How well do you think Ford is marketing the Fiesta ST?

[xplorguy]

Ford does not seem to have any budget for marketing the current Fiesta period. A few years ago they were all over it with national advertising before and during its introduction. While the car is a huge seller world wide (number one in its size range) and fourth best seller world wide....I don't think the numbers are that great in the U.S. Dealerships seem to have a lot of Focus and Fusion and SUV models but not so many Fiesta's around. I don't see many Fiesta's on the street...
Maybe Ford is thinking the ST would be a shot in the arm for the more pedestrian SE model and at least bring people into the showroom. Too many Americans like their bigger cars and trucks. While all the enthusiast magazines have been high in praise for the ST there is not a single ad from Ford. Too many advertising dollars for too little market for such a specialized car.
The on line site for Ford does give it a lot of ink.....as well as the Ford Fiesta print brochure.........
Maybe we wouldn't have the Fiesta at all if Ford didn't need to meet govt. guidelines for fuel economy........

 

[Perry]

xplorguy-- Your mention of fuel efficiency guidelines reminds us that there are many irons in the Ford fire, and that the Fiesta (of whatever level) is a small part, especially in the U.S., where Ford will sell 15-20 F-150s for every ST that comes off the line. We see an incredible number of ads for pick-ups, and almost none for the Fiesta or Focus or the like. How specific the effects of an ad are for the model vice the brand as a whole should be considered by all as well. If I were in charge of Ford, I'd look to polish the image of the blue oval as a whole a bit more. But there's an art to that, and it's not clear how much the Fiesta plays a role in it directly.

 

[BlueBomber]

regarding that FiST commercial idea... Ask and you shall receive. I could TOTALLY shoot that.

 

[Ronbo]

I read someplace that Ford expects the ST to account for only 4% of total Fiesta production for US sales, so they're going in with low expectations. Regarding marketing, the target market for this car probably doesn't rely on TV or magazine ads for their performance car information. There would be little return on advertisement in the media. I think I first heard about the FiST through Autoblog, at least a year before it actually went on sale.

 

[shvkdv]

I agree with the previous posts that marketing this car would be a wasteful exercise. A non-enthusiast can buy a base Fusion for this kind of money. So, a regular sales pitch either in the media or the dealership is hardly going to be successful. Instead, they should organize more invitational events for existing ST owners.

 

[BlueBomber]

This is true.

taking my lady with me to the Ford EcoBoost challenge is what sold me on the Fiesta ST... Ford didn't exactly do a great job of letting me know it was happening either

 

[RDgolfer]

The bottom line is who cares if Ford is/isn't doing a good job of advertising the FiST. The people who want this car will find it, just like me. I have always loved small, fast, nimble cars and have owned a few. Over the last few years my car has been just basic, boring transportation. The car is paid for and I wasn't even in the market for a car. Yet leave it to the fates, I stumbled upon the FiST. Build it and they will come. Audi 5000

 

[westcoaST]

I've been tracking the Focus ST and then later, the FiST for several years. I started watching Tanner Foust and others on rallycross, on speed tv. I'd often wondered when Ford would wise up and start offering the same small hatches in the US that they offered in the UK and Europe. Then the noises on the car mags started up on how much of a blast the FiST was to drive, and how good the gas mileage was, and how great it handled. I was hooked. As soon as my mustang was almost paid off (it gets paid off in March), I decided to look around for either a Focus or a Fiesta ST. I drove both, but was really sold on the FiST. Price was never a consideration, however, the FoST was more available, and I almost bought one. I don't think Ford is making any money on these cars, but ever since Ford Europe started having a say in the type of cars available world wide, the quality and performance, and handling of these cars vastly improved. I never thought I would purchase anything smaller than a Taurus, especially once my wife bought a Focus titanium. This is a good car, but it is painfully slow. I also have a 2007 Focus (belongs to my son now), that was faster than the 2012 Focus, so I had hope for the Fiesta ST. I think this will be a niche car, known to enthusiasts, and beloved by its owners, alot like the miata.

 

[Matt_FiST]

They are skeptical until they ride in it. My fav feature of the fist is the passengers faces.

 

[westcoaST]

Hey Matt, my Grandma lived in Tracy. She owned a restaurant/bar called El Gato Negro. I forget the name of the street.

 

[12elentless]

If it weren't for top gear, I wouldn't have known about em.

 

[Fortz]

I only see advertisement for the FoST in newspaper, never saw one for the FiST.

 

[ZREXER]

The problem with the Fiesta ST where I live (Alberta) is not so much marketing, but what it is not. It is not a lifted 4 x 4, with 12 extra lights on the brush pusher bar and does not have a set of nuts hanging from the rear bumper.
Without that, no real way to sell it here.

 

[FocusMike]

Its been over a year since the launching of the Fiesta ST and I have yet seen one commercial.

 

[SPhilli911]

I've never seen adverts for the FiST, in fact I only recently found out it existed at all when a friend suggested I look at one when I was car shopping. Went something like this:

Friend: You should check out the Fiesta ST!
Me: You mean the Focus ST?
Friend: No you idiot! Ford made an ST version of the Fiesta!
Me: No way!

I consider myself a car nut, I autocross, I frequent the track (to spectate, sadly) I've owned some fun cars, but this car went undetected by me somehow. So Ford is not marketing this car right, if at all. But I think it will be one of those cars that is well known by car enthusiasts for sure.

 

[Harvick]

haha that sounds like when I told my friend I bought a Fiesta ST. He asked me if I meant I bought a Focus ST.

\
Friend: You should check out the Fiesta ST!
Me: You mean the Focus ST?
Friend: No you idiot! Ford made an ST version of the Fiesta!
Me: No way!

 

[Tex ST-AR]

The lack of advertising by Ford of the FiST is disappointing because it enables small town dealerships to stay ignorant about the product. I had to tell the dealership about the fiesta when I ordered my car. When I pointed this fact out to an assistant sales manager he explained it away by saying that because of Fords low profit margins on the ST cars it isn't worth the sales department's time to know much about the FiST. But what concerns me the most is an uneducated service department. When I had my Mazdaspeed the local dealership didn't even have a service tech that was certified to work on the car so when the turbo seals failed I had to drive the car about an hour away and to a different state to have a certified tech look at the car. Maybe on some level all EcoBoost engines are the same. But the paranoid side of me worries that when my car is the only FiST they ever see they won't be able to diagnose a problem correctly.

 

[Etyrnus]

Slight difference of opinion here, but this comes from my experience. People are forgetting that it's the big highlight of the Ecoboost challenge last year and this year, which is aimed at brand enthusiasts. Also, as far as the dealership availability, from what I understand not every dealership had the ability to order them. They had to have a reputation for being enthusiastic about the performance models to begin with. In my area, the dealership I went to has had and sold multiple FiSTs and FoSTs. They even occasionally manage to have a couple on the lot for a week or two before they get sold. Three of their mechanics have bought FiSTs.

On the other hand, I was leaving a grocery store one evening, and a guy from another dealership noticed me and my FiST, and was telling me that his dealership couldn't get them, so he hadn't seen one up close.

 

[lessard.dcj]

i think most marketing is being done by YouTube videos and magazines by journalists doing reviews.

 

[BooSTedsloth]

I first saw it on motor trend, then i was hooked. I was going to get a focus st but the fiesta st was the perfect car. I think they should market the fiesta st more, but i do like how its like a small almost rare car/ car group.