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Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is stepping into the consumer-created advertising content kingdom. It announced today that it will run a national ad featuring a short film that recently won an online competition. This is the secret that many companies are just now learning: your customers are your best advertising asset. When it comes to something as passionate about talking about the 2010 Ford Mustang, you definitely want to get out of your customer's way, right?
This reminds me of Tide's "Talking Stain" ad during the last Super Bowl. The ad was more than a pitch for the product; it also sent viewers to Tide's website where they could send in their own "Talking Stain" video entries. Prizes were available and everything. The commercial was fairly low-budget, but the message and the strategy were brilliant. Perhaps Ford is trying to latch onto some of that effort. It's about time.
The advertising industry's "same old, same old" tack on strategic consumer messaging is tired, no matter how innovative the ad glitz is. Engaging consumers by encouraging a two-way line of communication is where it's at for a whole new crop of consumers.
Sandy Grushow with Filmaka states that, "With all the disruption in the advertising and media businesses today, brands need an increasing volume of professional content produced in a highly efficient way . . . brands need to figure out a way to cut costs while they remain as relevant to consumers as ever before."
Filmaka was approached by Ford to take advantage of its short-film expertise on the web -- and it ended up collecting 400 scripts from interested online entrants who were tasked with relaying their personal stories about the Ford Mustang. Nothing speaks better than the customer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-29-2008 @ 3:50PM
ed rybarczyk said...
Good, it can't get any worse than there current commercials!
9-24-2008 @ 8:51PM
Ericka Watts said...
Yea...that talking stain was hilarious!!...and the commercial related to a lot of people. I mean...a lot of people, at one point, have been in situation where they had a stain on a piece of clothing they were wearing. Whether it was on an interview or date or going to a meeting.
I can understand that companies are looking for new ways to do commercials. Product placement on TV shows and in movies are being done, but I think commercials will always be around and I think companies definitely need to step it up.
Going back to that talking stain commercial. They're finally going to show the winning spoof of the contest tomorrow during the season premiere of The Office. If you've been curious about the winner, definitely check it out tomorrow, September 25.
If you want to see all the spoofs, check out: http://www.tidetogo.com/ads
I hope you don't mind that I told you about this. I work for Tide and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Ericka Watts
Tide To Go Ambassador
ericka.tidetogo@gmail.com
9-25-2008 @ 11:29AM
MANNY D said...
yES IT'S TRUE THAT REAL CUSTOMERS OF A GIVEN PRODUCT, ARE THE BEST TESTIMONIALS.PROFESSIONAL ACTORS, WHO DONT USE THE PRODUCT, ARE PHONY AS A FOUR DOLLAR BILL, BUT THEY DO THE ADS BECAUSE THEY CAN ACT, OR THEY ARE KNOWN TO THE PUBLIC??I'D RATHER SEE A REAL [JOE SIXPACK] DOING THE AD. THAT WOULD BE MORE GENUINE!!