Insights from this Year’s Further with Ford Conference

I have just returned from Ford Motor Company’s 4th Further with Ford Trend Conference for bloggers and journalists.  This is our fourth year (2013, 2012, 2011) attending and it always promises to be enlightening and thought-provoking.  One of the things that impresses me most about this ongoing conference, is that Ford is committed to building relationships with its attendees.  I remember asking them the first year, back in 2011, if they would develop a relationship with us or just invite new people to each annual trends conference.

A Ford representative told methat they intend to continue to the relationship and conversation…and they did throughout the year, not just at their annual trends conference.  There are many things that impress me about Ford.  Their foresight into sustainability and green perseverance, both in their cars and their plants, their push to enhance the driving experience and peace of mind through the use of technology, their commitment to safety, and their ability to look outside the automotive industry to bring innovation to cars that has never been done before.

Heidi Leder, Cathy Herard, Ford’s CEO, Mark Fields, and me.

While at the Further with Ford conference, I had the opportunity to catch up with some old friends…and made a new one, Ford’s new CEO, Mark Fields.

Every year, Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s Global trends and futuring expert, immerses herself in the ever-evolving social, cultural, environmental, technological, and economic conversations of what the future might look like.  It is the grappling and restating of these conversations from experts, statisticians, authors, and everyday people that helps Ford foresee into changing trends so they can ensure they build the right cars when the time comes.

Although at the Ford’s Further with Ford conference, we discussed a number of trends, there were a few standouts that I found particularly interesting to share with you.  In particular, the growing Female Frontier, the concept of Vaporizing, and the Connected Car.

Female Frontier

The Female Frontier was a fascinating discussion, led by a number of people from various professions.  The Female Frontier covers the how demographic shifts are changing household dynamics and responsibilities.  Did you know that…

“66% of men and women globally agree that the world would be a better place if men thought more like women”?

This number is even higher in the US with 73% of men and women agreeing with this statement.

Here are some more interesting stats:

• Women make up roughly 50% of the world’s population
• Only 9.7% of women make up the world’s billionaires
• 12% of the Forbes’ 2013 list of “The World’s Most Powerful People,” represent women
• Millennial female car buyers are outpacing males by 53%
• The number of American men who have left work to become full-time parents has doubled in a decade (2 million)
• Women in the US earn only 77% of what men earn
• in the US, women make up 67% of senior management roles
• In higher education, men are now the minority in the US

Jenna Wolfe

More interesting facts.  According to Jenna Wolfe, News Correspondent for NBC Today,

“4 out of 10 women are the primary or sole breadwinner in their families.”

 

Jennifer Senior

They typical household is changing.  Oh, and here’s another one I found most interesting.  Jennifer Senior, Contributing Editor for New York Magazine stated that today, the average age for a woman’s first child is 33!  Wow, in my Mom’s era, it was closer to 21!  Boy have times changed.

Senior talked about the expenses in raising our children.  She said,

“It costs $300,000 to raise a child…not including college.”

 

Ikes!  I loved her tongue-in-cheek comment that “in the old days, our kids used to work for us, now we work for them.”  So true.

One thing that Senior said stopped me dead in my tracks.  She said,

 “Women suffer from a sense of unentitlement.  They are very protective of their husband’s time, but not their own.”

Wow, this is so true.  I have never heard it phrased this way before, but there’s definitely some wisdom in her thought as to why women, as a whole, aren’t as assertive as their male counterparts.  They feel they need to earn their way, earn their respect, earn their merit.  Feeling entitled to something is typically counterintuitive to their nature.

To combat this sense of unentitlement and grow in ways unimaginable, Wolfe recommends…

“Do one thing every singe day that scares you…then watch growth happen,” a quote originated by Eleanor Roosevelt

Sage advice.

Vaporizing

Robert Tercek – How Things Are Vaporizing

Things are disappearing before our very eyes, have you been noticing?  Do you remember the old Thomas Guide map book?  How frustrating it was to turn back and forth between map pages to get your bearing?  How about going to the record store to buy the latest LP?  Remember when playing a game meant board games with family and friends?  Do you have a Kindle now with over 100 ebooks to read at any whim?  You have witnessed what Robert Tercek, an Interactive Content Creator, calls Vaporizing, which means turning physical things into software.

Tercek says it’s only a matter of time before TV will be vaporized.  Vaporizing is changing the way we interact with physical products too.  Do you have a fitness tracker on your wrist, but need to look at your phone to see how many steps you’ve made today?  How about a speaker where you need to dock your smartphone first to control the volume?  The trend in faceless gadgets will continue in product innovation, giving you more control, a more familiar interface, and a lower cost product since the product no longer includes the intelligence built-in.

Does your car have a built-in interactive display?  Although these displays are helpful, today, there are workarounds to help give you similar performance in your car without the built-in cost.  With software like Car Dock to help you navigate…without a physical GPS navigation system.  Forthcoming Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay will give you even more functionality just by plugging your phone into your car’s USB port.

Connected Car

According to Don Butler, Executive Director of Connected Vehicles and Service at Ford, the car is another connection point in a connected world. The connected car has been evolving for over 10 years now.   Similar to the vaporizing concept, through the use of apps on your phone, some in dash displays now use data from the software on your phone rather than having embedded data itself.  The MyFordTouch is an example of this where data from popular apps like Scout, Slacker, Stitcher, Pandora, iHeartAuto, Amazon Cloud Player, and more.

Butler envisions a time where your car, connected with your phone, can access that your location and the time to make recommendations as to when the best time to leave work is, according to traffic conditions and traffic history.  Our cars will become smarter to save time, save money, and above all, save frustration.

See what Ford has been working on to improve our communication within and without the car…this is pretty impressive…

At the Ford Test Track with partner in crime, Cathy Herard, CathyHerard.com.

A Mom’s Perspective

It was an enlightening couple of days at the Further with Ford Trends Conference.  Do you know why Ford developed the back-up cameras and BLISS system (indicates on your mirror when another car is in your blind spot)?  Because women reported their frustration in not being able to see around their cars.  Now, both women and men report high satisfaction with these features, though men are more fascinated by the “cool” factor they elicit.

Women are, and will continue to change the world…and Ford…and other brands…are listening.  What will you do today to that scares you and gets you out of your comfort zone?  You have a part in this changing world.

*  Ford paid my expenses for the flights and lodging.  All opinions are my own.