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Ford Bets On Social Media For Fiesta
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri Apr 17, 2009 03:04 PM
from the waiting-for-the-asplosions dept.
from the waiting-for-the-asplosions dept.
Ford is gambling on the power of social media for the new marketing campaign surrounding the Ford Fiesta subcompact. The auto giant handed over 100 new Fiestas to "agents" selected from 4,000 applicants and created YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter accounts for them to relay their experiences. "Ford is taking a hands-off approach and telling participants not to hold back their opinions, bolstering the campaign's credibility. 'We've told them to be completely honest — that's the only way it's going to work,' Monty told us. 'We won't tell them what to say, nor will we censor or edit any of their content.' So far, it's working in Ford's favor. The tweets on the FordFiesta Twitter page are generally favorable, if a bit dry, as are the posts over at The Fiesta Movement Facebook page. None of the 80 pictures on the Fiesta Movement Flickr page show broken down cars. There are a few hundred videos on the FiestaMovement YouTube account if anyone's got a few hours to kill."
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The special hundred (Score:3, Insightful)
handed over 100 new Fiestas to "agents"
Perhaps 100 which received special care and attention, manufactured to higher tolerances than those of the actual production run.
The marketing may be honest, but that dosen't mean that there isn't B.S. there.
Re:The special hundred (Score:5, Insightful)
And if there are real reasons to be sceptical, such as those as you suggest, then it'll all come out in the wash.
To me though, it just seems like one of those rare instances of a large company respecting its customer base and bravely embracing the internet - good things IMHO.
Getting large companies to get in touch with its customers like this can be really tough.. but when you think about it, and all the wasted natural resources from making crappy products.. initiatives like this should be encouraged.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And if there are real reasons to be sceptical, such as those as you suggest, then it'll all come out in the wash.
Assuming it can be summed up in 140 words. And also that anyone will care in the first place.
Re: (Score:2)
"It stinks!"
"It's great!"
Yeah, I don't think 140 characters is an issue.
Plus they also have youtube and facebook; which I believe allow for more then 140 characters.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And if there are real reasons to be sceptical, such as those as you suggest, then it'll all come out in the wash.
Of course there are real reasons to be skeptical. If they wanted to get honest opinion they would have asked 100 people who *purchased* a Fiesta to blog/twitter/youtube about their experience with the vehicle.
People are a lot more likely to give you their honest opinion about a car that they're paying for than one that was given to them as part of a promotion.
Re:The special hundred (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course there are real reasons to be skeptical. If they wanted to get honest opinion they would have asked 100 people who *purchased* a Fiesta to blog/twitter/youtube about their experience with the vehicle.
From the article: "Ford wants to generate buzz for the Fiesta, which will bring Europe's "small cars can be cool" ethos to America when it arrives next year."
It's illogical to expect a corporation not to act in its own best interests. What is interesting about this promotion however, is a corporation realising that in this age of communication, sometimes its best interests are served by not treating its customer base like idiots. It's not like the whole "free car for 6 months" part is a secret - would you not take that into account while reading a review from such a person?
Why are we so quick to indulge in righteous outrage?
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Re:The special hundred (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:The special hundred (Score:5, Informative)
The marketing may be honest, but that dosen't mean that there isn't B.S. there.
This should actually be pretty legit, I wouldn't guess that ford would hold the hands on these as they go through manufacturing. As a matter of fact Ford doesn't really have to do much of anything. The Fiesta [wikipedia.org] should speak for itself and is widely regarded as being a good product. Here is a link for reference [autoblog.com] (I do not work for autoblog.com) This new Fiesta should even (hopefully) arrive on American shores. For once us Americans should have a competitive product compared to our European "friends." As a side note: it is nice to see a car that stays about the same size. It is lighter and stronger than the current Ford Fiesta, with similar dimensions.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, their biggest mistake was getting 100 people and "creating" those social media pages for them.
They should have just selected 100 people that already had popular social networks accounts.
Re:The special hundred (Score:5, Funny)
Of course this was back in the 80s when miles were much shorter than they are now.
Surely those 32-33 MPG you were getting translate into like, 12-13 in today's miles.
And this means the car died just after 70,000 miles.
This is why we all need to switch to modern, fuel efficient vehicles which get around 30 miles per gallon and often last past 100,000 miles.
Of course, hybrids are the greatest thing ever, and will beat even modern fuel efficient, gas-only vehicles. We're already seeing that the new Prius model will get around 40 MPG when you're carrying nothing but yourself, on a straight stretch at 35 MPH non stop. And this is for just $10k more than a regular car! And the average Prius will probably last for 300,000 miles without having problems outside of normal maintenance, like replacing the thousand dollar battery. 300k is 5 times longer than the average Prius owner will keep their cars on the road before recycling them into eco-cubes and buying the new model!
Now that's progress!
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You know the Germans make good stuff.
SHAMWOW!
Twitter... again? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is Twitter suddenly such a big deal? Yesterday we hear that Oprah is starting to use Twitter, now Ford. But why?
Is Twitter really some kind of revolution, or is everyone jumping on a random bandwagon because they're afraid they'll look behind the times if they don't?
Re:Twitter... again? (Score:5, Insightful)
I remember looking at twitter a few years ago and thinking it was fucking retarded. My opinion hasn't changed.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
told her to just search twitter to find out
I guess Google was down the other night huh? "Important" news like that would have instantly hit major news sites, blogs, what have you, that get crawled frequently. It would have probably been on Google news too.
Re:Twitter... again? (Score:4, Interesting)
Companies bailing from the second life bandwagon have to go somewhere.
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Re:Twitter... again? (Score:5, Insightful)
Twitter is a big deal because people use it. Yeah it's that simple.
Like many such things, it's a matter of network effects. There's nothing intrinsically amazing or even unique about Twitter. But some people started using it because it was fun, and it caught on. Now the pervasive reason to use it is to connect with all the people using it: either to follow people/trends you care about, or reach an audience you're interested in (whether that's "friends" or "the world" or "customers"...).
You'll also notice that Ford is not merely using Twitter. They are using Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, etc. From their point of view, Twitter is just another channel through which they can reach potential customers. Thus they just add it to the list of newspaper, phone, radio, TV, etc.
"Jumping on the bandwagon" may seem uncool, but when one is trying to connect with others, it's quite logical to join in the most popular communication channels.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That's the thing though; old media is OBSESSED with Twitter. But is anyone else?
Maybe I'm just getting old, but I've never a single person who actually uses it.
Re:Twitter... again? (Score:4, Funny)
There's only so many mistakes one can into 140 characters.
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Re: (Score:2)
Not sure where I heard that Bash maybe?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Now comes twitter. What do these two things have in common? Target Audience. They both target socially starved people addicted to attention. People that think they are so important that people CARE if they are drinking a coffee or taking a dump. And these same people are those attracted to the mass m
Clever (Score:5, Insightful)
But we gave them a free car so out of a 100 people majority are probably going to feel bad about writing something negative. It could backfire badly if the car turns out to be a pos, but if the car is at least half decent this seems like a nice marketing move.
Btw, if Lamborghini ever decides to employ the same strategy let me be the first to volunteer
I'd buy another one (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't give a shit about Twitter, though.
Or facebook, or myspace, or any other crap like that.
Re: (Score:2)
Let's merge them all together. I suggest "TwitFaceSpace".
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I was thinking "MyTwitFace".
Re:I'd buy another one (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:I'd buy another one (Score:5, Informative)
Ford will start North American sales of the new Fiesta from their upgraded factory outside Mexico City starting in January 2010. If it is a sales hit (and I expect it to fly out of dealers in no time flat), don't be surprised that by 2012 we'll see the Fiesta assembled in a USA assembly line too.
The US version of the Fiesta will sport a neat new feature: the Powershift dual-clutch transmission with six forward speeds, which offer the convenience of an automatic with the fuel economy of a manual. And given Ricardo UK's work on cleaning up diesel engines, we could see the new Fiesta offered with the Duratorq turbodiesel engine, and that could mean the Fiesta gets Prius-like fuel economy!
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Non-biased "free gift" reviews eh? (Score:4, Funny)
So Ford won't entice the reviewers for a positive review in any way, other than by giving them a free car...
There's an old robot saying that applies here:
DOES NOT COMPUTE
Re: (Score:2)
Well yeah, and I'm guessing that when handing over the keys, Ford didn't kick them in the shins either.
And the free car is only for six months - if Ford took it away early because of a bad review, can you imagine the terrible PR?
Re: (Score:2)
Why six months? I bet most new cars start to show problems after six months of use.
Let's hope one of the testers will put his car through intensive use, enough for one or even two years worth.
This is hardly a new idea (Score:2)
With that said, I would like to take this opportunity to point out everyone reading this post, especially those in decision-making posts at large companies, that I am obviously an influential and important member of the community. I am respected because I have a low NUID and excellent karma, I'm occasionally funny and
Silly Ford execs (Score:2)
Ford Exec: "We need a new campaign for the Fiesta. Something HIP. Something the KIDS will take notice of."
Ad Guy #1: "My kids are always TWATTERING on their PHONES!"
Ad Guy #2: "Yeah, and they're into MyFace!"
Ford Exec: "You're onto something! Let's do it!"
Ad Guy #1: "What if it doesn't work?"
Ad Guy #2: "We'll rename it the iFiesta and hire Ashton Kutcher to shill for us."
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, hire the guy who was in a movie called "Dude, where's my car?"
Risky move (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
But if the marketing drones an GM or Chrysler can actually locate these blogger cars and sabotage them, then Ford is going to have a Public Relations nightmare on their hands.
Wait, you are saying that if their rivals business need to sabotage their cars that is a problem?
New Ford Campaign: New Ford Fiesta, so good the competition had to sabotage it to make it fail.
Re: (Score:2)
OTOH, corporate-santioned illegal action on a massive scale (like, for instance, sabotaging 100 cars across the country) has a tendency to create even *more* negative publicity. :-)
By the way, what were you thinking of? Severing brake lines? Loosening the lug nuts on the wheels? 'Cause slashed tires and potatoes in tailpipes wouldn't really work all that well to sway opinions. Of the cars, at least.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The new Ford "Colbert" . . . (Score:3, Funny)
. . . would have like totally eclipsed this campaign.
Get the name right next time, Detroit!
Copycat marketing (Score:2)
Down here in New Zealand they're doing the marketing in a manner very similar to Robert Llewellyn's "Car Pool [llewtube.com]". @bobbyllew as you should know is Kryten from Red Dwarf.
What you see is sometimes not what you get (Score:5, Interesting)
The problem so far with bringing in European-American cars has been the annoying desire by American auto manufacturers to "Americanize" the cars by making changes that in the end make them much less attractive. Almost invariably the nice interiors get replaced with insultingly cheap plastic, small and efficient engines get replaced with boring, me-too offerings, and turbo-diesels are dropped from the lineup.
I've been complementing Ford on their Fiesta ever since I drove it in Europe last year. Two people with considerable luggage, combined city and highway, we got 42 mpg (US) on the turbo diesel, even with my lead foot. I am 6'3", and I was quite comfortable (with an understanding that it is a small car, so no, this is not the Town Car-type of comfort). The interior was very pleasant. How much of it will make it to the US? I remain incredulous.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I find this funny because I'm in the market to buy a new car and I hate all of the domestics (I live in Canada). The only one I kind of like is the Saturn Astra, but it seems pretty over priced for what you get. I wish we had the selection of small cars that Europe has. The prospect of a turbo diesel... oh man sign me up. The only way you could make that any more attractive is to make it all wheel drive.
Re:What you see is sometimes not what you get (Score:4, Informative)
Let's take it apart:
They are slightly louder than gasoline engines, but the new ones are not really loud
Not any more. With Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel and current particulate control mechanisms you cannot tell a passenger diesel car from a gasoline one.
Quite the opposite, actually. Diesel engines are build to last much longer than gasoline engines. You may be going back to the disastrous GM 5.7D attempt. That soured a lot of people, but that is long gone. Modern small diesels run forever compared to gasoline engines. Witness VW's 1.9.
Not necessarily. It all depends on what you like, horsepower or torque. I like driving diesels. Their forte is low end. Granted, it is an issue of personal preferences, so I will not argue that with you.
It should be said that TDs gained ground in Europe in no small part due to the fact that diesel fuel gets preferential tax treatment, so in most countries (with a notable exception of the UK), diesel is cheaper than gas. In the US diesel is quite a bit more expensive that gas, so the fuel mileage gains stemming from higher energy density are partly lost.
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About time (Score:3, Funny)
It sure makes sense for Ford to give cars to those who will write positively about their brand, like prolific writer and Fiesta fan Jim Anchower [theonion.com]. And it wouldn't hurt to have searches for Ford pictures to return something less tacky [theonion.com].
Diesel Engine (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
America doesn't hate diesel -- we just have more stringent standards on diesel engines over here, if you'd believe it. That's why they're far more prevalent in Europe.
As Beau Brummel might have said: (Score:2)
Rad idea, Ford! (Score:2)
Instead of trying to "relate to" and market to the "new demographic"- just focus on building a car that wont fall apart on the way off the lot.
BMW/Mini on the other hand... (Score:2)
Mini has made a bunch of electric Mini's, that they're trying to get into the hands of drivers. After going through a long and actually pretty funny questionnaire, I didn't hear anything from them for six months.
Last week they called me to say the car was ready for me if I wanted it. Unfortunately, the terms were unchanged from the original offer -- they want $850/month for a one-year lease -- and there is no way to keep the car longer than that.
I suppose they'll get some people to sign up for it -- and a
editorial service (Score:3, Informative)
Dear CmdrTaco,
Since your current editors are apparently way too busy to Google for a couple of important links (some of which are even mentioned in the summary), I decided to help out.
Here [fiestamovement.com] they [twitter.com] are. [flickr.com]
Am I hired now?
(Also, that is one butt-ugly car. I'll stick with my Mazda3, thank you.)
Re:Stupid idea, just like Mojave (Score:5, Interesting)
News Flash: The Fiesta never went out of production in Europe, and has been constantly refined for the last three decades. In its current version, it is safer than a Volvo (thanks to Volvo technology), can come with a Mazda designed Diesel engine, and can storm a beach with the British Royal Navy. Seriously, watch the Top Gear review of the Fiesta; Ford could not buy a better review.
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