Ford is counting on a new edition of its Fiesta Movement social-media campaign to help the model regain its footing in a competitive U.S. B-car market.
When Ford launched the current Fiesta in June 2010, it had formidable competition from long-established players such as the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa and Chevrolet Aveo, yet the car started strong in the market and gradually grew sales.
For full-year 2010, Fiesta’s share of the segment was 6.5%, trailing those cars, as well as the Kia Rio and Soul and Hyundai Accent, according to WardsAuto data.
In 2011, Fiesta’s share jumped to 15.7%, surpassing the Accent, Rio and Yaris.
But the Chevrolet Sonic and Spark and Mazda2 all have entered WardsAuto’s now-crowded Lower Small segment to take a bite out of Fiesta volume.
The Sonic has been particularly damaging, outselling the Fiesta in each of the last 14 months.
Last year, Fiesta’s share of the U.S. B-car segment dropped to 10.7%, trailing the Soul (21.8%), Versa (21.4%), Sonic (15.3%) and Accent (11.5%).
The new campaign, called “Fiesta Movement: A Social Remix,” launches this spring, ahead of the all-new ’14 Fiesta.
When the original Fiesta Movement hit in 2009, its prime objective was to build awareness of the car, which was new to Ford’s U.S. lineup and in a segment the auto maker had not participated in since the imported Ford Aspire, a re-badged Kia, exited the market in 1998.
But this time the campaign aims to not only build awareness, but also grow sales, says Amy Marentic, marketing manager-Global Car and Crossover Group.
“Awareness translates to sales, and it’s important to have consideration,” she tells WardsAuto. “With the original Fiesta many people didn’t know about it; now there is a 78% awareness level. We’re not worried about favorable opinion and consideration, but (we want to get) customers minds back on Fiesta in a way that’s impactful to them.”
Much like the original campaign, the new Fiesta Movement will select 100 participants considered “social influencers,” who will drive a new Fiesta for six months, with Ford picking up the tab for parking, fuel and insurance.
The participants, or agents, will perform missions that span the country throughout the year and include appearances on TV shows, social media sites and in advertisements. Participants will include alumni from the original campaign, celebrities and current owners, as well as first-timers.
The campaign also will have tie-ins with popular television shows and sporting events such as American Idol and the X Games.
The original Fiesta Movement generated 6.5 million YouTube views and 40 million Twitter impressions. It also attracted 132,000 hand-raisers, people indicating interest in purchasing the car, who were new to the brand. Of that, 30% were under 25 years old, the target age for the Fiesta.
Although the original campaign resulted in good user-generated content, Ford didn’t have a plan for broader usage of the material, Marentic says.
“Now we’re going to take the best (content) of the full campaign and you might see it as digital or print ads or on TV.”
Marentic does not reveal Ford’s sales target for the car, but notes the Fiesta posted a strong January, up 17.5% to 4,285 units, and says a February volume record is likely.
“One of the struggles with Fiesta was we didn’t have enough inventory,” she says. “Now dealers have it and it’s turning well.”
The campaign also will highlight certain aspects of the new ’14 Fiesta, including its optional 1.0L direct-injected turbocharged EcoBoost 3-cyl. engine, one of the smallest mills to be offered in the U.S. in years.
Critics contend U.S. consumers won’t wholeheartedly embrace a 3-cyl. engine, either because they fear it will be underpowered or suffer the same noise, vibration and harshness issues of small engines in the past.
Marentic believes those concerns will fade as consumers test drive the car.
Launch of the standard Fiesta will be followed by a high-performance ST version, which will also be featured in the new social-media campaign.
The Fiesta ST is expected to draw a different buyer than the base car, which skews towards younger women.
“ST is expected to be more male and a bit younger,” Marentic says. “They’re more interested in performance and may cross-shop a Subaru or VW.”
Ford will be recruiting participants through April 30, with the missions scheduled to commence in May. The campaign likely will wrap up in the third-quarter, although Marentic says a firm cutoff date has not been set.
