Social media has become more important than ever before. You need not look far to see signs of this, from last year’s Fiesta Movement and the “Meet the Volkswagen’s” Facebook page to the 2010 Volkswagen GTI iPhone. Automakers are in the game and here to stay. But why social media? Charlie Taylor, general manager of VWs digital marketing, was asked “Why Facebook?” in an interview for USA Today last year to which he responded, “More and more consumers are selling products for us … Social media and word of mouth is much less about brochure downloads and more about brand awareness.”
When VW launched its 2010 GTI solely on a free iPhone game, Tim Ellis, VP of marketing, said the following in an interview with ABC News, “… we tasked ourselves to rethink the way we launch vehicles in order to engage our consumers in a meaningful way … Launching the all-new 2010 GTI via the Real Racing GTI App allows us to connect with this savvy GTI consumer within his or her everyday life in a way that no 30-second spot ever could.”
Through social media, manufacturers are attempting to leverage “the law of the few.” To quote Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point “It’s not necessarily how many people you engage with, but the quality of engagement you have with a select few –Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen.”
Manufacturers’ budgets are constrained and their product teams are being forced to create more global products, putting pressure on distribution of marketing budgets across the fleet –begging for a new and more global solution. What is more globally accessible than the Internet? Could social media prove to become the predominant way to launch a new vehicle? Certainly marketing costs could be greatly reduced using this approach, so then isn’t it more a question of reaching the right people at the right time?
The Ford Explorer used to be the king of SUVs. At its peak, annual sales topped 440,000, but with the tire fiasco, higher oil prices, general market fragmentation, and recent recession, the Explorer has essentially become a niche vehicle. In fact, only 50,000 were sold in 2009.
Rather than unveil the new Explorer in typical auto show fashion, Ford has decided to slowly reveal their latest All-New Explorer CUV on Facebook. Interestingly enough, according to J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Prospects Current Behavior June release, 56% of new vehicle buyers can be found on Facebook in a given month.
Christopher Baccus, author of The Auto Marketing Blog has some interesting insight regarding Automotive Facebook Fan Page Strategies. In the case of the Ford, they have decided to set up vehicle fan pages. Ford has been gradually updating the Ford Explorer Fan Page with teaser photos instead of the typical gallery or even buff magazine shots. Ford is also engaging fan questions on the page. One fan asked whether a particular engine would be offered because he wanted to make sure it could tow easily. The page manager had this to say, “Eric. More news to come soon on exact specifications on powertrains. As you know, we are making sure that towing is assisted as much as possible for Explorer, not just in terms of absolute numbers but also how easy it is to tow and hitch up which is equally as important. Jay”
Between now and the Facebook unveiling, said to take place in July, Ford will show us bits and pieces, teasing its visitors and its 5,000+ Fans. But as Mr. Baccus’s monthly report on Automotive Facebook Fans recently noted, there seems to be a shift away from the “become a fan” ad buys that were extremely popular last year. It is uncertain however, whether Facebook has a new and more targeted method that is more difficult to measure or if manufacturers are moving toward accepting more organic fan growth. If this is due to a shift to a more organic approach, the cost savings toward the campaign could be significant. Also realize that the page will likely have many more visitors who don’t become fans, substantially increasing the reach of the Fan Page.
While Ford may have saved some money with this new approach, is it going to reach enough people and ultimately sell Explorers? Certainly subsequent marketing will be TV and Print heavy, however in my opinion the formula seems to be set up for success:
- Facebook = 56% of New Vehicle Buyers
- Facebook and social media in general is made up of a great deal of Mavens and Connectors
Facebook certainly has two of the three pieces to create a tipping point. Can Ford capture enough Mavens and Connectors through a Facebook unveiling to cancel future auto show unveilings?
Update: Chris Baccus recently wrote about the soft launch of Saab’s 9-5 via iTunes.
Tagged with: Facebook • Manufacturers • Marketing • Social
2 comments ↓
[...] support some of their programs. Additionally, the emergence of lower-cost alternatives (e.g. Social media could become the predominant way to launch a new vehicle) may allow them to reach their audiences without the same historical level of spending. [...]
[...] few weeks ago I wrote about the growing use of social media in launching new vehicles and challenged that its benefits–mainly in cost and targeting–when measured against traditional [...]
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