Week 3- New York World’s Fair: Ford, Sparking Consumer to Customer Relations

Links

1. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/DISPLAY/39wf/frame.htm (In the Theme Center block)
2. https://www.1939nyworldsfair.com/worlds_fair/wf_tour/zone-6/ford.htm which leads to this -> https://www.1939nyworldsfair.com/Ponderings/Ford.aspx
3. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/47282/#slide=gs-257255

As you click through each link, you will learn a little more about Ford and the transportation area. One big stand out was the thought process of efficiency and upgrading American standard of life by making transportation easier and faster. In the #2 links you will find pictures of the exhibits and items around it, as well as a thought piece of the transportation building. There seemed to be a huge emphasis on letting the consumer see that Ford was “human ran” with machine help to speed up and create more jobs. Because the large rotating exhibit had many “man-figurines” around it to represent the workers of Ford.

In link # 1 there is more of a descriptive of what Ford was going for and showing. With link #3 being a picture of the exhibit (seen below). And with those descriptives are my thoughts that I concluded in the next few paragraphs.

Ford: Relationships Expanding

One of the things I always find really interesting is the growth of companies getting closer and closer to the people that buy their product. One way this can be done by letting the public see what makes up your product and the process to make it. In doing this, companies grow their relationship with buyers and in turn can grow their profit.

One of the leading companies in growth of industry was Henry Ford. Ford introduced many large upgrades such as the assembly line and five day work weeks. As a front runner in expanding production and maximizing the ability to profit, Ford was able to focus on expanding other aspects of the business. While maximizing potential production, there also had to be a maximization of potential buyers. There are many avenues into getting new and more consumers. One thing that I think plays a big role is transparency. Even if a customer has a bit of a misguided view of what actually happens, there is still a sense of connection that the public can trust the company. And with this trust, there can be molded/blended lifestyle where companies are now integrated with every day life. And as we can now see from 1939 to the present day, we can know about companies and how they operate with ease.

The way Ford did this was by showing off the “Ford Cycle of Production” exhibit. This exhibit included a lot, it showed each and every part used in the creation of their vehicles, talked about how they spread their employment from producers to sales and in between, as well as how the company did not destroy nature but in fact use it in their production.

Conclusion

I think that the culture of the 1939 World’s Fair was to innovate, incorporate, and adding efficiency and quality into life. With that I believe that Ford hit some of these points as they showed how they are incorporating with many consumers and innovating while adding jobs around them.