2011 Ford Fiesta: ‘It’s A Pretty Big Deal’.

The same type of out-of-the-box thinking that led to the groundbreaking Fiesta Movement social media initiative is reflected in a new ad campaign to launch Ford’s all-new small car, the 2011 Ford Fiesta.

“The Fiesta Movement enabled us to introduce the car to market in a whole new way,” said Matt VanDyke, Ford’s director of U.S. Marketing Communications. “We are continuing that nontraditional approach with a unique advertising campaign designed to get people’s attention by entertaining them as well as educating them about the vehicle.”

The ad campaign for the new Fiesta – which arrives in dealer showrooms this summer – includes national broadcast, print, digital and out-of-home components as well as a comprehensive multicultural marketing strategy. The entire campaign is built around the theme, “It’s a pretty big deal.”

“The new Fiesta will deliver up to 40 mpg on the highway. It comes with the kind of agility and horsepower that make it a blast to drive, and it features more new-world technology than any other car of its kind – like push-button start, keyless entry and the SYNC hands-free communications and entertainment system,” said VanDyke. “It’s a pretty big deal, and we’re putting the media and creativity behind it to deliver that message to consumers.”

2011 Ford Fiesta: Multicultural appeal

Research shows that two of the largest consumer groups in the small car segment are young African Americans and Hispanics. Ford has developed a multicultural marketing and advertising campaign designed specifically to communicate the Fiesta message to them.

To increase awareness of the Fiesta in the African American community, Ford launched a program called “Inspired by Color,” which challenged people to use their own personal style to connect with the colors and distinct features of the new Fiesta. Last month, more than 150 people turned out for a casting call at Howard University in Washington, D.C., dressed in a Fiesta-inspired way. Five finalists were chosen, and they will appear in a new television ad for the Fiesta that begins airing on the BET network June 1.

“Our goal was to create a unique program that truly embodied the spirit of Fiesta,” said Crystal Worthem, Ford Multicultural Marketing manager. “The Fiesta has an expressive, vibrant design and we wanted to tap into those style attributes in a way that was relevant to our target audience.”

In addition, radio commercials for Fiesta – produced with an urban flair – will air on 132 urban and adult contemporary stations in 78 markets throughout the country.

According to David Rodriguez, Ford Multicultural Communications manager, the small car segment has a high concentration of Hispanic buyers – the largest of any automotive segment -and many of them are bilingual.

“What’s unique about our marketing effort for Fiesta is that we’re focusing on bilingual to Spanish-dominant Hispanic consumers,” said Rodriguez. “Digital advertising will play a key role because we know that Hispanics over-index compared to average consumers on their use of the Internet.”

A combination of portal digital advertising and extensive social media outreach will direct traffic to http://www.readypatumundo.com (which means “ready for your world” in Spanish). The website provides a consumer-centric
introduction to the Fiesta, focusing on SYNC, push-button start and the overall design of the vehicle.

“The website is unique in that the consumer can control how the words will show up in terms of being more Spanish-based or more English-based,” said Rodriguez. “The technology is a first for Ford.”

In addition to digital advertising, Ford will increase Fiesta awareness in the Hispanic community through print and broadcast advertising. The ads, which will be predominantly Spanish with some English phrasing, will run nationally with emphasis in five target markets with the highest concentration of Hispanic small car customers: Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, New York and Chicago.