Ford wants the public to build their own, "ultimate adventures" around the maker's new Explorer.
Building on its increasing involvement with the fast-growing social media, Ford will offer “a number of people” the opportunity create their “ultimate adventure” built around the maker’s all-new 2011 Explorer SUV.
Those adventures – sponsored by Ford – will be woven into a one-hour TV special, announced Jim Farley, the maker’s global marketing chief, during his keynote speech at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show.
“A lot of people think our industry is not open to new ideas,” Farley told a room full of reporters, many representing the new world of online media. “That’s bunk.”
And he set out to prove it by describing Ford’s increasing focus on everything from the Internet to mobile smartphone apps.
With the Explorer adventure project, the company will today begin inviting potential participants to enter their ideas through a Facebook fan site, on ford.com/explorer, or through several other websites. Ultimately, the maker will choose a minimum of 10 couples to participate.
The campaign is part of an effort to promote the new Explorer, which was relaunched, this year, in crossover form, rather than as the traditional, truck-based model that was once the best-selling SUV in America. Consumers appear to be responding, with sales last month climbing by 73.1% year-over-year.
But the project is just a part of a broader effort by Ford to tape into alternative marketing approaches. The maker notably sat out the Super Bowl, last weekend, an event that can cost $3 million just to air a :30 second spot. (It did appear in the pre-game show, however.)
Farley stressed that while the Super Bowl remains a critical venue to reach consumers, Ford is looking at alternatives, such as a 10-minute video showing rally driver Ken Block performing stunts. It generated 26 million views, so far, nearly a quarter of what Farley said Ford might have expected to reach on the Super Bowl – but for a fraction of the cost.
Block’s video also shows how the automaker is looking to change the way it uses the classic venue of motor sports, where the industry mantra was long “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.” That’s far less clear, today, Farley stressed, so, “More and more, we’re taking our sports talent off the race course” to find alternative marketing opportunities.”
Ford has been tapping into the concept of “convergence,” blurring the lines between traditional and digital media, with projects like the Focus Rally America. Six teams are racing across the country, looking for clues, building an audience through social media, and ultimately hoping to win big. The 5-week project is being “aired” online through outlets like Hulu.
There is, of course, a downside to social media, acknowledged Farley, who helped launch Toyota’s youthful Scion brand, before joining Ford. “People can say whatever they want,” so it forces a company to be very careful in its messaging, he cautioned.
That underscores by the Edelman Trust Barometer, which shows only 46% of the American public believe big companies will do the right thing. That was down a full 10 percentage points in just the last year.
Ford is particularly intrigued by the opportunities to connect with potential customers via smartphones, said Farley, though he stressed that this doesn’t mean text-messaging an ad. The maker is working to develop effective apps that can actively involve users. One app will launch with the Ford Focus Electric model, next year, allowing owners to actively control vehicle operations, such as charging, remotely.
Following his speech, Farley was asked about the unusual, 2-minute Super Bowl ad run by Chrysler, and featuring rapper Eminem. “Fantastic,” the Ford executive declared, adding that it was perfect for a company rebuilding its image, and which has to “myth-bust.”
Farley said the commercial, which ended with the tagline, “Imported from Detroit,” is good not only for Chrysler, but for Detroit – and for the other makers based in the Motor City. “It will help us, too.”
(For more on the Chrysler/Eminem ad, Click Here.)