Marketing strategy of Chevrolet and Ford

The rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet has been coming for more than 100 years, demonstrating the power and the smartness of the companies. In this article I’m going to discuss the marketing strategies of these legendary companies. How did they get that high? Let’s reveal it.

Let’s start the journey of revealng Ford marketing strategy.

FORD’S VISION STATEMENT.

 “to become the world’s most trusted company, designing smart vehicles for a smart world.” 

From this statement I can say they are trying to be the leader of the car industry and beat their opponents such as Toyota, Tesla, GM.  Ford’s main goal is to make clients trust them, so their main focus is to make safe and efficient cars. 

They try to saturate their customers in everything. The company is focused on making more efficient, safe cars, and with the help of these factors win clients’ trust. Also, the brand tries to maximize its’ profitability and build its cars with the last word of technology. There are three main amounts of the brand’s vision statement:

1. Worldwide popularity
2. Most reliable car brand
3. Make more technologically advanced vehicles

FORD’S MISSION STATEMENT.

 “to make people’s lives better by making mobility accessible and affordable.” 

So the statement says they are trying to make cars and vehicles for all slices of our community. It means they are making family cars, heavy-duty trucks, and even supercars. There are two main parts of Ford’s mission statement:

1. Make vehicles more available
2. Make people’s lives easier

The next phase is discussing the brand personality of Ford, in order to do it clearly we look through one of their Instagram posts.

In this Instagram post Ford says that they make and sell more cars in America than any other brand. That՛s because they manage the right marketing strategy: make reliable and modern but at the same time affordable cars.

As I mentioned before, they make cars for every American civilian, from young and enthusiastic people to successful businessmen. From this discussion I can say that Ford belongs to Everyman brand archetype. Now you may ask, what does Everyman brand archetype show? Let’s reveal.

• Desire: Connect with others.
• Goal: Fit in something, belong somebody.
• Strategy: Progress relationships between people.

Now it’s time to review Everyman brand archetype’s messaging levels.

The first level contains these words:  Someone feels alone, abandoned, searches for his/her items.

Level two: Someone is learning, trying to fit in something, accepts help makes friendships.

The third level is: This person is liberal, believes in someone’s natural virtue, and also abilities and circumstances don’t matter for him/her.

Your company can belong to this brand archetype if:

1. Your company makes people think that they belong to something.
2. Your brand makes something that can be used in daily life.
3. Your company’s products are medium or low priced.

So we reached the part where we are going to talk about Ford’s SWOT analyses.

Strengths: 

1. Brand’s authority. It’s very well known all over the world.
2. Innovative technologies. They are trying to make contemporary cars.
3. Worldwide shipping. They have dealers in many countries.

Weaknesses:

1. Vehicle recalls. For instance they recalled 830000 Lincolns back in 2016.
2. Not so good reputation. People usually prefer German or Japanese cars.
3. Popularity in some markets. Besides American and European markets, Ford’s products aren’t so popular in other countries. Experts predict that Indian and Chinese markets will dominate in the future.

Opportunities:

1. Eco-friendly transport. It’s a very good opportunity for Ford to move forward in the market because modern people pay more attention to more fuel-efficient cars.
2. Market widening. They shall try to widen their product supply. This means they have to sell their vehicles in small markets.
3. Autopilot. In most people’s opinion self-driving cars will fill our streets in the near future, so Ford is working in that direction.

Threats:

1. Strong rivalry. There are some strong companies in the American market such as Toyota, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, etc.
2. Growing materials’ prices. Raw materials are getting more and more expensive.
3. Regulations. Nowadays governments’ demands about cars’ fuel efficiency are growing, so they have to make their cars more safe and eco-friendly.

It’s time to reveal the targeting tactics of Ford.

Let’s take a look at one of Ford’s commercials:

The advertisement shows us some people, who are suffering from troubles. For example in this picture you can notice that someone is stuck in the snow and nobody even tries to help him. But when they buy one of Ford’s cars, their problems just disappear. I can obviously say that this type of benefit belongs to the Floater target segment.

You may ask now, Who is Floater target audience? Let’s get started. 

Lifestyle and Values of Floaters customer segment.

This type of people are familiar, they take care of their family, they solve the problems and so on. Their favorite place is the kitchen, therefore they like cooking. These people don’t care so much about themselves, their objects of care are their relatives. The practicality of the products is crucial for them, so they aren’t that stylish.  

They usually don’t use career opportunities, they just enjoy their everyday life, but at the same, their wage is key for them. These people are traditional like they are confident that women shall do housework, grow, and teach children. Also, I have to mention that duty is more important for them than enjoyments.

Shopping attitudes of the follwoing segment.

They usually buy products from cheap brands, so every penny is important for them. They will rather buy down-market items with bad quality. Brand new products aren’t for them. Mostly low priced products are the main target for them. Online shopping is more preferred for them and negotiations aren’t for them. These people are usually old-school oriented. Most of them don’t like the internet, but if they find something useful in it they always use it.

Some tips about Floaters.

• Their main source of news is TV, so they often watch it.
• These people prefer local newspapers, but they don’t buy it that often. 
• They are below average radio listeners.
• They are more interested in global news than in their direct environment.

16 Personalities (why do you need them in your business?)

Floaters are people aged 40-55 who have families and children. The female clients of this segment mainly spend their daily life at home, do cleaning, take care of the children. Floaters do not like to take on additional responsibilities in the workplace, they work in the same position for many years.  To find more about the Floaters you can check out our new e-book “16 personalities”.

It’s time to look upon the marketing strategy of Chevrolet.

Here is the Chevrolet mission statement:

“We Provide our Customers with the Best Buying and Servicing Experience in the Auto Industry”.

From this statement I can definitely say that their dealer points are pretty progressive, as they provide the best experience. According to their words, their buying experience is the best, so many people expect that their cars have good quality, reliability and have better options compared to their competitors.

CHEVROLET’S VISION STATEMENT.

“Driven to Keep You Driving for Another 80 Years”.

In my opinion, this statement makes an accent on the company’s cars’ reliability, as they are planning to make cars last longer. They can approach it by making cars’ components live longer than usual.

It is time to discuss Chevrolet’s branding identity.

Take a look at the brand’s Instagram post:

In the picture we can see the words “Chevy Cares”. What does it mean? It means they care about owners’ problems, suggestions, complaints and so on. So you may think now, does the company belong to Caregiver brand archetype? You are totally right, but at the same time the brand isn’t so one-sided. For instance they make Camaros and Corvettes, so these models belong to Outlaw brand archetype, but on the global level, you have guessed, the company belongs to Caregiver brand archetype. So let’s reveal what is Caregiver brand archetype.

Desire: Save people from danger.

Goal: Help others.

Strategy: Do favor to people.

Let’s discuss the messaging levels of Caregiver brand archetype.

Level one: see someone who needs help.

The second level: take care of someone’s needs.

The third level is: the balance between self-care and care for others.

The meaning of the fourth level is: care of the bigger world.

This archetype’s character can relate to companies which are:

• Working in the food industry.
• Working in the health sphere(Gedeon Richter).
• Making people connect (AT&T).
• Working in the education sphere (Oxford, Cambridge).

Brand Archetypes. Why we need them in practice?

All of us know that many companies have problems in presenting their key values and attitudes. Sometimes our messaging leads to misunderstanding or it does not represent what we aimed to say in reality. Here of course the importance of the brand archetypes is very crucial. How to create a good company culture? 

What are its values? Here are some questions that need to be answered properly. “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” eBook tells us a lot.  We have written a book that goes deeper in these notions and reveals archetypes in specific ways. Just uncover the brand archetypes with “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” eBook.

Here is the Swot analysis of Chevrolet.

Strengths:

1. Strong distribution network around the world. Over the years the company has developed a reliable customer service network.
2. Highly successful in the sphere of innovations. The company is one of the global leaders in developing safety and fuel-efficient cars.
3. The quality of the vehicles. The brand is known for its’ reliability and production quality.
4. The brand’s cars take part in famous races. For example the NASCAR, one of the most famous grand prixes in the world, is a good place to introduce your company’s innovations, so Chevrolet is the most titled car manufacturer in the history of the races.

Weaknesses:

1. The planning of finances. Although, the company is successful nowadays, its’ financing plans and marketing statistics need to be improved to gain more success.
2. New technologies. Even though I mentioned that the company is innovative, there is always a space to expend, especially in Chevy’s case, so it needs to be improved.
3. Research and Development. This part is one of the weakest points of Chevrolet. According to statistics, the company is below average in terms of research and development, so it must be noticed.
4. The attrition rate is pretty high. Compared to its’ rivals, Chevy’s new employees’ teaching isn’t so effective, so the department of human resources of the brand has work to do.

 Opportunities:

1. Bringing up new technologies. This point is related to all car companies, and Chevy isn’t absent in that list.
2. New clients from online sources. They can place some advertisements on online sites, showing their cars’ advantages compared to their rivals.
3. Set up new trends. Trends will always the part of the car industry, so setting and following new always be the right way to attract customers.
4. Eco-friendly vehicles. Nowadays governments force car manufacturers to make fuel-efficient products. On the other side, every person wants to help nature to recover, so they think buying eco-friendly cars will make Earth’s life easier.

Threats:

1. Strong competition. Like in the case of Ford, many people prefer Japanese, German, Korean cars, so this is a point to pay attention to Chevy. Plus, the Chinese car industry is rising at unbelievable speed.
2. Fuel prices. As I mentioned, the fuel prices are growing, because oil supplies aren’t endless, and it needs much time to gain new oil, so today’s car manufacturers are all trying to replace traditional fuel into alternative sources, such as batteries, Chevy must try as well.
3. New technologies made by rivals. Every company tries to win the customers’ attention by developing new technologies, especially in the comfort sphere. This is a place to grow for Chevy.
4. International regulations. International regulations are constantly changing, so the brand must consider it and move on. 

The target Customer example of Chevrolet.

Now let’s take a look at one of Chevy’s commercials.

Let’s discuss. The advertisement starts with a group of guys, who are entering different drive-thrus and ordering “Purper-Gurk”, but no one understands what they mean.

Until they enter another drive-thru, where was serving a woman. When the group said the order’s name, the woman responded in style and said some undefined words, which were similar to “Purper-Gark”. Then they all laughed and the group with the car drove away. 

So, from this ad I can confidently say that this brand has Naysayer target segment behavior:

Lifestyle and values of Naysayer segment.

These kind of people have a practical and calm life, practicality is crucial when they are buying something. Therefore new trends and innovations confuse them, so their type of thinking “old and proved things are the best”. They don’t really search for career opportunities, they don’t have brave ambitions. But at the same time, they are used to working hard for everything, like hard work pays it all. 

These people have traditional values, so these people are familiar. They don’t like handling responsibilities, because following leaders is way easier. They aren’t interested in intellectual games or lotteries, as well as art, traveling, and sport.

Shopping attitudes of Naysayer customer segment.

As I mentioned before, they are practical in everything, comfort takes it all. They often choose down market brands, and nothing is brought just for the sake of it. They always think twice about buying something. Therefore they are good researchers, always hunting for good deals and cheap items. Quantity is more important than quality.

Interesting tips about Naysayers.

They usually read not so important statements, like gossips, discussions, cars fashion, etc. In terms of the internet, they are old-school people, like they mainly use it for emails, searches and so on. They have limited options in terms of TV channels, if they are alone they use it just to not feel alone. They are average radio listeners.

So this is it, dear readers, I’m glad you made it till the end! I hope this article was helpful for you and your company’s development or just for learning. If you are interested, check out our other blogs.