With the massive success of the Ford Fiesta’s social media marketing movement (which we wrote about here), Ford has decided to move the campaign into the retail arena. When owners come to pick up their Fiesta, they’ll get an interactive USB drive which holds their owner's manual and a portal to Fiesta’s social networking community, podcasts, enthusiast clubs and merchandise. They’re calling it part of the "unpackaging experience" and it’s all due to a new effort by Ford to make the car delivery a true experience.
New owners start their unpacking experience by watching a video on the Ford dealership kiosks featuring the Ford Fiesta agents from the online social media experience. Then, they get their pictures taken with the car so they can be uploaded to the community site, and once inside, they plug their USB device into the car’s USB port which starts 19 minutes in podcasts that explain the car’s features.
Of course, it doesn’t end there. When they get home, they can use the USB drive to download the Fiesta Community app. The app comes with the Fiestapedia, a simple Photoshop application to photoshop pics of their new Fiesta, and of course, lots of links to the online community. It reminds me of Saturn’s successful community building and focus on the dealer experience before social media was even a buzzword, and should go well with the latest addition to the Fiesta’s marketing strategy: traditional TV ads.
It’s interesting to see a car campaign where the TV commercial is the afterthought and not the center of the campaign. It’s also nice to see one that doesn’t just show shots of the car zooming about on a closed course while some guy with a deeply masculine voice intones its virtues. According to Matt Vandyke, director of U.S. marketing communications for Ford, the previous strategy of “blast-bust” where there’s one huge marketing push before the vehicle enters the marketplace wasn’t working. Vandyke claims that Fiesta’s social marketing strategy, “five times more efficient than anything we've done before.” And he promises that, “It's something you'll see us doing with other vehicles going forward."