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Bold Move Episode #12


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Hmmm, weren't we just talking on this last week in a thread?

 

Well, BOLD MOVES #12: "WIN ON SUNDAY, SELL ON MONDAY" is out today.

 

Unfortunately, the point/counterpoint articles focus almost exclusively on NASCAR. I'd like to see some serious effort spent on NHRA (need DOHC bog-block <lol> and much more emphasis on the just-under-pro classes), the Grand-Am series (Ford should make this their turf ) and American LeMans (we can hope).

 

Where else is Ford missing racing significant opportunities or do you think their placing the wrong emphasis?

 

:shift:

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Hmmm, weren't we just talking on this last week in a thread?

 

Well, BOLD MOVES #12: "WIN ON SUNDAY, SELL ON MONDAY" is out today.

 

Unfortunately, the point/counterpoint articles focus almost exclusively on NASCAR. I'd like to see some serious effort spent on NHRA (need DOHC bog-block <lol> and much more emphasis on the just-under-pro classes), the Grand-Am series (Ford should make this their turf ) and American LeMans (we can hope).

 

Where else is Ford missing racing significant opportunities or do you think their placing the wrong emphasis?

 

:shift:

 

While there is not much Ford will do about it, Indy only runs Honda (or one of them other things). I think somehow Ford needs to have there name there. I actually refused to watch it this year. It is supposed to be an "American" event. Not even close now without Ford. :rant:

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While there is not much Ford will do about it, Indy only runs Honda (or one of them other things). I think somehow Ford needs to have there name there. I actually refused to watch it this year. It is supposed to be an "American" event. Not even close now without Ford. :rant:

 

 

True, true...

 

Did you notice that HTT's title changed somewhere along the line to: "Director, Advanced Product Creation and Special Vehicle Team." Good to see SVT at least visible.

.

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Hmmm, weren't we just talking on this last week in a thread?

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the point/counterpoint articles focus almost exclusively on NASCAR. I'd like to see some serious effort spent on NHRA (need DOHC bog-block <lol> and much more emphasis on the just-under-pro classes), the Grand-Am series (Ford should make this their turf ) and American LeMans (we can hope).

 

Where else is Ford missing racing significant opportunities or do you think their placing the wrong emphasis?

 

 

 

Jebus, I used the same words :banghead: As I doubt that the new self congratulatory Big Commercial,er thats Bold Moves will let this one through I'll paste it here. Just becuase I believe that some others here feel at least in part, the same sorts of things. "Irony is a dish best served cold. Not 24 hours after A. Stevens Emphatically announces Fords commitment to racing, she retires. If you don't want to fess up to how badly things turned out in F1, well I guess I could understand. After all, nothing good ever happened from Honda's F1 program did it?(VTEC, you know that term on the tongues, T-shirts and cam covers of all the customers who bought the cars that took all your market share?) I am starting to wonder if Bold Moves is more a way of convincing yourselves that your not as bad off as you are, or a justification of some kind of left over P.R. budget your worried about the stockholders taking away. You want Bold? I'll suggest you market(that means paying for broadcast) the Grand Am cars that are indeed stock car based, and that do a great job of not only teaching young company employees(from engineers to marketing to corporate suits) but showcasing the competition you have WON against(that was a PORSCHE in front of that Boy-racer right?) The utter lack of relevance to any real core Ford competency in NASCAR is painfully laughable, and I do say painfully in an honestly stomach wrenching way. I threw this little bit of jargon/catch phrase up a few years ago, and within 5 weeks I read H.T.T. saying it. Apparently you need to see it again. TOTAL PERFORMANCE !!! You know, the kind you sold over 200 000 SVT high profit, high visibility products too die hard customers,just before you tripped over the latest valueless consultants suggestion about where to save money. This is getting ugly gang, I don't think a single person at Ford has gas in their veins anymore. Go back and read the Car and Driver article from a few years ago, when SVT(Coletti) and G.M.(some tall guy) brought their passion for COMPLETE, elegantly engineered and relevant cars out to play. I hate to say it, but in light of the B.S. this original and passionate SVT owner(I have sold your product for you as well as supporting with my own purchases!!!) has had to absorb from my company over the last three years, I can no longer offer an unqualified "I believe in FORD" to the tens of people that come to me for advice about what they buy. You know in your hearts whats wrong, you know in private that some of these problems are simply unsolvable in the current political climate(union anyone?) and yet you continue to hope that commercials will fix the problem. I pity you. The last in a long line of real passionate enthusiasts has apparently left the building in Dearborn, and I guess its up to you to turn out the lights. At least that will be environmentally(and politically) acceptable....."

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Jebus, I used the same words :banghead: As I doubt that the new self congratulatory Big Commercial,er thats Bold Moves will let this one through I'll paste it here. Just becuase I believe that some others here feel at least in part, the same sorts of things. "Irony is a dish best served cold. Not 24 hours after A. Stevens Emphatically announces Fords commitment to racing, she retires. If you don't want to fess up to how badly things turned out in F1, well I guess I could understand. After all, nothing good ever happened from Honda's F1 program did it?(VTEC, you know that term on the tongues, T-shirts and cam covers of all the customers who bought the cars that took all your market share?) I am starting to wonder if Bold Moves is more a way of convincing yourselves that your not as bad off as you are, or a justification of some kind of left over P.R. budget your worried about the stockholders taking away. You want Bold? I'll suggest you market(that means paying for broadcast) the Grand Am cars that are indeed stock car based, and that do a great job of not only teaching young company employees(from engineers to marketing to corporate suits) but showcasing the competition you have WON against(that was a PORSCHE in front of that Boy-racer right?) The utter lack of relevance to any real core Ford competency in NASCAR is painfully laughable, and I do say painfully in an honestly stomach wrenching way. I threw this little bit of jargon/catch phrase up a few years ago, and within 5 weeks I read H.T.T. saying it. Apparently you need to see it again. TOTAL PERFORMANCE !!! You know, the kind you sold over 200 000 SVT high profit, high visibility products too die hard customers,just before you tripped over the latest valueless consultants suggestion about where to save money. This is getting ugly gang, I don't think a single person at Ford has gas in their veins anymore. Go back and read the Car and Driver article from a few years ago, when SVT(Coletti) and G.M.(some tall guy) brought their passion for COMPLETE, elegantly engineered and relevant cars out to play. I hate to say it, but in light of the B.S. this original and passionate SVT owner(I have sold your product for you as well as supporting with my own purchases!!!) has had to absorb from my company over the last three years, I can no longer offer an unqualified "I believe in FORD" to the tens of people that come to me for advice about what they buy. You know in your hearts whats wrong, you know in private that some of these problems are simply unsolvable in the current political climate(union anyone?) and yet you continue to hope that commercials will fix the problem. I pity you. The last in a long line of real passionate enthusiasts has apparently left the building in Dearborn, and I guess its up to you to turn out the lights. At least that will be environmentally(and politically) acceptable....."

 

 

+1...

 

Doing Bold Moves as 'commercials' on a Total Performance theme is like putting fart cans on Hondas with the possible distinction that the kids who do the latter truly believe in what they're doing <ouch! -- I hope I'm wrong>

 

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but if Ford truly and still, believes in "win on Sunday, sell on monday" then stake out some turf and DO THAT -- like Grand Am! You can't just win; you must dominate!!!! Ford has the talent, the parts and the outlets but need to work with the sanctioning bodies so there's no suprises -- that's racing "market intelligence" that's sorely needed.

 

Ford has been burned by that so many times in the past -- it's sad. "Excellence" can no longer exist in a vacuum -- it exists, by definition, in a world that must be 'actively managed' including product, marketing, image (bold moves?), arena (sanctioning bodies and enthusiasts), media (coverage and spin). Ford has traditionally done the first two well, they're waking up on #3 and completely asleep on arena and media in a racing context IMHO. Ford still has the most loyal enthusiast base, but that was build by generations of winning and doing that broadly. Slapping FORD on FunnyCars and big blow-up Motorcraft oil cans aren't a substitute for racing wins and product excellence.

 

Just like Hundai engineered it's cars for it's comeback directly to the JDPower measurement plan, Ford needs to engineer it racing participation based on the sanctioning body class rules and participation agreements to insure success. If it's worth winning, it's worth winning right. And that means with the least risk best investment leveage. But the best investment leverage doesn't mean spending less than is required to win or the money is wasted.

 

----------------------

 

Ford, you can make better cars and sales will improve, but if you drop the ball on aggressively racing the mustang (and other marques you don't sell off for cash <yikes!>), you won't be able to just drop out of the sky in a year or two and compete -- NOW is when relationship building with the sanctioning bodies should be in high gear to assure your racing/performance program investments are exquisitely focussed. Turn FRP and SVT loose on that and stand back -- use and trust SVT talent to engineer the product and gather the intelligence of what and how to engineer it to. And then hold FRP accountable for packaging, pricing and marketing it so that the legions of enthusiasts do the winning for you -- with your leadership. Do that NOW!

 

Ford, Remember Henry Ford, Sr.? He figured out what would win; built it; won; levered the enormous interest winning created; and made history -- use the same model! This is the time to do it! Right now! Not just waiting for the Camaro and Challenger arrive -- that's giving away your incumbent advantage, a rare blessing.

 

--------------------------

 

<edit:>

 

I realize that 'bold moves' is 2/3 PR and 1/3 masturbation -- that's fine. But if the faithfull feel for one second Ford is being disingenuous (and I'm not saying they are) Ford will be road kill.

 

I'll shut up now... JETSOLVER, you poked my pain, man ;) Ford is one of the finest friggin' business institutions to have ever existed on planet earth -- it would be an unthinkable shame to squander such a rich and hard-earned legacy.

 

.

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Fastback, you're gonna miss me starting tomorrow...going on vacation with no pc access.

 

I've not had PSDS yet...but I may have ASSUS when I get back (Asymptomatic Serious StangsUnleashed Syndrome). :hysterical:

 

 

Hey, Dave, have a great time! Sometimes away from the PC are the best kinds of vacations ;) Mis ya, man.... later

 

-Dan

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Hey, Dave, have a great time! Sometimes away from the PC are the best kinds of vacations ;) Mis ya, man.... later

 

-Dan

 

I'm going to Baltimore to see the Ravens/Raiders game (I'm a Raiders fan). Then we'll spend 3 days in Washington D.C. seeing the sights (there goes my blood pressure...see my other post on this topic elsewhere). :hysterical:

 

I prefer the smaller cities...less than 100,000 people is usually good. I've told RUF I'm interested in visiting Cary N.C., which has been voted one of the top 10 small cities in the U.S. to live in for the past 5 years by Money magazine. We will go in the next couple years for sure.

 

To see Cary in the below article, click on "And the winners are...", then click on the "tab" near the bottom of the window that says "Top 10 small cities". Cary is on the list.

 

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bp...2006/index.html

 

I like my small town also (Columbus, Indiana), but it's pretty boring here. The most excitement we get is the annual girls softball tournament ...drawing in 4,000 players/spouses/family. In a city of 40,000...that's a lot of people...we run out of hotel rooms. :hysterical: Fortunately, we are located such that Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati are all within 50-80 minutes.

 

The other great thing about living in a small town...my cars last virtually forever. Since I only live 3 miles from work, and nothing is very far, I average only 7,000 miles per year. I get tired of a car before I wear it out. It really saves a lot of money in terms of gas, wear and tear, car payments (I paid my first new car off in 3 years, then spent the next 6-7 years saving $250/month), and so on. I've been ABLE (don't always do it....depends on interest rates) to pay cash for my last two cars using this method. Heck, when my car is 9-10 years old, it only has 65,000 miles on it. :hysterical2:

 

Go Raiders!!!

 

Dave

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I'm going to Baltimore to see the Ravens/Raiders game (I'm a Raiders fan). Then we'll spend 3 days in Washington D.C. seeing the sights (there goes my blood pressure...see my other post on this topic elsewhere). :hysterical:

 

I prefer the smaller cities...less than 100,000 people is usually good. I've told RUF I'm interested in visiting Cary N.C., which has been voted one of the top 10 small cities in the U.S. to live in for the past 5 years by Money magazine. We will go in the next couple years for sure.

 

To see Cary in the below article, click on "And the winners are...", then click on the "tab" near the bottom of the window that says "Top 10 small cities". Cary is on the list.

 

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bp...2006/index.html

 

I like my small town also (Columbus, Indiana), but it's pretty boring here. The most excitement we get is the annual girls softball tournament ...drawing in 4,000 players/spouses/family. In a city of 40,000...that's a lot of people...we run out of hotel rooms. :hysterical: Fortunately, we are located such that Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati are all within 50-80 minutes.

 

The other great thing about living in a small town...my cars last virtually forever. Since I only live 3 miles from work, and nothing is very far, I average only 7,000 miles per year. I get tired of a car before I wear it out. It really saves a lot of money in terms of gas, wear and tear, car payments (I paid my first new car off in 3 years, then spent the next 6-7 years saving $250/month), and so on. I've been ABLE (don't always do it....depends on interest rates) to pay cash for my last two cars using this method. Heck, when my car is 9-10 years old, it only has 65,000 miles on it. :hysterical2:

 

Go Raiders!!!

 

Dave

 

A - The Raiders SUCK, but I'm proud to say I can still embrace a football fan, no matter how mis-guided they may be. But, my team has 5 rings, (one for the thumb), don't forget that....

B - I also love small towns, Looking forward to the day that I can retire to Idaho and get away from the "rat-race" I've been a member of since birth. I put over 100-k on my F-150 the 1st 4 years I owned it, and my Ranchero had almost 250-k on it before I got it 27 +/- years ago.

C - Hoping I can put about 15-k a year on a GT500 for 2 or 3 years, and then own it in semi-retirement for the rest of my life.

There's no real "money" in the small towns, but sometimes I wish I was there instead.

 

Again, I'm rambling, going back to my cave now...

Mike.

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