• by Karl Greenberg , October 2, 2013

You might call it "Comedians in Fiestas drinking coffee." Ford is about to launch a new project as part of its ongoing, four-year-old “Fiesta Movement” campaign. The program is encapsulated in this year's iteration of the campaign, The Next Fiesta Movement,” which involves some 100 social influencers who have to do a different mission each month.

The new program sends comedians in a Fiesta tooling around L.A. The project, on Break Media's MadeMan.com channel, comprises seven episodes on a custom, Ford Fiesta branded “Laugh Trek” hub with social feeds and behind the scenes elements about the comedians and the filming included.

The comedians, Nick Thune and Moshe Kasher, explore Los Angeles in a Fiesta and compete to perform the best impromptu stand-up comedy in front of unlikely audiences at Muscle Beach, on a Hollywood tour bus, and around Korea town. They are not "Fiesta Agents" themselves, though Bridgett O’Neill, the host of the series, is. The consumer-engagement part of it lets people vote on which of the two comics does the best impromptu act in the different locations around the city.

Mary Ellen Abraham, Ford experiential marketing manager, says Break Media approached Ford -- which is co-producing “Laugh Trek” -- early in the Fiesta Movement program. “Quite some time back, shortly after launching the Fiesta, they presented us with the concept, but at the time it was not the right fit.” Now, she notes, the channel has a much bigger reach, with a 600% larger following on Twitter and a much bigger following on Facebook, as well. 

“And the comedians have a lot more public awareness than our agents,” she says. “Both have been on Fallon, both have had their own ‘Comedy Central’ specials, and impromptu comedy is what they do, so it was a fun challenge for them."

Andrew Budkofsky, Break Media's EVP of sales and partnerships, tells Marketing Daily that in addition to being on MadeMan.com, the content will live on YouTube, “and we will promote it. There will also be takeovers, rich media units, and standard promotional spots.” He says the audience brackets are 18-49 years old and 25-54.

“In talking with Ford, we wanted to get the right feel for the car, the program's dynamic and the Ford agents themselves,” he says. “So we put together a list of comedians and worked with Ford to find the right two guys. We wanted to showcase the features of the car in a real natural way and Ford was great about that.” 

The project complements what Ford has done with other Millennial-facing campaigns to promote the car, notes Abraham. "What we have done is to take advantage of platforms like X Games, ‘American Idol,’ and [music festival] Bonnaroo.”

She adds that digital extensions make it easier for Ford to net key performance indicators. "At the end of the day, we are looking to have more awareness of Fiesta and the Movement campaign and digitally we can achieve that. People who follow the agents and Millennials are who we want to follow. It's how they want to see branded entertainment."