April 8th, 2009
by Lorrie Thomas
One of WMT’s uber reliable online news sources just sent me a great article from the Washington post about Ford’s new step into the social media fijord…
Ford who is giving the keys to their marketing to 20-somethings and taking a backseat to social media!
According to the post, “With its back against the wall financially, auto maker Ford is taking a radical and risky approach to the marketing of its new Fiesta: Later this month, it will hand over the branding and promotion duties for the car to 100 twenty-somethings who have no advertising experience.”
This is a bold move, but Ford’s risk may be not taking a risk…
It will be interesting to see what the 20-somethings serve up. Ford is giving them full authority to let loose and share their experiences.
Let’s hope they don’t get Tahoe-d though…In 2006, Chevy gave their logos, video clips and more for a “best YouTube commercial contest for their Tahoe…a campaign that had serious backfire (they are still breathing the exhaust!) You’ll have to see for yourself how this campaign went off road!
But Tameka Kee of paidContent.org, reports “Still, Ford acknowledged that the stakes were too high to not engage its target demo in the most edgy way possible: “In terms of awareness, we have to go from zero,” Chantel Lenard, Ford’s global car marketing manager, told the WSJ.”
Let the Social Media Ford Fiesta begin!
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Keith T.
(April 9th, 2009 at 1:01 pm)
Of the Big 3, Ford is in the best shape overall (and not asking for taxpayers dollars…yet). I’ve seen their slated vehicles for release over the next few years and they actually have some cars people will WANT to buy and drive.
Chevy’s experiment with this was bad timing with the wrong product. I personally feel it’s a good move on the Fiesta marketing. This is a car completely targeted to younger drivers and is very economical in both cost and fuel usage. Instead of pretending to understand what these buyers want in a car, they are letting potential buyers use the car in everyday life.
People haven’t been excited about much of anything from Detroit in decades. This may help stoke a fire that has been neglected for a very long time…
Sue
(April 15th, 2009 at 9:45 am)
Another example of why GM is going down the tubes. But good going, Ford. I know they’ll be in line with what younger drivers want and what the environment demands.
Web Marketing Therapy » Blog Archive » Which Automaker Has the Most Social Media Swagger?
(October 22nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm)
[...] and a $1,000 trade-in bonus for trading in their vehicles from another manufacturer. The “Feista Movement” was another creative campaign that involved loaning out the car to young social-media-savvy [...]