ecent print ads for Ford Ikon in leading dailies must have surprised quite a few readers. The communication projects the three-box sedan as a car first-time buyers should aspire to. What makes this ad, created by JWT Chennai, interesting is that in the past, an entry level car, typically meant Maruti 800. The Ford Ikon is trying to extend the list of entry level cars in a big, big way.

Ford India believes that it has a winner up its sleeve, but first, some statistics. Out of the 2,500 passenger vehicles Ford sells in a month, 1,500 are Ikons. The car, launched in 1999, is a success in the mid-size passenger car segment. That shows in the company�s advertising spend too. Though the company has the Ikon, Fusion, Mondeo and the Endeavour in its portfolio, 40 per cent of its advertising expenditure goes towards Ikon.... more