On the same day the Ford Mustang turns 44, Ford Racing has launched an all-new web-based initiative, www.FordPerformance.com, that puts a face and a place on Ford Motor Company’s connection to enthusiast clubs and the performance aftermarket. The Ford Performance Group is centered on a web portal that helps facilitate a more interactive relationship between Ford and its past, present and future performance customers.
“We recognize the important role that Ford loyalists play in raising consumer awareness of Ford Motor Company,” noted Jamie Allison, Manager, Ford Racing Performance Group, “and performance enthusiasts tend to be the most passionate, active and influential customers of all. This new web-based asset allows us to consolidate our communications with them under one virtual roof. It will also enhance our all-important relationships with Ford-based clubs, coordinate our contact with Ford-centered events and help showcase the exciting new performance offerings from Ford – all in one place.
In fact, just like we’d done with Bullitt, we plan to keep www.FordPerformance.com on the inside track for information supporting the launch of the next-generation Mustang.”
Visitors to www.FordPerformance.com will find a host of enthusiast content, including:
- Regular feature stories about Ford-based clubs, members, events and products
- Ford-oriented enthusiast club and membership info, with links to club sites
- A Ford performance vehicles “heritage” archives section
- Ford Performance Info Center contact and merchandise information
- Portal to Ford Racing, Performance Parts and Ford Vehicles web sites
- Exclusive Ford performance vehicle “deep-dive” info and photos
Using an umbrella approach, www.FordPerformance.com brings unique resources to bear on communicating with Ford enthusiasts and promoting the lifestyle they enjoy. Through the website, Ford will promote clubs, events, products and people in the world of Ford performance, while the clubs will promote select Ford communications with their members.
What’s more, the Ford Performance Group program includes more than just the establishment of a website-based information clearinghouse. It also includes the Ford Performance Info Center (1-800-FORD-788) which provides club referrals and event information for participating organizations, and handles enthusiast questions on a variety of performance Fords. Plus live, expert technical assistance on the use of Ford performance hardware is readily available via the Ford Racing Tech Line staff.
“Launching the www.FordPerformance.com web site in support of our Info Center and Tech Line is great news for Ford performance enthusiasts,” said Mickey Matus, Ford Performance Group Marketing Manager. “Together they provide the only service of its kind offered by any of the major automakers. No one else promotes their enthusiast clubs like this, or gives their performance customers a direct line to the factory. And thanks to our years of working with enthusiasts at the grassroots level, we’re now able to offer clubs what their organizers had told us they wanted most: a way to promote their Ford performance passion, and the ability to gain a sustainable connection with the company.”
Better still, members of clubs that join the Ford Performance Group qualify for a discount on purchases of special Ford enthusiast merchandise. Items available through the Info Center include out-of-print SVT product brochures, tech data cards and posters, official Certificates of Authenticity as well as rare, hardcover Mustang, SVT and Ford GT books.
It’s no accident that the first three clubs to participate in the program are tied to current Ford performance vehicle offerings. “While we’ve long enjoyed strong support from Ford, establishing promotions for our club is a great benefit to MCA members,” said Mustang Times Editor Mary Jean Wesche of the Mustang Club of America. But deemed just as important to enthusiast owners is the role of the Ford Performance Info Center.
“SVTOA members have found the toll-free hotline to be a valuable resource,” noted Marcie Cipriani, national director of the Special Vehicle Team Owners Association. “That connection really delivers on the brand promise of a special vehicle.” Indeed, it was the International Mustang Bullitt Owners Club’s newfound connection with Ford that netted them an advance peek at the 2008 Bullitt – and an appreciation of the new initiative. “On behalf of IMBOC Founder Mike Affourtit and our club members, we’re excited about our new relationship with the Ford Performance Group,” said Tony Alonso, the Ford liaison for IMBOC, “and we look forward to our continued collaboration.”
Plans are already in place to expand the program to include more enthusiast vehicle clubs, including those for the Mustang Mach 1, SVO and Pace Cars, as well as the Mercury Marauder and Taurus SHO, just to name a few. For now, enthusiasts are urged to take a look at the world of Ford performance by visiting www.FordPerformance.com, and to check back often to see just how enthusiast owners keep “Driving Ford Passion.”
