Case Study #2

MKTG 7002 Marketing 2

July 27th, 2017

Jessica Hummel

Trent Cruz
 Case Study #2

Ford has successfully used social media marketing tools to create a unique marketing

strategy called the Fiesta Movement, as well as increase sales in a culturally creative way. Ford

used particular social media tools order to distribute the content on social network and digital

markets. The social network sites are an outstanding way for marketers to generate enthusiasm,

as people are able to interact and share thoughts. The social network site, Facebook, allowed for

Ford to reach into the small car market by reaching more than 1.1 billion active users and

interacting with those individuals (Grewal, Levy, Lichti & Persaud, 2015). Media-sharing sites

were also used in Fiestas campaign, which included the use of YouTube and Flickr to share the

lovingly documented adventures of the chosen influencers. Companies use these sites to

highlight the benefits of products and increase their capability of allowing users to share the

content the influencers have generated (Grewal et al., 2015). Thought-sharing sites such as

Twitter were used throughout this marketing movement, which is considered to be a micro-blog.

The Fiesta Movement was able to increase the recognition of their new subcompact vehicle,

increase the expected sale, and have the advantage of indirectly promoting the product.

As for Fiestas social media strategy, there are specific aspects of the 4E framework that

were used in order to expand into more advanced techniques of marketing the new Ford Fiesta.

The Fiesta Movement incorporated excitement into their tactic through social-media related

offers applicable to the targeted customers. While doing this, the company wanted to ensure this

was the most prevalent social media marketing tool of their time: The Fiesta Movement

promised to be the most visible, formative social media experiment for the automotive world

(McCracken, 2010). Ford decided to withdraw from traditional media and promotion strategies,

and wanted to provide the target market with a more personal and upgraded experiences. Ford
ensured that they integrated education into their marketing framework to inform customers of the

endless possibilities that the new Fiesta can provide. They did this by altering the traditional

marketing schemes, and making the education process into a more fun and interactive style using

social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. The greatest aspect that Ford

incorporated into their movement was allowing consumers to experience the Ford Fiesta, both

directly and indirectly: Ford gave 100 consumers a car for six months and asked them to

complete a different mission every month (McCracken, 2010). In doing this influencers could

share their videos on YouTube and Flickr, while also providing other consumer with a simulated

experience using the Ford Fiesta. Through the use of excitement, education, and experience for

the consumers, the Fiesta movement was able to engage those individuals with their social

network: Fiesta got 6.5 million YouTube views and 50 000 requests for information about the

car (McCracken, 2010). Ford was able to build movement in inquiries through consumer

engagement as well as an increase in relationships, loyalty, and commitment.

Fiestas social media campaign embraced many of the typical viral marketing campaign

features, but also chose to integrate concepts of their own. For example, they used a richer

bargain, enabling and incenting agents to create content for their own sakes, to feed their own

networks and build personal profiles, while contributing to the project of augmenting Fiestas

brand (McCracken, 2010). Instead of interacting directly with consumers, Ford chose to find

culturally creative influencers to market the product. By interacting with consumers on a

personal level, and finding influencers throughout social media, Ford has now created a platform

that they can continue to expand and target audience that is very vocal with their online presence

(Van Dijk, 2014). This direct interaction has allowed for consumers to gain physical experience

of the Ford Fiesta while marketing through a different channel, consumers their selves.
 References

Grewal, D., Levy, M., Lichti, S., & Persaud, A. (2015). Marketing (Third ed.). N.p.: McGraw-

Hill Ryerson Limited.

McCracken, G. (2010, January 7). How Ford Got Social Marketing Right. In Harvard Business

Review. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from https://hbr.org/2010/01/ford-recently-wrappedthe-

firs/

Van Dijk, E. (2014, July 11). Fords #FiestaMovement going viral. In Social Media for Business

Performance. Retrieved July 20, 2017, from https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2014/07/fiesta-

movement/