A new, ground-breaking Ford campaign created by and for black women.
“A main goal of our ‘Built Phenomenally’ campaign is to honestly represent African American females…By following guidelines set by the FREE THE WORK and #SeeHer initiatives, Ford is confident the campaign is a true celebration of black women.”,”
-Raj Register, Head of brand strategy and growth audience marketing, Ford Motor Company. “
Many of us missed it, because of the pandemic, and subsequent lockdowns, but last year Ford, kicked off one of the world’s largest black-female-centric AD campaigns in history. Featuring their Ford Fiesta, Explorer, and the teams behind the scenes, who make them great brands.
From black female celebrities, like Ford’s “Born to Roll” campaign featuring mini-movies with Nicole Ari Parker (driving her Explorer), to their “Anthem” featuring black women; artists, businesswomen, doctors, front liners, and firefighters, among others. If the voice sounds familiar, it is because the “Built Phenomenally” campaign; is narrated by Queen Angela Basset.
But, more than what we see in the AD campaigns, is the diversity and inclusion behind the lens; such as FREE THE WORK and the UWG Agency (the longest-standing multicultural marketing agency in the USA), with insights from the Association of National Advertisers’ #SeeHer movement, Ford conducted fair and open RFP/RFB bidding for the projects.
Ford went even further, with casting calls at Howard University, ad spots on BET, ads in VIBE Magazine, a custom e-zine, named “Inspired By Color”, as well as, a unique campaign with “The Travelista’s”, a lifestyle traveling duo, who will be driving a 2011 Ford Fiesta as part of a custom webisode aired on www.bet.com.
Big ups to The UniWorld Group, Ford’s African American advertising agency of record, who created the entire urban advertising campaign.
In case you do not realize the massive impact of this bold move by Ford Motor Company, let’s not forget that they are a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., they are now manufactures or distributes of other automobiles across six continents. Ford now has, about 176,000 employees, including those right here in Kansas City, and they also have about 80 plants worldwide. Ford, is more than just Ford nowadays; their brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, and, until its sale, Volvo. Ford, also has its own finance company; which provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company.
For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.
As a somewhat ‘Ford Town’ we appreciate the strides by Ford to ensure their showcasing of positive representations of blacks and women in their media and advertising.
A few credits:
Kanyessa McMahon, Director
Marci Rogers, Stylist;
Lola Okanlawon, Makeup Artist
N’Jeri Nicholson, Copywriter
Dibrie Guerrero, Ford Multicultural Marketing Manager
Shawn Lollie, Ford Multicultural Marketing Manager
Celebrate Black Women With Us. Enjoy the commercials.
Credits:
