Ford is trying something new to re introduce its Fiesta line of small cars. After asking for video submissions, Ford is giving 100 Feistas to young folks for six months. Those 100 will be postin gtheir impressions, good and bad, on You Tube, Flickr and Twitter, all personal sites.
Ford has not control over what gets posted, let's hope a sense of good taste prevails but what about criticism. Ford Sales was skeptical but when young sons and daughters of Ford dealers endorsed the idea, Sales came around.
4,000 submissions were viewed 640,000 times online. Now think about that, it cost Ford next to nothing, zero, other than advertising the contest, okay that cost something, but think what it would have cost to get 640,000 to read newspaper ads, no wonder the SA Express News is downsizing. Ford picked winners based on 'social vibrancy' how well they were followed on line and web creativity and video skills.
Ford realizes they are running behind the Japanese brands. But this is a bold move, Ford after all is a prime advertiser of American Idol, they are trying. Will it work, the Fiesta is indeed a good small car. And it appears this is an inexpensive way to connect. The big message though is that if this works, how long before car companies ditch the Saturday classified in favor of on line ads, Nissan considered doing just that this past year.
The times they are a changin.
Professor Elam 
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