• Detroit Free Press, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 11:32 AM

Jim Farley believes his most important task as Ford's group vice president of marketing and communications will be to unlock the goodwill consumers already feel around the world for the 104-year-old auto company. "You just have to turn the key," he says.

Farley, who recently defected to Ford from Toyota, where he was a top sales executive, says consumers want Ford to succeed. "People believe in this company," he says. "They want us to do better."

Farley says he's still crafting his marketing plan for enticing consumers back to Ford, but says the new messaging will be "humble and authentic." He emphasizes three points: Ford's progress in quality "is real,"; the company is a "populist brand" that brings vehicles and technology to the masses; the "new Ford" has a stable of new products coming that will enable the automaker to update its image.

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