The Marketing Doctor doesn’t usually quote from the New York Times, but I can’t resist this powerful statement on Ford Motor Company’s attempt to get back to basics in the person of its new CEO –Toyota whiz kid, James Farley!

As everyone knows, Ford and the rest of the American car industry has been suffering a long, painful decline.  But Farley seems committed to remembering what the Ford brand is all about –hint, it’s not about owning Jaguar!— and start selling cars again!

Here’s the excerpt.  Basically it shows us an important moment at a big Ford convention when Farley seems to inspire his troops by showing them what the Ford brand means:

He talked about his grandfather, who had gone to work for Henry Ford at the celebrated Rouge plant in 1914; about his first car, a vintage 1966 Mustang; and about the dealers and their families and their livelihoods.

Like a shy actor blossoming on stage, Mr. Farley became swept up in the emotional power of the moment. “I believe, in many ways, the future of Ford is the future of our country,” he said. “The work here is simply more important than the work I was doing at Toyota.” When he finished, the dealers rose for a standing ovation that left Mr. Farley momentarily stunned. After the applause died down, he savored the reaction.

Who knows, maybe even Henry Ford himself would have been moved (pictured above next to his Model T … it came in any color you wanted as long as it was black!)  Bottom line, Farley’s got a lot of work to do and he knows it (here’s the rest of that story)!  But it sounds like he’s off to a great start by being committed to his brand.  I guarantee there’ll be more to this story!

And, remember, it’s easier when you keep marketing in mind!

Here are some more links on Ford:

http://www.ford.com/

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/04/21/ap4912560.html

http://sev.prnewswire.com/auto/20080420/CLSU00220042008-1.html