Ford Steps Up Ad Campaign

Ford Motor Co. has made progress with its "Drive one" advertising campaign since its launch 18 months ago by persuading some U.S. shoppers—sometimes at the expense of its bailed-out competitors—to buy its vehicles based on improvements in quality, fuel economy and safety.

But Ford officials admit they have made fewer gains persuading would-be buyers that they will feel clever and savvy if they drive off in a Ford—the kind of emotional purchase-triggers that could outweigh the more rational ones.

Starting Monday, Ford is launching a new chapter of its "Drive one" campaign, featuring 15-second spots using real customers talking about the "cool" features of their new Fords. It comes as the car maker plans to boost its fourth-quarter ad budget 10% from a year ago.

"It's all about what real customers are saying," said Matt VanDyke, Ford's director of marketing communications. Ford will air 30 to 40 spots over the next 26 weeks that have a grainy, home-video feel. Mr. VanDyke said they are meant to showcase owners' testimonials as "believable, honest and authentic."

"Drive one" has given Ford a consistent theme after years of changing slogans as often as once a year. But the company still needs to find ways to lure import buyers.

At the same time, Ford's competitors are boosting their ad presence, convinced that the last three months of the year could mark the beginning of a recovery in the car industry.

Slammed by declining sales and disappearing profits, Toyota Motor Co. is preparing a $1 billion marketing effort to prime the U.S. market in the quarter. The world's largest auto maker needs to turn around its North American business after acknowledging it expects to report a loss in its current fiscal year, which would be its second annual deficit in a row.

The $1 billion plan is 30% to 40% more than Toyota typically spends in the quarter.

Ford's recent challenge has been to entice buyers to reconsider the brand, a problem Toyota doesn't face. But as the industry suffered its worst slump in a quarter century and General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC reorganized in bankruptcy aided by government cash, Ford's message over the past year has also been tailored to remind Americans the car company shunned a bailout.

In a variety of venues from public speeches to Internet postings, Ford began to preach the message that "Ford is different"—a not-too-subtle jab at its cross-town competitors.

But Jim Farley, Ford's global marketing chief, insisted at the Frankfurt motor show last month that the company's "Drive one" slogan remains paramount.