vision in my head that I was going to shake the University President’s hand, walk across the stage and meeting me at the other end would be a student loan officer, landlord and insurance salesman all looking for a check. I decided to forgo buying a new car in hopes that my faithful ‘99 Civic would get the job done for a while. But, it is now a few years older, 2 expensive repairs and a failing air conditioner later... Now is the time to think about retiring the old gal. Honda has been good to me, sticking with them might seem like the obvious choice…but, being in advertising I can’t help but be swayed by effective campaigns. If I had to choose today, on ads alone, Ford wins. Hands down. I don’t think it’s any secret that over the past few years Ford has undergone a bit of a reinvention. Let’s start back in the days of bailouts. Whether you were for or against them is beside the point. There is something to be said about Ford’s decision to let the market decide whether they sunk or swam. From here, they’ve rolled out sleeker cars (marketed to yours truly), hired Mike Rowe and made an effort to break into the fuel-efficient market that seems to be dominated by Toyota. Ford successfully made themselves cool. But most recently there was this TV spot. [youtube width="641" height="391"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEZT33PskR4[/youtube] Without a logo in sight, this is one of the most effective spots I’ve seen all year.  3.4 million clicks later the ad is viral. The concept is aimed at people like me, those who in the past didn't give the brand a second thought. Well Ford, congrats you have my attention. My decision on a car will certainly include more factors than just effective ads, but Ford has become a contender because of them. I’ll report back on what has my attention next, and if I finally pull the trigger on a new car. But who knows, maybe I’ll learn to live with the no AC and failing wipers. I doubt anyone can give me a payment as low as $0.00 a month, right?     Sources: A few facts an figures, here