Mustang

Ford is currently flogging a new Mustang and after many generations they have finally, once again, designed something that is actually (sort of) nice to look at.

In fact their own marketing material (shown below) has a gap in the design of Mustangs of about, ooooo…, 44 years.

What they are implicitly saying is that none of the Mustangs in the gap years will ever be considered a classic, no matter how long we wait.

This is a loooong period for anyone to propagate crap designs with no internal recognition of that fact at the time.

It would make an interesting case study on the woes of corporate management.

Bad management would believe that cars sell on price and specs, or a great big distribution channel and lots of marketing, whereas they really sell on brand perception and design.

Customers generally have a budget and within that budget they will select the car that they perceive is the most desirable brand and that also has the best design or the least objectionable design.

It’s hard enough to find good designers. But for car makers to get it right the decision making process around design has to be supported by management that understands the importance of great design and can recognise it but not try to run it.

That sort of right brain thinking just doesn’t normally come with the left brain requirements required for climbing the management ladder of a global corporation.