Here’s the issue.  Tier 1 is funded by the manufacturer and is often referred to as the “brand” communications.  Tier 3 is the communications funded and executed at the local level by individual dealers.  Tier 2 is caught betwixt and between.

Funded in part by the manufacturer and in part by the local market dealer groups.  Tier 2 must serve two masters.  The manufacturer wants to be sure that the work reflects the brand and makes the doors swing whereas the dealers are understandably concerned with just making the doors swing.  Just to make it more difficult, the manufacturer’s marketing team and the dealers often have a different points-of-view about what will make the doors swing.

Tier 2 is where the brand versus retail discussion often gets very heated.   It is very tough to find a balance between the brand and retail messages.  More often than not, you end up erring toward the retail.  We all know what this formula looks like.  The TV commercials are visuals of the vehicle on the road, held together by a litany of product features in the copy and you tie it up with a bow…the deal.  The newsprint is a visual of the car, a couple of sentences covering key features, the deal and some legal disclaimers.

This leads to a sea of sameness when it comes to Tier 2 communications.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Tier 2 communications can represent the brand and the retail message successfully and powerfully.

That’s exactly what Ford and its agency Retail First (part of Team Detroit) have done with their campaign using Mike Rowe of “Dirtiest Jobs” fame.  Here’s one of their early commercials:

This is a solid piece of work and I think Mike Rowe does a good job, but what’s really interesting is how Ford and their agency, over-time, improved the advertising.  According to Matt Van Dyke and Dave Rivers of Ford who are responsible for this work, the early work with Mike Rowe was tightly scripted and used actors.  No surprise here, that’s what most companies and agencies, would do.

But look what happens when Retail First and Ford decide to loose the reigns on Rowe by giving him “talking points” and real consumers to interact with:

Here’s another:

Obviously, what makes this work really strong is the use of Mike Rowe, but what a difference when they let him go and just talk to people.  He’s even more genuine, likable, friendly, warm, trustworthy and credible.  Every time he makes someone smile or laugh, you like him even more.  Mike Rowe makes this work stand out and work that much harder (if you doubt Mike’s effectiveness, compare these ads to Chevy’s with Howie Long).

I think this work leaves the consumer feeling positively toward the Ford brand but it also does not shrink from the retail message.  That’s one of the terrific things about Mike Rowe; he can deliver a pretty hard-edged message about product and price without sounding like a shill.

I’m not privy to Ford’s corporate strategy but it is a big brand that covers lots of segments and customers so it needs to be a lot of things to a lot of people.  I would suspect that Ford would be very pleased if “genuine, likable, friendly, warm, trustworthy and credible” washed over their brand from Mike Rowe.  But importantly, based on recent sales, this Tier 2 advertising is also “making the doors swing.”

Finally, here’s my favorite Ford/Mike Rowe ad:

“There’s Max sittin’ in a Mustang, there’s Max sittin’ in an Accord.  What’s cooler?”

Got it.

Please let me know what you think.

That said, it’s a good time to pause and take a deep breath, because as so often is true, it’s not what you do but how you do it that matters.

Today’s New York Times has an article headlined: “With Toyota in trouble, rivals gain.” Manufacturers are offering incentives to encourage Toyota owners to come in their stores, trade-in their Toyota for a new whatever. Supposedly these incentives are not being widely advertised and dealers are being encouraged not to “try to take a predatory stance in this type of environment.”  According to GM and others, their dealers have requested incentive support.  Of course they wanted incentive support, there’s blood in the water.

There are a couple of good reasons to push back against this knee jerk reaction to offer incentives.

First, while it may be Toyota’s turn in the barrel today, next month it could be any of the competitors.  Today’s vehicles are incredibly complicated, with more computing power, millions of lines of code, electronic almost everything.  Every manufacturer will have recalls, most minor, but there’s always the possibility of something major. They’re all living in glass houses.

The second and more important reason not to immediately use incentives is that you don’t have to.  I have read article after article that has reported that Toyota values are dropping.  Dealers who have historically sold Toyota’s for $1-2,000 over invoice are selling cars at a loss.  So the customers who are now looking for an alternative to their Toyota, are people that paid full whack when they purchased it. These folks aren’t looking for the best deal, they are looking for the best car, one they can count on.  Now is the time to sell your product based on it’s merits, not the deal.

Detroit has long lamented that the need to offer incentives has crippled them financially.  Most have gone on record in 2009 saying that they were not going to use incentives as much.  So what happens when circumstances create an opportunity, they’re offering incentives!

The irony is that Ford and General Motors have really got their product act together, they are building excellent cars.  Cars that are capable of competing with Toyota. For the only time in recent memory Toyota owners might actually be “open” to another brand and the first thing we’re going to do is sell them a deal rather than selling them on the virtues of the product.

Toyota’s troubles are an opportunity for its competitors to build credibility and their stature as first tier manufacturers.  Unfortunately it seems that old habits die hard. The all consuming desire to drive volume today will prevent the companies and their dealers from behaving in a way that will build their reputations for the longer term.

That’s a missed opportunity.