CANNES, France – The way people communicate, shop, buy, learn, share, celebrate, collaborate and socialise is changing and that is driving a new approach to marketing. That was the key theme of a presentation delivered today at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity by Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company's global vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service.

 

Addressing delegates to the 7-day event on the French Riviera, Farley pointed out that the technologies driving that change were described as digital, interactive, new media, social media and mobile.

 

"Whatever we call them, they are all advertising channels," he added. "But for our customers, these things aren’t 'channels', they’re life-enriching tools that they use every day; they’re enablers.

 

"Technology is enabling people to make their voices heard and to gain a much clearer picture of, or even shape,

reality. It’s flipping the switch to people power.

 

"People are not just consuming media and absorbing messages as they might have done a little over a decade ago. Today, people see more, create more and shape more.

 

"In this reality-focused, consumer-driven world, people are less likely to accept what we say and less likely to engage in the fantasy brand experiences that we construct simply because we serve them up. And that makes a big impact on how we think about creativity and the roles that clients and agencies play. Customers are part of the whole conversation now and they want a real experience."

 

Commenting on the transformation of Ford Motor Company under its One Ford strategy, Farley said: "What we realised is that people own the Ford brand, not us. People make or break your brand by what they say about it. At Ford, we decided to accept that as truth and act on it; we decided to give the power to the people.

 

"And using people’s voices to build advocacy is a 24/7/365 activity. You can’t follow the traditional model of 'announce, launch, abandon' and then prop it up again when sales tail off. You have to keep listening, and keep responding.

 

"And, bearing in mind the skepticism with which marketing and communications campaigns are received, it’s even more crucial that we look to create a harmonious balance between communications that we pay for, communications we own, and communications we earn. This is really a different world."

The Cannes Lions Festival describes itself as the world's only truly global meeting place for creative professionals in the communications industry.