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Ford Motor Co. plans to launch an advertising campaign this summer to market the asset tracking system for tools, along with the in-dash personal computer it will make available in 2009 Ford F-150, F-Series Super Duty pickups and E-Series vans.
The Ford Work Solution application, geared toward construction and electrical contractors, is based on radio frequency identification technology. Tool maker DeWalt, and ThingMagic's Advanced Development Group, worked closely during the past year to design and implement Ford's RFID application. The campaign will become one of the first to educate consumers on an RFID application.
Campaign plans have not been finalized, but Bill Frykman, Ford Work Solution product and business development manager, says consumers will begin seeing ads and marketing pieces before the 2009 F-150 Series trucks and vans hit dealership floors in August/September. "This is unique for Ford because we don't typically co-brand many of our products, even though we may develop them with great companies," he says. "There are plans to introduce a marketing campaign this summer, but nothing has been finalized."
Robert Passikoff, founder and president of marketing and research firm Brand Keys, says "you want to market the application, but you can't make a cake without breaking eggs," because the new consumer application is bound to have barriers to adoption. Ford needs to determine how high the barriers stand, and the best way to mitigate them.
Consumers don't have a high degree of understanding for RFID technology, and what they don't understand typically scares them, according to marketing and branding experts.
"If there's barriers you better dam well be prepared to mount the barricades because this is one issue that's extremely sensitive," Passikoff says "The cardinal rule in marketing is thou shall not piss off the consumer. You don't go out of your way to do something that will alienate the brand."
Dan Mullen, president at AIM Global, an industry trade association focused on automatic identification that launched a consumer awareness campaign earlier this year, agrees Ford will have to determine the appropriate marketing strategy to educate consumers.
Those purchasing Ford's F-150 Series vehicles can order several options within the Work Solution product family, such as in-dash computer and Tool Link. The vehicle will come delivered from the factory with the applications already installed. Consumers can have the Work Solutions products installed at dealership in older vehicles, too.
"We have millions and millions of Ford trucks on the road today," Frykman says. "If someone has a small fleet of vehicles already on the road they can have the RFID application installed in them too."
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