Imagine you're at the Super Bowl, and the sold-out crowd of 95,000 is buzzing with consumer-to-consumer conversation about the Ford F-150. Now take that sold out crowd and double it, and you begin to understand the scale of brand advocacy generated by the EcoBoost Challenge – and that's just within the first 30 days of the campaign.
The battle between the great American truck brands can get as heated as a bitter sports rivalry, and truck owners are not afraid to voice how fiercely loyal they are to their brand. During its ‘Built Ford Tough' sales event, the maker of the best-selling truck in America turned to Flash Point to activate an online audience to not just learn about the features of the F-150, but why exactly it is superior to its domestic rivals, Chevy Silverado and Ram.
Flash Point answered the call with the multi-tier quot;EcoBoost Challenge" program, where users could watch a video with Mike Rowe showing off the EcoBoost engine that gives the F-150 an edge over its competitors, answer a trivia question, and enter for a chance to win their very own F-150 with EcoBoost along with over $12,000 in prizes from companies like The Home Depot, NASCAR, and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Professional Bull Riding Association and Bass Pro Shops.
Translating Brand Loyalty to Measurable Sales & Advocacy
Looking at simply the big-ticket prizes and muscle-flexing why-buy claims, the campaign could be chalked up to "just another car giveaway" – but what made this campaign different was the behind-the-scenes campaign strategy. A mixture of strategic focus on measurable sales goals and coveted but difficult to measure word-of-mouth advertising, the campaign took the idea of a "sweepstakes" to the next level by embracing the fierce brand loyalty that makes the truck market so competitive and making it part of the campaign.
After the participant has seen the head-to-head comparison between F-150 and its competitors, he/she has the ability to post a Facebook comment that other truck buyers can see, and can be shared right on the participants wall.
After the first 30 days of the campaign, the contest has generated 1,227 likes and comments – including the following examples. With an average of 170 Facebook friends per account, that's over 200,000 impressions from consumer-to-consumer brand conversations – or, double the amount of a sold-out Super Bowl.
Scaling National Social Media Success to Dealer Groups and Dealerships
Though the EcoBoost Challenge was on the surface a national campaign, Flash Point designed it to be scalable for both Tier II regional and Tier III Dealership use. With all of the back-end work of setting up the campaign already taken care of by national, the largest truck markets across the nation were able to easily afford the turn-key enhancement, making it available to their Ad Groups as well as their individual Dealers (28 Dealer Ad Groups and 4 Pilot Dealers).
Finally, those Ford Dealer Ad Groups already with a Flash Point-managed Social Media Solution got an additional and unexpected bonus – all the promotional and retail content included for free as part of the Flash Point Social Media Solution. The benefit? A surge of on average 1,000+ Facebook fans within the first 30 days.
To learn how your Dealer Ad Group or Dealership can benefit from a Flash Point-managed Social Media Solution, feel free to contact us at 949-224-3702, today.
Learn more about the Flash Point Social Media solution in parts 1 &2 of the 3 part series:
Part 1: Flash Point, Team Detroit, and Buddy Media Gear Up to Serve Ford Dealer Groups Nationwide
Learn more about how the Flash Point Solution provides a best-in-class Social Media solution that affords the power of national marketing to the regional marketing of Dealer Ad groups.
Part 2: Flash Point Propels 'F-150 EcoBoost Challenge' Facebook Campaign to Nationwide AcclaimWith the help of Flash Point, Ford's ambitious 2-week quot;EcoBoost Challenge" campaign that garnered press from national outlets like Mashable & USA Today, found a home on Facebook and Twitter, where it thrived amongst a community of over 6 million unique followers and fans exposed to the message of celebrating fuel economy, community service, and good will.
