• Best-in-class product capabilities and attributes are the foundation of the comprehensive F-150 advertising campaign.
• Sustained advertising and marketing campaign will achieve more than 16 billion impressions during the course of the launch.
• Largest-ever Ford Division multicultural launch includes Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American ads.

DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 28, 2003 - A new era of Built Ford Tough begins Sept. 4 as the new F-150 hits dealer showrooms across the nation, ushered in with an unprecedented advertising campaign.

Click on Picture Below to Play Video  (Media Player) Phase One "Mud" "Frame" "Neil's Road" "Water"

Ford and J. Walter Thompson USA are introducing an integrated television, print and outdoor advertising campaign, as well as an extensive marketing communications plan for the 2004 F-150. The advertising dramatically depicts the class-leading capabilities and attributes of the 2004 F-150, demonstrating that Ford again has set a new standard in the full-size truck market.

"We are giving the F-150 the biggest and most comprehensive marketing launch of any product in our history," said Steve Lyons, Ford Division president. "The F-Series pickup is America's best-selling vehicle for 21 years running - it is the only product that could star in a marketing campaign of this magnitude."

Phase One - Tease Campaign

The multi-media tease campaign will launch Aug. 29 as a series of four 15-second tease ads hit the airwaves. The ads, Mud, Frame, Neil's Road , and Water , give viewers a slight glimpse of the next F-150 through imagery and sound. The spots conclude with an end frame that states, "The Next F-150: Coming September 4," above the Built Ford Tough logo.

The tease television commercials will be complemented by an Internet banner campaign and full-page ads that will run in USA Today and publications in several key truck markets. The print ads will build for three days, finally revealing the 2004 F-150 on Sept. 4.

The tease campaign is designed to build excitement for National F-150 Kickoff Weekend, when Ford will debut its national F-150 advertising and host grassroots dealer events to celebrate the arrival of the next F-150 in dealerships across the country.

Phase Two - Earned the Right

Truck buyers in America will be focused on two things on Sept. 4 - football and the next F-150. Four television spots will begin to air in heavy rotation as the NFL regular season gets under way, reaching half of the core truck buying audience during the first weekend of the launch.

Click on Picture Below to Play Video  (Media Player) Phase Two "America's Truck" America's Truck: Shot 1 Shot 2 Shot 3 Shot 4 Shot 5 "Power Trip" Power Trip Screen Shots: Shot 1 Shot 2 Shot 3 Shot 4 Shot 5 Shot 6 "Twists and Turns" Twists and Turns Screen Shots: Shot 1 Shot 2 Shot 3 Shot 4 Shot 5 Shot 6 "Quiet Time" Quiet Time Screen Shots: Shot 1 Shot 2 Shot 3 Shot 4 Shot 5 Shot 6 Shot 7

America's Truck , F-150's epic ad, captures the legacy of Ford's 26 years of truck leadership in both a 30- and 60-second spot. It portrays Ford's commitment to build on its past success to provide customers with an even stronger and tougher full-size pickup that satisfies previously unmet customer needs. Designed to communicate Ford's presence as part of the American landscape, the ad depicts the F-150 being built along a large assembly line that spans the United States. As the F-150 chassis rolls through farm country, fields and urban scenes, it slowly becomes assembled. The main message communicated: "When Ford builds the new F-150, there are promises to keep. And only one truck earned the right to be the next F-150."

The three remaining spots take viewers to Ford's Arizona Proving Grounds and other tough locales where Built Ford Tough trucks earn their keep. The ads, titled Power Trip, Twists & Turns and Quiet Time , examine the underpinnings of the F-150 and depict the paces the new trucks are put through during development. Each features the campaign theme, "Only this truck earned the right to be the next F-150," as the next F-150 comes to a dramatic stop across the screen. The spots close as the Built Ford Tough logo appears, with a voiceover reinforcing Ford Division's theme, "If you haven't looked at Ford lately, look again."

Power Trip illustrates the testing F-150 underwent at Arizona Proving Grounds before earning the right to wear the Built Ford Tough badge. It highlights how F-150's best-in-class low-end torque enables best-in-class towing capability and illustrates the bold new styling of the truck.

Twists & Turns captures the new technology used in the twice-as-strong, fully boxed frame of the new F-150. The ad begins by showing the frame in test mode and moves on to illustrate F-150's class-leading payload and driving dynamics. Maneuvers include slalom, handling and heavy hauling.

Quiet Time depicts the F-150 in a sound studio with speakers on the exterior of the F-150 with a decibel meter positioned in the cab. As the speakers make noise, the device records a minimal input. The spot clearly depicts Ford's Quiet Steel technology and other innovations used to make F-150 the quietest pickup.

Print Advertising - Six print ads will begin appearing in September weekly and October monthly publications and, like the television advertising, will engage and educate readers by highlighting F-150 key product attributes and class-exclusive features. Each ad will communicate one select product message and will launch with multi-page units and spreads. The three- and four-page units begin with a question, compelling the reader to turn the page in order to get the answer. Readers then learn about how the select feature plays a key role in the next F-150 and demonstrates Ford's commitment to building Built Ford Tough trucks. The F-150 components and attributes highlighted are interior quietness, spark plugs, carriage bolts, frame, seats and outboard shocks.

Print Ads: Bolt Frame Outboard Shocks Spark Plug

Newspaper Tease Ads (PDF): Tease Day 1 - Frame Tease Day 2 - Seat Tease Day 3 - Truck

Outdoor - Outdoor billboards will be on display in 10 key truck markets across the United States beginning Sept. 4. The billboard creative will feature a front three-quarter photo of the F-150 with the copy "The Next F-150" and the Built Ford Tough logo.

Outdoor Billboards: Billboard 1 Billboard 2

"The beauty of our advertising and marketing launch is the simplicity of it all," said Rich Stoddart, Ford Division marketing communications manager. "F-150 is a great product with a fantastic story to tell. Our biggest challenge was to pick the best attributes to highlight in the campaign."

Multicultural Creative

The full-size pickup market has seen double-digit growth in multicultural markets over the past three years - and F-150 is the best-selling pickup among Hispanics, African Americans and Asian Americans. In order to communicate effectively with these audiences, Ford is rolling out the biggest multicultural advertising launch in its history.

Zubi, which specializes in Hispanic advertising, developed a 30-second television ad titled Earn the Right that depicts classic and current F-150 models journeying through the mud, fields and forest in order to congregate at the base of a cliff that overlooks a valley. The F-150 drives onto the cliff and all of the trucks below bow in its presence.

Uniworld developed a 30-second spot geared toward African American customers titled Driven, which depicts a confident, successful African American man driving a 2004 F-150 in the urban south. The classic blues song "I'm A Man" by Muddy Waters, helps set the overall tone of the ad and conveys a Built Ford Tough attitude.

Pancom is developing a 30-second spot targeting Asian Americans that focuses on durability, quality and reliability.

Integrated Communications

In efforts to increase awareness of the next F-150, Ford has developed an integrated communications plan that will sustain F-150's presence in the marketplace and allow Ford to connect with customers in innovative, non-traditional environments.

• Football, football, football - F-150 will dominate football this fall. Viewers will see the next F-150 in every game of the season beginning NFL Kickoff Weekend Sept. 4-8, and in all "Ford F-150 Fox NFL Sunday" pregame shows. Ford will have a major presence in College football as well, with title sponsorship of the "The Built Ford Tough Pregame Show." During football's kickoff month, more than two out of every three truck ads shown will feature the next F-150.
• F-150 Kickoff Weekend - To celebrate F-150's arrival at dealerships across the country, nearly all of Ford Division's 3,800 dealerships will hold "kickoff events" in their local communities in conjunction with the F-150 advertising debut during NFL Kickoff Weekend. The events will range in scope, but one thing will be clear - the next F-150 has arrived.
• Internet Roadblocks - Ford is working with all three major Web portals - AOL, MSN and YAHOO! - to design custom F-150 Internet roadblocks to run Thursday, Sept. 4. Approximately 75 percent of portal traffic on the Web will be exposed to the next F-150 through this one-day online initiative.
• "24" - Ford will again present the season debut of Fox's hit show "24" without commercial interruption on Tuesday, Oct. 28. More than 20 million viewers will see the show, which will include a long-form commercial that highlights the next F-150. Additionally, the 2004 F-150 will be integrated into the content on the show.
• Ford Championship Weekend - More than 60 percent of F-Series owners are NASCAR fans - and F-150 will be front and center during Ford Championship Weekend, Nov. 14-16. Ford will be the exclusive presenter of the final race for each NASCAR circuit and the 2004 F-150 will be the pace vehicle for each final race as well. More than 35 million NASCAR viewers will see the new truck.
• F-150 Transformer - F-150 is integrated directly into Toby Keith's Shock N' Y'All Tour. A one-of-a-kind 2004 F-150 actually transforms into a stage at the beginning of Toby's performance, providing a unique platform from which to entertain fans. More than 1.5 million fans in 60 markets will see this truck in a whole new way.