In just a few minutes the 2011 Ford Explorer will be unveiled to the world. The reveal is coming six months prior to the car appearing on lots nationwide, and taking a much different form than any of the car reveals that came before it. That’s because, for the first time ever, Ford is bucking with tradition and turning to the web — with Facebook as the platform — to reveal its latest vehicle.
Ford has been using the Ford Explorer Facebook Page to drum up excitement in anticipation of the all-day Facebook event. They’ve already far surpassed their goal of 30,000 fans prior to the reveal, which means the car maker will be giving away an Explorer to one random fan. Now, all that remains is a web-wide media blitz, the likes of which is designed to make a big enough splash to reach more than 50 million people.
The reveal being atypical in nature, especially with social media at its core, we went to Scott Kelly and Scott Monty, the digital marketing minds behind the campaign, for the full story.
An Auto Show Like No Other
Kelly and Monty assert that the 2011 Ford Explorer has been 100% reinvented. As such, the team felt the reveal needed to be completely reinvented in order to match the nature of the car’s enhanced form and style.
The automaker took the lessons they learned around the Ford Fiesta movement and decided to make the reveal an online play with Facebook as the primary platform. They also decided to make interactive online media buys to drive people to the Ford Explorer page to supplement the social media side of the campaign.
Ford’s Facebook-heavy scheme marks the first time a major car company will forgo an auto show for a new car reveal. Instead Ford will bring the auto show to Facebook, where everyone can simultaneously experience the unveiling. In fact, Ford has a series of videos and events planned throughout the day to not only replicate the auto show experience but also introduce consumers to executives and allow for conversations around the new vehicle.
At 12:01 a.m. ET Ford flipped on the “Reveal” tab on their Facebook page and put up a pre-reveal video featuring celebrity spokesperson Mike Row and CEO Alan Mulally. Then at 7:40 a.m. ET, Ford will release a video that finally reveals the 2011 Explorer in auto-show-style on Facebook. The rest of day will include a detailed tour of the new car, a gallery of photos, more Mike Rowe, a live wall Q&A with Mulally and Facebook chats with featured Ford employees.
The Paid and Earned Media Blitz
While Facebook will serve as the core of the web campaign, the digital marketing team has made a number of strategic ad buys to drive people to the Facebook Page and get them engaged in the day’s activities.
“We will reach more than 50 million people on Monday on sites like AOL, Yahoo, Washington Post, Facebook and hundreds of other websites,” Kelly said.
The advertisements in question are anything but ordinary. Ford has used Facebook’s Open Graph to implement “Like” buttons into the ads themselves. This means that should Ford succeed in garnering “likes” from ad viewers, they’ll essentially be gaining a Facebook fan for life. Ad viewers can also click to learn more about the new car on Facebook or FordVehicles.com, where Facebook has been heavily integrated into the site experience.
If Ford can reach Facebook users and web denizens with their creative, the company hopes to keep them engaged with the day’s activities as described above. It’s a one-two punch of paid and earned media that the company believes will help make the 2011 Facebook Explorer a part of online and offline conversations.
“We want to be blanketed with coverage of the new Ford Explorer. We don’t want anyone to miss the reveal,” said Kelly when describing Ford’s ultimate goal around the campaign.
Success Through Social Media?
Both Kelly and Monty seem very confident in the company’s alternative auto show strategy. The two point to the continued social media savvy of Ford, even suggesting that Ford’s second-quarter net income of $2.6 billion is proof that the company is on the right track.
In some ways, Ford’s Facebook strategy is risky. For one, it’s never been done before. There’s also potential for this to be a big flop, especially given that we’re still six months out from when consumer’s can actually purchase the hyped-up vehicle. To that end, Kelly and Monty hope for the six-month lead time to spawn online conversations that will propel interest in the new vehicle and translate in to sales.
More About: 2011 ford explorer, facebook, ford, MARKETING
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