Ford, Microsoft Use High-Tech 'Tags' To Promote New Taurus
23 September 2009 - 12:42AM
Dow Jones News
Ford Motor Co. (F) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) are teaming up
again in an effort to boost car sales, with the software giant
lending some help to the auto maker's marketing launch of the
redesigned Taurus sedan.
The auto maker is using a technology innovation from the
computer software maker - known as tags - in its print materials in
order to give potential car buyers a more interactive introduction
to the car. Ford and Microsoft first formed a partnership a few
years ago to launch the Sync telematics system, which enables
drivers to hook Bluetooth-enabled entertainment and communications
devices into the car.
Looking very much like a bar code found on most consumer
products, the black-and-white tags are integrated into the design
of an advertisement and can be photographed by anyone carrying a
camera-equipped smart phone, such as Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone, or
Research In Motion Ltd.'s (RIMM) Blackberry. Once the image has
been downloaded, it then links a consumer to a company-designed Web
site.
In Ford's case, the tags lead smart-phone users to a site
featuring six different video clips explaining the Taurus'
technology, ranging from a demonstration of a cruise-control system
that adapts to the speed of the vehicle in front of the car, to a
system that automatically detects objects in a driver's blind
spot.
Ford plans to mail out more than 700,000 Taurus brochures
equipped with the tags nationwide in October, and then follow up by
embedding tags in print advertisements.
"We needed to challenge ourselves to tell the story in a new
way," said Dave Sanabria, Ford's advertising manager. "We thought
this would be great so we could bring to life the details."
The Taurus launch has been a major endeavor for Ford as it looks
to continue momentum in the U.S. market and reestablish itself in a
variety of passenger car segments. The car's marketing has focused
heavily on the vehicle's array of new technologies, including
fuel-economy improvements.
Sanabria said he decided to incorporate the tags after Microsoft
introduced the application for commercial use in January. It is
based on a product-tracking technology developed by Japanese auto
supplier Denso Corp. (DNZOY) more than a decade ago known as "quick
response." The technology has become popular in Japan, and is
included in a variety of advertising methods, included business
cards.
Ford already had a taste of some success with a similar
technology concept in the U.K. There, consumers who scanned a
tag-like bar code with their camera phone automatically loaded a
three-dimensional version of the new Ford Ka. They were then routed
to a Web site with more information.
Ford isn't the lone U.S. company giving Microsoft's tags system
a test drive. Microsoft has worked with a variety of companies,
ranging from CKE Restaurants Inc.'s (CKR) Hardee's restaurants to
Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS), to implement the feature.
Dick's used the tags on Sept. 5 during a football game between
the University of Oklahoma and Brigham Young University at the new
Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. About 75,000 fans attended
and, at one point during the game, they were encouraged to point
their smart phones toward the stadium's massive HDTV video screen
and take a picture of the tag.
The tag led users to the retailer's new mobile site where they
received a $10 rebate on a purchase.
But potential car buyers will have to do a work to use the
technology.
Interested parties must visit the Web site "gettag.mobi" with
their smart phone to download a tag reader application that will
activate the tags.
Sanabria says Ford may use the technology on other launches if
the Taurus execution meets expectations.
-By Jeff Bennett; Dow Jones Newswires;
jeff.bennett@dowjones.com; 248-204-5542
(John Stoll of The Wall Street Journal contributed to this
article.)