Ford CMO Lisa Materazzo on using her finance background in automotive

When Ford announced Lisa Materazzo as its new global chief marketing officer late last year, the automaker played up her auto industry credentials, including a 20-year career at Toyota, where she last served as group VP for Toyota North America marketing. But one of Materazzo’s marketing secret weapons comes from previous job experience that had nothing to do with autos or marketing. “I actually became an investment broker upon graduating. I never imagined in a million years that I would have a career in automotive,” Materazzo recounts on the latest edition of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, check us out on Spotify and hear us on Stitcher. This is our RSS feed. Tell a friend! She later made the move to the auto industry and joined Toyota after earning her MBA—and still relies heavily on lessons learned during her finance career, especially “the importance of understanding consumers,” she said. “My clients were entrusting me with their life fortune,” she said. “They weren’t going to stay with me if I didn’t carefully listen to them and understand their needs. And in an odd way, I think that’s a really interesting parallel to what I do now and what my team does now. It’s all about understanding customers at a very, very deep level—not only what to say to them, but where to say it.” This year, that has meant adapting to changing consumer views on electric vehicles as demand flattens for the battery-powered cars that have long been considered the long-term future of automotive. More news: Reaching Gen Alpha, Gen Z and millennials “We do see some changes in the market and softening more recently, but the momentum and the trend line is up,” Materazzo said. “I think for Ford, specifically, what we are doing is we are emphasizing the variety of choice that consumers have.” That idea is encapsulated in the “Freedom of Choice” campaign from Wieden+Kennedy that began in April and includes ads promoting Ford’s gas, hybrid and electric vehicles together. Other automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, have taken a similar tact as they seek to keep sales moving, while recalibrating short-term go-to-market approaches. Ford, for instance, is investing in the production of more gas-electric hybrid vehicles that are experiencing a rise in demand as pure EV sales flatline. “Customers are voting. They like these in-between solutions,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said at Bernstein’s recent Strategic Decisions Conference, as reported by Automotive News. Even as it changes the mix of vehicles in its ads, Ford is sticking with spokesman Bryan Cranston, who has voiced—and sometimes appeared in—the automaker’s ads since 2018. “Bryan has been serving us really well,” Materazzo said, citing the actor’s “very recognizable voice.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs On the podcast, Materazzo also discusses how Ford is balancing long-form and short-form content. The automaker on social media has taken a more episodic approach with efforts such as “Welcome to the Club,” a series from W+K that delves into car culture. One episode featured the Mustang Mafia, a New Orleans–based car club. Materazzo, who was involved with Super Bowl advertising while at Toyota, also addressed whether Ford—which has not advertised in the game for a while—would ever return. “Never say never,” she said. “But I like the bets we’re making on how to connect with consumers.”

Ford CMO Lisa Materazzo on using her finance background in automotive

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