Advertising The Model T
Advertisement is the life of a business
Those that called advertisement the life of a business were truth-sayers. When Ford Model T was first launched in Australia, most people did not know what the new car was about until the creative advert in “The Land” newspaper came out.
The advertisement capitalised on the doubts of most Australians and called them to obey the “urge”. In very encouraging words, the advertisement states “obey the urge”, promoting the simplicity, serviceability, and economic-friendliness of the novel car. That was in 1914.
That year alone, over 100 Ford Model T cars were being sold every month in New South Wales alone. Those statistics in an area of only 1.8 million people were truly impressive. It simply goes to say that a lot of people would be more inclined to buy a product after seeing positive reviews from previous customers. The novel advertisement capitalised on the fact that over 325,000 people had already bought the car.
After setting a good background, the Ford Model T achieved such a reputation that it needed no advertisement. The company suspended all forms of advertisement between 1917 and 1923. At that point, the company had released the third version of the car and was enjoying immense success.
The success of the Ford Model T advertisements can be attributed to a lot of reasons. The main reason, though, is that it was very cheap and affordable to most families in Australia at that time. Another great advertisement method employed by the company at the beginning was a publicity stunt displaying how easy the car was to construct.
They did this by assembling the car in the presence of 4,000 people within 150 minutes. This was at the South Australian Agricultural Show of 1917. After this, the popularity of the car just blew out of the roof.
To be candid, the Ford Model T was easy to advertise. The car was sold cheaply during a time when the ownership of luxuries such as family and personal cars was novel and reserved for the rich. The affordability of the Model T allowed many average income Australians to buy the car, thereby, increasing sales.
Another plus on the list of the Ford Model T was the ease-of-use. The car was easy to maintain, very sturdy, versatile, and has interchangeable parts that remained virtually unchanged for almost two decades.
In 1925, the Ford Company of Australia was established to standardise the assemblage of the car. The Model Ts’ Assembly was situated in Geelong, Victoria. This encouraged a uniform production system that strengthened the production of the cars at a faster rate.
During its active run, Ford sold over 250,000 of the Model T in Australia alone. Assembly plants were built in Brisbane, Adelaide and Fremantle. The “Tin Lizzles”, as the cars were commonly called then, have been celebrated in entertainment and automotive cultures over the years. Today, the Ford Model T has achieved legendary status and was even voted Car of the 20th century by an international jury of experts from 32 countries.