When it comes to cars, the Ford Fiesta is considered one of the sexiest: It’s won a number of awards for its sleek design and stylish exterior. But the Fiesta is also packed with intuitive and innovative technological features, such as keyless entry and a rear-view camera — something the average consumer might not know. Ford wanted to change that.
The solution? Ford leveraged the mobile photo-sharing appInstagram to launch “Fiestagram,” a six-week contest in which users throughout Europe could submit photos and win prizes.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the campaign and its keys to success.
The Basics
Ford launched the Fiestagram contest on October 10, each week announcing a new hashtag associated with one of the Fiesta’s high-tech features, such as #entry, #music and #hidden. People could then submit photos on Instagram, tagged with “#Fiestagram” and that week’s particular hashtag. Liberal interpretation of the hashtags was encouraged — #entry, for instance, inspired photographs of enchanting doorways, water fountains and sunrises.
The best photos were selected to be featured in real-life galleries and digital billboards, and Ford gave weekly prizes to those submitting particularly striking images. The final prize was a Ford Fiesta.
Ford’s Goals
Prior to the contest, the Ford Fiesta was recognized in niche automotive press for its intuitive technological features, so that people contemplating car purchases would likely discover the Fiesta’s benefits during their research. But Ford wanted to extend awareness of these benefits to a wider audience, says Nicholas Oliver and Tom Gibby of Blue Hive, the London-based marketing firm that worked with Ford to execute the campaign.
Specifically, Ford sought to bring attention to the Fiesta’s features among people in fashion, style and tech circles, so that the Fiesta would be top-of-mind when they became ready to buy a new vehicle to complement their busy, tech-intensive lives.
Why Instagram?
Mobile photography is on the rise, and the people in Ford’s target demographic — trendsetting fashion, style and tech mavens — are big users of Instagram, Oliver and Gibby explain. With its focus on imagery (as opposed to language), Instagram was the perfect platform to carry out a multinational campaign in which people across Europe, speaking a variety of languages, could participate. Plus, Instagram has a thriving and supportive community, which would be integral to driving user participation in the Fiestagram contest.
How it Worked
The Fiestagram campaign was hosted on the global Ford Fiesta Facebook Page. A mobile-optimized HTML tab displayed everything about the campaign: instructions on getting started with Instagram, information about the current weekly photo challenge, bios of the Fiestagram judges and details on how the photography campaign related to specific high-tech benefits of the Ford Fiesta.
Each week, users uploaded photos to Instagram, tagged with #Fiestagram and that week’s particular hashtag. These photos were pulled into Facebook using the Instagram API and displayed in galleries within the Ford Fiesta Fan Page. They were also shown in real-life galleries and billboards throughout Europe, creating a sense of live participation, said Oliver and Gibby.
Each week, winning submissions were chosen across Europe based on four criteria: relevance of the submitted photo to the theme, artistic interpretation of the theme, relevance to the Fiesta technology and originality of the submission. The judges were James Day (internationally renowned photographer), Philippe Gonzalez (founder of the Instagramers fan network) and Scott Monty (Ford’s head of social media). Winners were awarded prizes, such as iPads and digital cameras, and the ultimate winner, Jesus Rebollo, was awarded a Ford Fiesta on December 9.
Outcomes
More than 16,000 photos were submitted to the Fiestagram contest, “ranging from surprising to challenging to beautiful,” according to the post-campaign update on the Ford Fiesta Facebook Page.
During the six-week campaign, Ford acquired more than 120,000 new Facebook fans across Europe, Oliver and Gibby say. Ford saw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the campaign hub on Facebook each week, many with particularly high dwell times, indicating that they were interested in browsing through the galleries of submissions.
Importantly, Ford successfully attracted the attention of its target demographic: fashion, style and technology trendsetters. On a daily basis, Fiestagram briefings and entries were featured on the “popular” page of Instagram, placing Ford’s name and the Fiesta’s technology front and center. As the campaign gained momentum, it was even profiled in publications such as PSFK, Le Cool and Le Parisien.
Keys to Success
- It was simple: “All users had to do was take a photo related to a preselected and simple-to-understand prompt, then add hashtags, and the possibility of winning a car or having their work featured in a gallery was within reach,” says Jessica Zollman, community evangelist at Instagram.
- Influencer outreach: Instagram has a strong network of super-users, called Instagramers, with more than 240 local chapters throughout the world. When it came time to promote Fiestagram, Ford knew that engaging this community would be key. So they reached out to Gonzalez, founder of Instagramers, and he quickly spread awareness of the contest to a broad audience. “We have groups throughout Europe — England, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and beyond,” says Gonzalez. “It’s easy to promote a contest when you have 20,000+ followers on your side.”
- A nurturing community: During the contest, Instagram users often encouraged their friends to add the #Fiestagram hashtag to applicable photos, thus giving their friends an opportunity to win prizes, Zollman says. This helped to organically drive participation in the contest. “Instagram users are passionate, creative and supportive,” says Zollman. “A lot of users feed off the support and encouragement they receive from the rest of the community.”
- Ford’s transparency: Through its Facebook Page, Ford shared everything about Fiestagram in one place — terms of the contest, rules, processes and weekly challenges. Gonzalez says this transparency was crucial in motivating people to participate.
- Momentum: By getting started with small prizes and building toward the ultimate giveaway of a Ford Fiesta, lots of buzz was generated. Submission numbers increased over the course of the six-week contest. Also, having weekly contests and multiple winners kept participants’ interest levels high, explains Gonzalez, as they realized they could win at any time.
Final Thoughts
By picking a niche platform aligned with its target demographic, Ford successfully raised awareness of the Fiesta’s high-tech features. Many brands stick to mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Twitterwhen launching new campaigns, but Ford hit a home run with Instagram.
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http://mashable.com/2012/02/02/ford-fiesta-instagram/
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