"The Ford Fusion Energi is the perfect vehicle for a social media campaign...The end result was over 2,000 authentic stories" -Tom Grill, U.S. Western Market Area Sales and Marketing Manager, Ford Brand
Costa Mesa, CA (PRWEB) August 25, 2014
The 2013 Ford Fusion Energi Adventure, produced by Flash Point Communications, really got the attention of Millennials. Ford and Flash Point have two national Telly Awards to prove it.
The Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid can travel up to 620 miles on a single charge and tank of gas. So the Fusion Energi Adventure, the brainchild of Tom Grill, U.S. Western Ford Market Area Sales and Marketing Manager, asked Millennials to submit videos describing where they would go on their own 620-mile adventure.
“The Ford Fusion Energi is the perfect vehicle for a social media campaign like this,” said Grill. “Our goal was to take the biggest innovation of this vehicle and have our contestants explain how they would use this benefit in a real world situation. The end result was over 2,000 authentic stories telling of what people would do with a vehicle that gets exceptional gas mileage.”
At the conclusion of the campaign, 55% of all Ford Fusion Energi sales nationally occurred in the U.S. Western Ford Marketing Area.
Other metrics back up the success of the campaign. In only three months, the promotion generated over 2,200 video submissions, many recorded by Flash Point-produced video recording kiosks that traveled with the Fusion Energi to casting call-themed events.
The Flash Point microsite received over 164,000 visits. Videos were watched over 142,000 times. Over 7,300 visitors registered on the site. Social media blogs and posts generated over 22 million impressions.
“You need to be good at several things to engage Millennials,” said Scott Empringham, CEO of Flash Point Communications. “You have to know what messaging is buzz-worthy, and Tom’s idea was great. Then you have to blast that messaging on a very organic level, all while managing the digital platforms, video submission platforms, managing events, and integrating with the dealers.”
“The average visitor to our microsite stayed for over four minutes,” continued Empringham. “Thirty-second commercials are great. But we’re getting Millennials for over four minutes. That’s phenomenal.”
Flash Point also syndicated the promotion across 18 Ford dealer groups and 26 Ford dealership Facebook pages. As sales leads came in, Flash Point delivered leads to dealers in real time.
Flash Point’s two Telly Awards this year follow another Telly Award-winning Millennial campaign, last year’s Gimme The Gig. The Telly Awards honor the very best in film and video as judged by a prestigious panel of over 500 industry professionals.
Grand Prize winner of the Fusion Energi Adventure, Justine Ferrari, won a 2013 Ford Fusion Energi as well as a 620-mile road trip throughout California that was documented in her very own reality TV pilot. When the pilot aired for the second time in San Francisco, it actually won its time slot in the A.C. Neilson ratings.
“We produced this show in-house for less than we spend for the production of a single 30-second TV spot and now we have a great, authentic story that is living online,” said Grill. “Our contest winners Justine and Cassie did a great job in telling their story over a fairly hectic three-day period.”
For over fourteen years, Flash Point Communications has been a leading innovator in social and digital media. Based in Costa Mesa, California, Flash Point serves many of the globe’s most respected automotive brands from four offices nationwide. For more information, go to http://flashpointcommunications.com.
