Ford launched the Unlearn campaign to change the way audiences think about the brand in Britain, using outstanding print formats to encourage re-evaluation of preconceptions.

1. FORD
UNLEARN
NEWSWORKS
PLANNING
AWARDS 2016

2. Executive Summary:
How do you alter opinion of a brand which has deeply entrenched
preconceptions? ‘Let go of what you know’ in order to transform and
inspire a new generation. The Ford Unlearn campaign was part of a
wider rebrand to appeal to an aspirer audience, using newsbrands
cross-platform in ways previously unknown to Ford. This campaign
forced Britain to re-evaluate preconceptions by using outstanding
print formats, replicated with dominant online takeovers. Those who
agreed with the statement ‘Ford Motor Company is changing for the
better’ doubled and we saw significant uplift in site traffic, surpassing
performance objectives by 300%.
Background and Objectives:
The ambition for the Unlearn campaign was to change the way that the ‘Aspirers’ audience
think about the Ford brand in Britain. The barrier is that the perception of Ford is well
entrenched, and we needed to battle to change minds. The challenge was to force
consumers to recognise that Ford isn’t the brand that they thought it was, it’s the brand for
them with a business objective of increasing favourable opinion to drive purchase intent.
Our role for communications was to create a huge, impactful and innovative canvas across
Print, Social, Digital Display, TV, Outdoor and Search; to engage consumers in order to
#Unlearn what Ford means and stands for. We would do this by behaving in ways we
normally wouldn’t, by appearing in places you wouldn’t expect with formats you aren’t
familiar to. The aim was frequency and not reach, to surround a tightly defined audience
with Unlearn and think about moments rather than channels, with a cross-platform
approach across newsbrands.
Insight:
Ford Vehicles continues to be the biggest selling in the UK, but it’s a market that’s changing
fast and Ford isn’t really changing with it. It’s a safe brand, one that consumers know that
they can rely on, trust and have confidence in… but it doesn’t inspire. It’s a brand that’s
taken on a vanilla positioning that doesn’t stand for much in the eyes of the consumer
beyond a solid, trustworthy car.The

3. With new market entrants from Korea beginning to change the way people buy cars and
change their expectations, it’s time for Ford to step out of the shadows and let the people of
Britain know what the brand stands for, and why you as a consumer should re-think the way
you think and feel about Ford.
We got there with our hybrid approach of working closely with GTB, the Ford creative
agency. The creative itself represents ‘the new face of Ford’ with the Mustang, GT and
Edge as hero cars, and the #Unlearn manifesto is to “let go of what you know” to Go
Further.
The Plan:
So how did we execute the #Unlearn manifesto in print media? To start with the concept
itself, we decided to appear in places you wouldn’t expect such as GQ, BBC Good Food,
Marie Claire and Conde Nast Traveller. However, the bulk of our print activity was within
newspapers. We had pages across the qualities and mid print market and their
corresponding supplements, and then to create that standout and be bold in our
communications we selected a number of impactful formats to tie in digitally for a cross-
platform approach.
To launch the campaign with The Sunday Telegraph, we ran a Super Panorama which is
an impactful 8-page fold out to grab attention. The next day, we had a Homepage Takeover
on Telegraph.co.uk and run of site formats to retarget an engaged audience. The following
weekend, there was a Daily Telegraph Cover Special and another two Homepage
Takeovers to sustain interest in the campaign.
We wanted to surprise our audience and grab attention through large eye-catching formats
across Guardian’s mobile and web properties, so we also booked a Guardian Gatefold,
teamed with online digital formats across the site throughout the campaign.
Our core ‘sustain’ activity had pages in the Times, Sunday Times and Times Saturday
Magazine which was replicated on tablet. This was cross platform as we owned an entire
day of the weekend, every weekend for the campaign period with a homepage takeover on
either the Times, the Sun, Sunday Times Driving channel or Sun motors channel, giving
Ford 100% SOV.
Results:
By utilising publication and creative agency capabilities to produce impactful and
memorable formats for Ford, we ensured that the #Unlearn rebrand created standout in the
market. To sustain the campaign messaging, we built frequency in national press and

4. across lifestyle magazines and supplements, where the aspirer audience would not usually
expect to see the Ford brand.
The Sunday Telegraph Super Panorama format in particular was an agency media first,
and all of our activity was mirrored with a strong online presence across a number of
newsbrands. Our overall reach and frequency for the print campaign was 60.02% of ABC1
adults at a frequency of 3.89, which is equivalent to 16,795,000 people.
Our KPI’s were to increase favourable opinion, drive more website visits and increase sales
for 2016. UK Car sales for Ford were up 2.9% YoY in January 2016, increasing the sales
lead over its nearest rival by 49%. From analysing visits to the Unlearn online Hub, we can
distinguish a sharp uplift in site traffic when we launched our print campaign with the
Telegraph Super Panorama and online takeover activity on 24th
-25th
January. There is
another peak on the Ford site itself between the 30th
-31st
January when we ran our
Telegraph Cover Special and a gradual increase following the Guardian Gatefold on the 1st
February. From analysing search metrics, CTR% increased to 11.6% on the launch of our
print campaign.
A brand study run during the campaign shows that the number of people who agreed with
the statement ‘Ford Motor Company is changing for the better’ doubled over the 4 week
period. In just 6 weeks, awareness of the term ‘Unlearn’ equalled that of other campaigns
that had been running over 30 years when measured against Audi (Vorsprung durch
Technik).
Client View:
“Unlearn signalled to the UK that they needed to “let go of what they know” about Ford and
our media buying was no different. With exciting formats such as the Super Panorama and
activity across desktop, mobile and print we not only reached the Aspirer audience, we
made them “Unlearn” what newsbrands can do. Web traffic to our bespoke hub and main
site received a significant boost from those wanting to find out more and Ford’s strong sales
start to 2016.”
Richard Beard, Marketing Communications Manager