Ultimate Test Drive ultimate expression of confidence: Ford's marketing boss
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It's rare for members of the public to get a look into a car games that's yet to be launched. Normally the best we can expect is a quick look through among jostling crowds at a motor show.
It's rare to drive an all-new car before it appears in dealer showrooms, and rarer still to get a chance to live with it. But that's what The Ultimate Test Drive competition, brought to you by Carsales Network and the new Ford Focus, is all about.
The new Focus isn't due for launch locally until August, but between now and then, twelve Carsales Network readers will get to live with one for six weeks.
And in the end, the luckiest of all drives away in a top-spec Focus Titanium TDCi with torquey turbodiesel power and Ford's state-of-the-art PowerShift dual-clutch transmission. Exactly what it's worth we can't say yet – we're far enough ahead of launch that prices are yet to be announced.
Actually, it's not that much to do with luck, as David Katic (pictured), Ford's general manager of marketing told Carsales Network.
"We needed a state-of-the-art innovation to launch a state-of-the-art product – it's a neat idea on every level," Katic explained.
"There's more to this than just getting a car to drive for a few weeks. It's the chance to tell your story in the way many people do already, through social media. We're hoping the Ultimate Test Drive will throw in a bit of extra excitement with a new Focus in your carport."
Social media networks present a number of easy-to-use channels through which virtually anyone can 'talk' to the world. Almost everyone has access to them nowadays, and they're easy to learn – if you have even a basic computer and an internet connection, you're 90 per cent of the way there. If Facebook, Twitter and blogging all look like a bit of a mystery now, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to get going on them.
Katic contends Ford itself has learned a lot in a short time about how to use social networking. In just a couple of years, the company has been on a steep learning curve in becoming conversant with their use. It's discovered ways to gain significant reach for its products, with very positive results, the Ford Australia marketing boss says.
There was the Facebook-based 'Fwd: a Ford' campaign in 2009, in which the company gave 30 entrants the chance to live with a car for two weeks and provide feedback mainly via Facebook accounts.
Recently, the company partnered up with parenting website kidspot.com.au in a bid to find an ambassador for its new Territory SUV. Kidspot's top 50 bloggers were invited to submit a post on the 'drive' theme. Once five have been selected, each receives a Territory for a year, during which they fuel discussion on their post. After 12 months, a public vote decides whose stream was the best and the winner drives away in a Territory.
Importantly in the name of accuracy, the results can't be skewed – the back-office systems prevent multiple votes being cast from the same computer.
There's also the Ranger Challenge, part of the launch for the all-new Ford Ranger. This time, entrants are invited to come up with an 'ultimate challenge' test concept. Five finalists put the truck to the rugged-test in real-world conditions over ten days, with the results uploaded in video form to a Ford microsite. A public vote will see the winner drive away in a Ranger in October.
If such campaigns make social media sound all too easy for companies like Ford, conditions apply. Absolute confidence in your product is essential.
"People tend to blog about the things they like, which obviously helps us greatly," Katic said.
"But you can really only adopt these media for marketing if you're prepared to cop negative feedback as well, and if you have the means to turn it into positive action. The directness of social media makes it an incredibly powerful research tool, but you have to have confidence in what you're putting out there."
The idea for the Ultimate Test Drive competition came up with the opportunity to get a small fleet of test cars into the country some time before Focus' official launch date in August.
"Normally we'd distribute the cars among Ford staffers and local media," said Katic.
"This time we have enough [cars] up front to take the opportunity to put our money where our mouth is and put the product direct into the hands of the public.
"It's an important statement for us to make about our confidence in the product. When we do this, we're effectively putting our brand in the hands of consumers."
The value in competitions like the Ultimate Test Drive lies in the way they lay to rest consumer cynicism from bombardment with advertising and promotional material.
"People's bullsh%^ detectors are well-honed these days. So what better way is there to sweep aside all the problems associated with that than to simply hand your product over to prospective buyers and tell them 'there you are, go for it'?"
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