Have you heard about the Ford Fiesta Movement? If not, check it out Ford's press release. Ford, who did NOT accept stimulus funds from the federal government, is thinking out of the box in its campaign to introduce the Fiesta to the U.S. market. Rather than spending millions on traditional media channels, Ford elected to use social media platforms to generate buzz and promote the Fiesta's arrival in the U.S in early 2010.
The Fiesta has been a Eurpean best seller for several years and as the auto industry works to consolidate brands and become more eco-friendly, they decided to bring the Fiesta to the U.S. Given the target driver for this zippy, smaller car, using social media to create awareness and attract potential buyers is brilliant.
Buyers love reading recommendations from others (think Zappos) and getting "insider" information. Ford has 100 agents test driving, blogging and tweeting about their experiences with the Fiesta.
What has Ford accomplished with it's social media campaign?
- 1.3M+ YouTube views
- 500,000+ Flicker views
- 3M+ Twitter impressions
- 50,000 interested potential customers
- and, 97% of these potential customers do not own a Ford!
How did Ford succeed? They thought about the target buyer for this cost-effective, fuel efficeint car. More and more potential buyers of all kind of goods are leaning towards social media platforms to learn about products and user experiences. Beyond the social media platforms, Ford has created a fun, interactive site where you can design your own Fiesta and find out some of the likes and dislikes of other Fiesta fans.
Ford leveraged the energy of the community to great success. I can imagine Ford will have a hard time keeping up with early demand for the Fiesta.
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