Part One - Ford Focus Rally: America - A Social Failure?

I will start by saying that I look for the good in most things and rarely do I give constructive criticism without request. This being said, I've been involved in more than a cursory way with the advertising campaign the "Focus Rally: America" and this campaign really stumbled out of the gate. The following post is not simply a constructive criticism of the current campaign, but a tale of a large brand lead by representation that doesn't [really] understand the "social" in social media.

Is this for real?

A great many weeks ago I was approached by a casting producer to try out for a "Social Media" based reality program.  The program was solely designed for updating their approach to, and expanding the audience of, the Ford Motor Company's Focus brand and release of the 2012 model. Ford Motor Company and the producers from "The Amazing Race" have conceived a road rally contest called the "Focus Rally: America"  - In a nutshell the "Focus Rally: America is a five-week program beginning on February 1, 2011. It follows six two-person teams as they drive cross-country and complete a series of challenges partially designed by Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, the creators of The Amazing Race. It will air long-form episodes and short-form videos five times a week on Hulu."

I asked a myriad of questions before even going to the initial casting to see if it was truly legit and every response told me, in no uncertain terms, that they were "looking for people that had large followings on their social media channels" to participate in the program. That they wanted people that live day-to-day within these technologies and could use them to communicate with a broad base audience. Those are my words and I'm probably already giving them more credit than they are due but I digress.

Now before you skip the remainder of this article and write it off as sour grapes, please give the devil (in this case me) his due. Not to mention this is a scenario (as I mentioned prior) that I fear might also plague large brands in the future that try to pull off similar programs of its kind. With that seed firmly planted in your skull allow me to elucidate the issues as I see them.

From this point everything seemed to me as though it had the potential to be the largest social media advertisement to date. As a social media professional who also has an insatiable infatuation with automobiles, why wouldn't I want to be involved? So I did what anyone would do in my position, I strove hell-bent, to "own the conversation" and the public personality of the campaign from the get go.

I was told to select "two or three friends" as potential teammates to come to a closed casting session. Shortly thereafter, the primary website listed an extensive list of dates to hold live casting sessions in highly visible areas of major metropolitan areas. This made total sense to me as I watched the "pre-tease" campaign unfold and I said "that's how I would have done it!" This creates more than just localized interest into the show and starts buzz, it also allows press sources locally to report on something that they feel they have the inside scoop on. That being said, my teammates and I went down to the live event to do our due diligence and get a little user-generated content for a newly created Facebook group page at the same time. The event was as I had thought, mildly populated within the context of the show and the local 'to be seen' restaurant whores right before any Orlando Magic game. So foot traffic was at its peak for the area; this means the media group either did their research or got lucky.  As you will see, I think the latter may be the case based upon decisions made following the live open casting event in Orlando, Florida.

My initial concern over the management of this campaign was born from the understanding that since I'd been cast by phone and given a closed casting date, what was the point of the open casting call other than to generate buzz? Was actual casting going to be had at these events? These "live casting" participants were not told to bring teammates for a potential team. Additionally, I made several attempts to reach out to the casting contact but to no avail regarding the impact of this session. Though the event did not seemingly affect my partners and myself. Days later, I took my two friends Neil Klaproth and Millo Aldea to the casting session. It was regrettably to be the last call of the day and was told after being briefly video taped with Millo (whom I'd chosen to go first with me) that they no longer needed anyone else, sorry. A major strike against you. I get that it's Friday and you want to go party with your girlfriends, but now you're just wasting my time and not acting very professionally. You need to follow through with the requests that you beset prior to the casting.

Pushing on -

Frustration firmly in play, Millo and I reached out to the casting company and asked 'should we' stir up the social pot or just stay put. Can you hear the crickets? That being said, Millo and I pushed on to increase our chances guided by the question ‚ÄúWhat would be the best way to fulfill the desired goal from  the perspective of a social media professional’s? The first step would be to create and deploy influence, buzz and conversation among our desired demographic, and what is that demographic?‚  For the new Ford Focus, this is not an easy question to answer.  Based upon the price point, fuel economy and fun factor, this vehicle is not only for younger folks, but there are many people who have been rethinking their approach to automobile purchasing.  Socially conscious 30 and 40 something’s  are looking to buy American cars with gadgets and great mileage.  The same approach that was taken in launching the Fiesta Movement — expressing the needs of more value to reach this savvier and broader demographic. It made sense to be the center of the attention.

Covering your bases -

Much to my surprise Ford had none of their bases covered. I managed to create @fordfocusrally on Twitter, the Focus Rally Community and the "Group" page at will, with nothing covering the landscape. This would have been social media 101 given that I would have created a campaign of any size. But to think that Ford would leave them socially unprotected was shocking. Fortunately for me it was a Godsend to "own the conversation" and see what could really be done preemptively. With this I created a real home for people that were hungry for information, wanted to talk about the excitement of the cast and what they thought of the potential program. Here was a place where all the teams could talk about who they were, why this was important to them and share in one another's enthusiasm. To think Ford didn't want to be in the center of this as a brand evangelist was mind bending.

Muscle Memory -

Having worked as the creative director for the interactive portion of Audi's "Art Of The Heist" campaign (very pre-social-media) I knew for a fact had we not already put all the elements (pre-seeding, URL's, back-history, etc.) in place to be part of the conversation the campaign would have been a miserable failure. Did I mention that it was a virtual reality game played out in real time? With the car as the hero? Audience participation was so crucial that they literally changed the outcome of the game from what we had planned Sound familiar? So when I saw that the door was open I did a double-take and thought "is this what they want? It makes sense that they [might] be waiting for the audience to create their own world. Or is this a terrible oversight?" Either way as my high school JROTC drill instructor once told me "do you go into battle without your rifle ready son?" - and indeed I would not. The lesson here is planning is everything and you cannot convince me that Ford‚ plan was NOT to do something. I personally feel that this was Ford's ego coming off the success of the "Fiesta Movement" and simply not planning anything, thinking that because they'll put it on TV it will simply create its own buzz.

With our fledgling community in place, the next few weeks contained nothing more than rumor and innuendo. This is standard in the industry, people talk about what they heard, how they interpreted what they heard or simply about what they wish they heard. I felt it was my responsibility, due to my interest in the project, to expand my conversational ownership to provide a forum for myself and others to talk, debate, console and engage people through the process. New teams come online and start meeting other teams. Fans come in and want basic information, and then you even have teams seeding data to be spread. Whether they were smart enough to have planned it or not it typically festers in this fertile conversational Petri dish.

Rumors that where spread during that time were (but not limited to):

• That casting had been determined long before all the live events were complete.
• The casting company is pulling in their friends to the show.
• The producers and casting company are helping select teams with information (such as telling teams to buy followers) to increase the chances with approval from Ford.
• Casting was done from professional casting calls from acting and modeling studios.
• Direct contradictions from requests for information about program content, casting selections and scheduling.
• Telling contestants to add, edit and delete posts and communications.
• This is solely based on social media clout.
• That some selected teams are being reprimanded for telling items above.^

The result of this is rumor and innuendo, which  can act in one of two things for a campaign‚ cancer or viral. In the social spectrum a 'cancer' is simply uncontrollable negative viral messaging. Of course a viral message is often the same but if done correctly you can manage the expectation of it. The problem is one of transparency. Ford Focus Rally America failed before it began because it is still thinking that it needs to play the contest card of twenty years ago. Everything's a secret, pay not attention to those men behind the curtain.  This foolish sensibility runs contrary to the goal of running a successful social media campaign. What they don't understand is that social media, the conversation, updates, chatter and authentic engagement is the fuel by which these people, socially connected influencers, are driven. Given them unreliable information is simply pulling the plug on interest and results on the community moving on to the next innovation.  This is not how to run a highly successful ad campaign, by alienating your greatest asset.

...stay tuned this show's not over yet...

Comments

[Justice Mitchell]

Dear Ashley,

Interesting as I got the casting call due to my "social media" position and activity. The casting director reached out to friend of mine at the Orlando Sentinel and I got all my invite requests via my blog, youtube, twitter and Facebook "page." To their credit they were VERY thorough in their communication techniques to contact me initially. During those conversation once on the phone it was told to me in no uncertain terms that Ford wants people with LARGE social networks and are perceived as influencers. Which of course makes total sense. That's who I would reach out to. People that have 10 followers are fine but are not perceived to 'move needles' - so to speak.

With all that said Ashley, my best to you in your future efforts – with or without the Focus Rally America.

[Jen]

Whoa whoa whoa, I have to be relevant, clever, funny, intelligent, professional AND good looking? Dude now you're just asking too much.

Chanda and I were asked to audition because of the energy that emanates from us when we are together but what really got Paul Gordon's attention was that Chanda owns a marketing company and I own an online newspaper (there are more dynamics there than I will go into). The 90 pounds, 5'1" and long dark hair MAY have had something to do with it, as well, but I think good looking might just be an added bonus.

[Justice Mitchell]

Dear Jen,

You two would be at the top of my list : ) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ykxY7-dCs

[Scott Monty]

Justice,

Thank you for your candor in assessing our program. As you can imagine, it's been both a challenge and a delight to be able to craft a program like this and to see the reaction of thousands of enthusiasts as it's beginning to roll out.

We're certainly sensitive to the fact that some applicants have been wondering what's been going on. But if you're familiar with the recruitment process of any current reality show, our process is very much in line with that. This is less a "social media ad" as you put it and more of an online reality show, and for that reason, at this point we're more aligned with that kind of promotion.

We appreciate your stewardship of the Facebook and Twitter Focus Rally accounts, but it was never our intention to create or use those properties. Our strategy on those platforms is to avoid creating campaign-purposed accounts but rather to create viable, long-lasting accounts that will live beyond the scope of the program so that we can maintain a relationship with our fans and followers. That's the reason we've focused (no pun intended) our activities on @FordFocus and the Focus Facebook page. We integrated Focus Rally activities and conversations on existing large-scale communities, as well as with properties like the Jimmy Kimmel Show and BlogWorld Expo.

While we won't comment on your specific qualifications as a contestant, our casting directors were looking for more than just social media savvy as part of the process. As you probably know, reality TV is built around personalities, and we also wanted people that fit with the brand image of the Focus that we're trying to convey. There were a lot of variables, and when our casting directors were dealing with hundreds of people at each location, you can imagine the level of dismay and unmet expectations that could occur, despite people thinking they were the best candidates.

It's unfortunate that the rumor and innuendo spread on those accounts that you created, but we were actively engaged on the sites that we had originally laid out in our plan and that we shared with people as part of the promotion - namely, the accounts mentioned above - which are clearly linked to on focusrally.com. I can't help but think that engaging us on one of those sites might have resulted a different outcome.

And all along, we've noted to applicants that if they're not chosen, they can still participate in the interactive element of the reality show and have a chance to win a car in the process. We think that's a much more positive outcome than how we had to simply turn people down for a chance to be part of the Fiesta Movement when that application process was running.

Is all of this perfect? No, but it's all been well thought through and the team that's behind it is committed to making it the best possible experience for the contestants, the viewers and their fans and followers. You may not agree with our approach, and we respect that. But we stand by our process. American Idol (in full disclosure, a show that Ford has been sponsoring since its first season) contestants go through an even more strenuous process, and you can imagine that there are a lot of people who don't agree with how that's handled.

Again, thank you for your honesty. Even if you did misuse our logo. ;-)

Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company

[Jen]

I really love the reference to the logo :D Keeping other thoughts to myself b/c it no longer matters.

But I got Justice's vote, so I'm smiling

[Justice Mitchell]

Dear Mr. Monty,

Thank you for reaching out to me and outlining your points, I really appreciate that. I have watched your efforts on previous campaigns and, believe it or not, am a fan of your work. I'm sure that you have great things in store for us and I will of course be watching. The idea is magnificent and I'm sure will be an outstanding success.

As far as the logo, thank you for not sending a swarm of ninja lawyers into my workplace to force me to Detroit to be chained to a brake peddle assembly line for food pellets. While my wife might have been OK with that.

My best to you and your continued successes on this campaigns and your future endeavors. And I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might be wrong when he said "There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before." - and you may be the one to prove that.

Best ~