I was at my local Ford dealer for an oil change today and I noticed a piece of marketing that I thought was so interesting I had to buy it. I am a devout student of marketing and it seems in this age of information few things capture my attention (yes Old Spice man you did) and today a hat oddly enough did.
Now what could be so interesting about a hat? Well that is exactly why it got my attention waiting to pay my bill in our local Ford service department. As a Realtor I have to study marketing every day and understand consumer mentality to make a living, but this one hat was so interesting from a branding stand point that I had to write about it.
Now getting back to the marketing behind the hat; firstly it captured my farm boy instinct because it was in John Deere colors. Upon closer inspection it was not telling me to buy a Ford or overly self-promoting Ford, it was patting me on the back for being a farmer stating "Farmers Feed Families".
After pulling it off the shelf I noticed a side badge with a Maple Leaf and a Local Harvest badge creating my pride in being a Canadian Farmer. Now I was completely intrigued by this small marketing marvel. In clever fashion the Ford logo was small on the brim and back just enough to get some brand impressions.
Finally upon flipping the hat over, the underside of the brim had a F150 parked out in the field with a tractor working in the background! Genius, pure genius, more companies need to understand the lessons of marketing this hat provides. I do not know if Ford created one for many other industries however they should.
Social media has changed the rules in advertising. In promoting your product you need to start by helping others build a sincere following. Promote something more than your product or service, promote your clientele's business / lifestyle and in turn they will support you. Something as small as a hat saying "Farmers Feed Families" is obviously Ford's effort to say we "Like" farmers without logging into Facebook. In turn Ford gets a we "Like" F150's from farmers. Very, very, interesting little hat!
