Without seeing it on TV, hearing about it on the radio or reading about it in the local newspaper, hundreds of thousands of Americans are seeing and learning all about the 2011 Ford Fiesta that will arrive next year. Score a big one for social networking.
The 2011 Ford Fiesta promises to be something many American car buyers are not used to – a subcompact car with premium quality and features along with a fun-to-drive personality. Ford figured that telling the car’s story to Americans, especially to young and young-at-heart buyers, would take a special media vehicle. Ford chose social networking.
Other companies have used blogs and social networking sites like FaceBook, FlickR, Blogger, YouTube and Twitter to drum up interest in their products. The experienced users of those online tools can see right through the corporate message, though. Ford took a different road.
The company decided to put 100 European-built Fiestas into the hands of experienced social networkers and let them share their experiences with the car in their own ways. Ford is betting that people who get an early hands-on opportunity to drive the car will promote excitement about the Fiesta while also providing feedback to Ford’s engineering team. Thus, the Fiesta Movement was born last spring.
After putting out the word that it needed 100 “agents” to test drive the Fiesta for six months and express their views on social networking sites, Ford received more than 4,000 applicants. Those chosen began their six-month adventures with the Fiesta in April.
“It’s one thing to talk about the vehicle, but it’s another to put people into it and let them experience it,” said Connie Fontaine, Ford’s brand content and alliances manager.
The Fiesta Movement agents are a diverse group from many different backgrounds. They do have some commonalities: All are technologically adept, socially vibrant and eager to spread the word about their favorite experiences.
These are not social networking “dabblers.” Two agents have more than 30,000 MySpace friends; six are YouTube personalities with more than 20,000 subscribers; seven are bloggers with more than 100,000 views per month; eight have more than 2,000 FaceBook friends and 20 have more than 2,000 followers on Twitter.
Not surprisingly, most of the chosen agents are younger. Many are college students or recent grads, and some are either studying for or are engaged in careers in filmmaking, broadcasting and marketing.
Ford assigns “missions” for the “agents” to complete, asking them to document their adventures along the way. The Fiesta Movement “missions” fall under various categories including Travel, Adventure, Social Activism, Technology, Style and Design and Entertainment. One such mission was to “Find someone you know, or don’t, who has never been to the ocean in their life, drive them there, take pics.” Another requested that agents “visit a family member or old friend that you’ve been out of touch with for years.” In May, agents were directed to live without technology for a day – except for their Fiesta and video camera.
Anyone can follow the Fiesta Movement agents from the website, www.fiestamovement.com/.
Judging by results from the early missions, the word on the Fiesta is very good, indeed. In May, Ford Fiesta Movement missions took agents on a quest for Bigfoot, a visit to Mount St. Helens and driving a Fiesta until its gas tank was empty.
Agents traveled nearly a quarter-million miles across the country. For one agent, the total mileage was 11,700. Altogether, postings by the agents generated an astounding 4.6 million consumer impressions through various social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and FlickR.
The 100 Fiesta five-door hatchbacks involved in the program were built in Ford’s factory in Cologne, Germany. Fiesta’s powerplant is a 120-hp 1.6-liter gasoline engine. The Fiesta, which is smaller than a Ford Focus, will be sold as a sedan and a hatchback.
If you think the Fiesta Movement agents are having fun, wait until you drive the Fiesta for yourself.
