And on the heritage front, Ford hopes to capitalize on what it says is an actual brand image in China, based in part on TV images of U.S. presidential limousines through the years as well as the Lincoln Continental that former President Richard Nixon brought with him on his historic visit to China in 1972.

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This is exactly the situation top brand marketers find themselves in with the recent ascendancy of image-based social media networks like Pinterest and Instagram.

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