Having just attended the annual Ford Falcon Show in Indy, I was once again extremely disappointed to see the utter lack of support by Ford for this historic mark. Once again, not a single penny of Dearborn money was spent in support of the national or local club or the event itself.

Assembled in one spot were 300-400 of the most loyal Ford fans in existence. Many drove their Falcons to Indy. Other Falcons were trailered, and the hotel parking lot was packed with F-150, PSD, Expy and Explorer tow vehicles.

Now I know that the Falcon is not a current model, and people can't run down to their local dealer and buy a 2006 Falcon, like they can a Mustang, but major Falcon national sponsorships can be bought for a few $100s. Shoot, $1000 buys the entire back of the commemorative T-shirt and gets you 3-4 prime parking spaces right up front in the show field.

In this time of spirally decreasing market share for Ford, maybe spending a little money to reinforce the "Buy Ford" behavior would be money well spent. Maybe letting people know that the company supports it past and the people who bought Ford products could be a good thing. Anyone in marketing will tell you that it costs a lot less to keep a customer than it does to take one away from a competitor.

Surprising the dim bulbs at Ford haven't figure that out.

 

a discussion sorta on this line was made on the falcon site i am a member of. the nationals this year was planed and carried out for all intents and purposes by 6 people. they never thought to contact ford for support.

 

Shame on Ford? For 300-400 people, for a vehicle they no longer sell, when the company has financial problems? I really can't see how them not attending a small show has any significant impact on keeping or losing customers. You can't expect them to attend each and every Ford related auto shows, especially the small ones. It wasn't until a few years ago that Ford brought a trailer to the Ford truck Supernats, and they've had thousands of visitors for at least a decade, if not more.

I bet Ford doesn't even know this show exists.... much less there being a marketing manager who's going to see the relavance to his division and spending from his tight budget on it.

 

We contacted Ford when my chapter hosted the national show.

They never returned the phone calls.

 

There were 300 cars at the Falcon show. Outside of some of the Mustang clubs, the Ford Falcon Club is one of the biggest Ford clubs in the US. No, not 1 mil. members, but several thousand.

And 300 cars is a big show. The AMO Nationals last year got 50-75 cars.

There is a Ford show here in FTW next weekend. Maybe 200 cars. Cars from the 50's. Some Galaxies. Some Fairlanes. Some Thunderbirds. A few Flatheads. Might get a Comet. Maybe even a Pantera. Ford is a major sponsor.

And the relevance to Ford of this models is . . . ?

See my note above.

I agree that Ford apparently does not see any relevance, and that point can be debated.

I don't see it as being promoting the Falcon so much as promoting Ford and Ford's history.

BTW - I don't presume that this post will change things overnight. Just trying to bring some attention to the issue. Ford watches these boards.

 

You're really over-estimating Ford, as if its one mind who makes these decisions. Marketing managers make them, and they make the choices based on their little world, their budget and their agendas, not the entire world of Ford. Its also not merely a matter of having the right club or the right vehicles. Its numbers and knowing the right people. There is no shame in any of it, its standard bureaucracy that exists in any large organisation.


"Ford doesn't see the relenvance" ---- but remember Ford as a whole doesn't exist exept as pieces of paper in corporate filings.... its the right people at Ford who need to see benefit in order to get anywhere.

 

Thats how the world works....