The show will be screened in 30-minute segments on IfICanDream.com, and on Hulu. Connie Fontaine, Ford brand content and alliances manager, tells Marketing Daily that Ford was involved early on in the development of the show, which is via 19 Entertainment, the company that has handled "American Idol."
Ford's involvement with the show parallels Ford's use of social media to promote the car. The company has been running its "Fiesta Movement" program since last spring, with participants using social media to talk about their experiences with the car. Similarly, says Ford, the cast of "If I Can Dream" will talk about their efforts on social media. Ford is launching the second iteration of its Fiesta Movement program in mid-February.
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"One of the things we strive to do is get involved early in the project and effect the outcome," she says. "But this was more than just a nugget of an idea." She says 19 Entertainment -- an organization that Ford has been involved with through its sponsorship of "American Idol" (the U.K. firm was started by Simon Fuller, who created "American Idol") -- brought the idea for the show to the automaker. "They thought what we were doing with Fiesta was the right fit."
The show is scheduled to start running in February, with a 24/7 element on the eponymous Web site, and a weekly webisode on Hulu.com. Fontaine says Ford has signed for the first season. "We felt first that 19 really got where we were with Fiesta and where we wanted to go, and we felt the timing was perfect for Fiesta."
All members of the show will be driving the car -- which, per Fontaine, may include both the European and the 2011 Fiesta for the U.S. market.
The social media VP for Ford spoke at BlogWorld last October on the Fiesta movement and had several of the younger folks there who are driving them. It was very interesting to hear them talk about combing the social media environment and a major auto maker. Seeing that most of the younger generations are on social media sites an average of 31 hours per week, what better place to market to.
Seeing that Ford is on their rebirthing movement, and did not take any federal funds, the other auto makers should take their advice and start using SM more.
It is funny that in Germany, most cities have Fiesta owner clubs. Their version of the US's corvette, porsce, and BMW owner clubs.
Dr. dave Hale, The Internet Marketing Professor