Ford
Makes New Friends the
by Erik Sass,
With everyone
struggling to figure out how to use social media for marketing and advertising,
it's obviously helpful to look at examples where a big company gets its right,
demonstrating what can be done with an appropriate investment of time and money
(and planning). Today, Ford hit the nail on the head with its "2011 Ford
Explorer Reveal" on the Ford Explorer Facebook page. Let's take a quick
tour of the multifaceted project.
First of all, Ford
isn't treating the Facebook push as a mere adjunct to an official unveiling
elsewhere -- this is the big "reveal," which usually takes place at
the
While clearly
unsatisfactory from the carmakers' perspective, in the days of broadcast media
that was about all they could hope for. But Ford is using social media to give
users an interactive, multimedia tour with videos, text and images on the
Explorer's Facebook page, all anchored by live video of the "reveal"
in New York City (taking place on an elaborate set recreating some wilderness
getaway in the middle of the urban landscape -- very weird). These include
celebratory mini-events with live music, etc. At the top of the page is a timeline,
showing all the different real and virtual events taking place over the course
of the day as part of the unveiling. Users can click on any of the previous
times to see events that already happened.
Below that are a
series of videos, some filmed ahead of time, some filmed live at unveiling
events. The live events are hosted by Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery's
"Dirty Jobs," who pokes around the new 2011 Ford Explorer with Ford
CEO Alan Mulally. Mulally also appears in a pre-filmed Q&A. That's a gold
star for Ford: recognizing that social media is supposed to feel
"real," there are no anonymous actors or B-list celebrities taking a
prominent role in the launch, but rather the guy who is responsible for the new
model (facilitated by Rowe as the rugged media personality).
Meanwhile the
pre-filmed video also includes a tour of the new Explorer with Mark Fields,
president of Ford Americas, and Julie Levine, the Ford Explorer product
manager, and a Q&A about the Explorer's "green" aspects with Sue
Cischke, vice-president for sustainability environment and safety engineering
(more gold stars for hitting hot-button issues, again with the actual executive
in charge leading the discussion).
For
more information visit www.mediapost.com
