FORD TAKES 'GRASSROOTS' APPROACH TO BLOGOSPHERE

By Kristopher Spencer, FCN

Celeste Lindell of Kansas City, Mo., drives a foreign-made hybrid car, and prior to attending a recent Ford “grassroots” marketing event she wrote off the Ford Escape Hybrid as just another gas guzzler.

"Once I had the chance to drive one for several hours I quickly realized that it does an amazing job of conserving gasoline compared to every other SUV I've ever driven," Lindell said. "The next time my husband is in the market for a new vehicle for hauling his drums, we'll definitely consider the Escape Hybrid."

Lindell, who also is known as "Jane Doe" of www.averagejane.blogs.com, was one of 17 non-automotive bloggers -- people who publish Weblogs on a variety of topics, including their own life experiences -- invited to take part in a recent Ford Escape event in Los Angeles.

The blogger event built on the theme of "Escaping Boredom" by leveraging Ford's online marketing campaign for the new 2008 Escape -- Boredom Hurts. The campaign positions Ford’s redesigned small SUV as a must-have for adventure seeking and a "cure" for a national "boredom epidemic." The campaign is featured on www.boredomhurts.com and is integrated with Ford's sponsorship of On the Lot, FOX's reality TV show about aspiring filmmakers.

At Ford's invitation, the bloggers spent time behind the scenes with the cast and crew of On the Lot, visited a Ford "Escape Boredom" commercial shoot at the Disney Ranch and spent time seeing the sights of Los Angeles in Ford Escapes and Escape Hybrids as part of a photo road rally competition.

The "Escape from Boredom" event marked Ford's first significant effort to host an event exclusively for bloggers, a loose-knit but influential group of consumers. According to Technorati, a search engine specializing in blogs, there are more than 70 million blogs with over 120,000 new blogs created every day. Ford and its marketing partners researched numerous blogs about topics ranging from filmmaking and humor to adventure, fashion and consumer goods.

According to Usha Raghavachari, Ford Car and Crossover Communications Manager, giving the bloggers a unique experience was key to the program’s success.

"While such an event wouldn't make sense for every product, it proved absolutely worthwhile for the Escape and Escape Hybrid. By leveraging our relationship with On the Lot, we were able to create a very cool, memorable experience for the bloggers that integrated our vehicles in a very natural way. And along the way we were able to expose them to a lot of great things about Ford."

Denis Logan of Mississauga, Ontario, and www.superguncinema.com/blog complimented Ford on seamlessly integrating the vehicles into the experience.

"It felt like an 'Escape from Boredom' trip, not a 'learn about the Ford Escape' trip," Logan said, adding that he was very impressed with the vehicle. "Ford has adopted an admirable view on environmental policies, which is a major thing for me. I told the Ford execs (that Ford is) well on the way to dashing the 'big-auto-enviro-recklessness' and embracing corporate responsibility."

Fellow blogger, Kraig Becker of Dubuque, Iowa, and www.adventureblog.blogspot.com said he was surprised that several of the bloggers in attendance didn't know that Ford already has a hybrid vehicle.

"If these tech-savvy, wired-in bloggers didn’t know, how many typical Americans haven’t a clue either?" Becker remarked. "'Escape from Boredom' is a great way to build buzz (about the vehicle)."

The event represents part of a broader "grassroots" marketing effort to develop relationships with influential consumers such as bloggers at a time when consumers in general place more trust in the opinions of fellow consumers than they do in traditional marketing messages.

"I think blogs are about as 'grassroots' as it gets," Becker said. "(Blogging) has really allowed the common citizen to have much more of a voice than in any other point in history. I think it's great that Ford is reaching out to the blogosphere."

According to Hill & Knowlton, Ford's partner for the event, all of the bloggers posted reports about their experience.

"Many of the bloggers specifically mentioned the 2008 Ford Escape in a favorable manner in their posts," said Erica Amestoy, Hill & Knowlton senior vice president of marketing. "They especially enjoyed learning about the hybrid and several bloggers expressed interest in purchasing an Escape Hybrid in the future."