ibranz Branding Resource Blog

BY BRENT SNAVELY

Ford Motor Co.’s social media-driven Fiesta Movement campaign has exceeded the company’s expectations, the Dearborn automaker’s top marketing executive said today.
In April, Ford brought 100 Ford Fiesta subcompact cars to the United States from Europe and put them into the hands of mostly young, hip drivers who had shown savvy with social media networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Ford allowed its so-called agents to use the cars for free for six months and encouraged them to write about their experiences online. By October, the agents had generated content that had drawn more than 4.3 million video views on YouTube, more than 540,000 photo views on Flckr and more than 3 million Twitter impressions.

Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of global marketing, said 60% of the public is now aware of the brand even though the vehicle doesn’t go on sale until early next summer.

“If you would have told me that we would have 100 vehicles in the U.S. … and we would have 60% brand awareness in the segment, I would have said there is no possible way,” Farley told journalists today. “To get 60% awareness in traditional media, it costs somewhere north of $50 million.”

While Farley declined to say how much Ford spent on the Fiesta Movement campaign, he said it is a fraction of $50 million.

With the campaign winding down, Ford said today it plans to hold an event called the Fiesta Movement Awards Celebration for the agents in West Hollywood , Calif., on Dec. 1 to recognize the efforts and creativity of its agents. The next day, Ford plans to reveal the U.S. version of the Ford Fiesta at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Farley, a former Toyota executive, said he learned a lot about the effectiveness of social media and grass-roots marketing through his involvement with the launch of Toyota’s Scion brand several years ago.

The marketing world has changed dramatically both for Ford and for all major corporations in the past year, Farley said.

“Online has become mass media,” Farley said. “A Yahoo or Google page takeover actually gets more eyeballs than a network TV commercial now. That hasn’t happened before.”

Now, Farley said the importance of communicating through online social media platforms as well as through public relations, has become far more important due to the evolution of technology.

While Ford is having success with marketing through social media, other factors are also helping to improve the company’s image.

Ford’s ability to survive the recession without accepting emergency federal loans, or file for bankruptcy, like rivals General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC has been a big boost.

“The goodwill for the company grew when we decided we didn’t need help,” Farley said.

Contact BRENT SNAVELY: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com