Ford Fiesta Q & A

Interested customers have placed more than 6,000 reservations for the new 2011 Ford Fiesta, despite the fact that the car will not arrive in our showroom until this summer.  Sam De La Garza, Fiesta Brand Manager, spoke to @Ford Online about other interesting data gleaned from potential Fiesta customers through the company’s Fiesta Reservations program.

Question: There is nearly a 50/50 split of reservations made by people younger than 45 and older than 45.  Did you expect that?

Answer: Yes.  There are two big population groups of people who buy small cars in the United States.  One is young people and the other group consists of Baby Boomers who have been downsizing certain aspects of their lives.  Those are the largest customer groups that we see for Fiesta.

Question: How does the United States Fiesta customer data compare to that for Europe?

Answer: The B-car segment in Europe is different than in the United States.  The European B-car segment is very mature and represents about 24 to 25 percent of the industry.  Because B-cars are sold in such high volume in Europe, they must have a broader consumer appeal.

That helps us in the United States because it allows us to bring in a lot of premium, high-quality content in an affordable, fuel-efficient vehicle that resonates with many customers here.  Younger and older consumers will appreciate Fiesta’s premium content, such as push-button start, heated seats and SYNC.  Customers will not have to compromise with the Ford Fiesta.  We’ve learned a lot from our European colleagues about that.

Question: How does Ford intend to maintain interest in Fiesta until the car hits dealer showrooms this summer?

Answer: As announced earlier, we will be launching Fiesta Movement Chapter Two near the end of February.  This involves giving a European Fiesta to 20 teams of two people each.  The teams will perform some unique missions.  Eventually, they will drive the North American Fiesta, too.

In addition, we continue to listen to consumers on various social media like Twitter and Facebook.  We are always trying to engage them without generating the conversation.

Another interesting thing is the question section at Experience Fiesta.  Here, customers submit a question that will be answered by one of nine Fiesta Movement agents from Chapter One, who still have their cars.  You get this amazing conversation going on such topics as fuel economy, reasons to buy Fiesta and competitive vehicle questions.  It is constant engagement.

Related articles

• 2011 Ford Fiesta Pre-Launch Guide (beechmontfordblog.com)
• Ford Fiesta Movement in the Blogosphere this week (beechmontfordblog.com)

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Ford Fiesta Movement in the Blogosphere this week

It was definitely a busy week for the Ford Fiesta Movement.  We believe that is a combination of the growing excitement of the 2011 Ford Fiesta release and the first full week of the Ford Fiesta Movement: Chapter 2.  Review the great articles below and you be the judge.

Lobese, a New York City Art Director and self-proclaimed “digital dork” is a member of Team Brooklyn for Ford Fiesta Movement: Chapter 2.  The first mission for the agents of Chapter 2 was to create a wrap for their Fiestas.  Lobese (and her teammate Caitlin-Marie) created a “Bling’d out, Brooklyn bodega culture inspired Ford Fiesta.”  Great creativity and unique design.

A nice patrol woman stops another 2011 Ford Fiesta to admire the car (or maybe the young men inside?)  You be the judge.  Unfortunately, the patrol woman, the driver, the videographer or the blog writer share which team this is so we cannot provide you with the team name.

For all hockey fans, check this out.  The Edmonton Oilers will possibly give you a 2011 Ford Fiesta at one of their games.  Here is the deal.  The Edmonton Oilers and Ford Canada have teamed to possibly give away a Fiesta to a highly skilled hockey fan at their April 7, 2010, game in Edmonton against the Colorado Avalanche.  Head over to edmontonoilers.com/fiesta for game rules and qualifications.  Good luck.  Hey, even if you do not lose you can still possibly be one of six fans chosen to watch the game in the executive suite.

Noted marketer Jeff Bullas wrote a somewhat controversial post titled, “Who Is Winning at Social Media Marketing: Ford or General Motors?“  The article seemed pretty vanilla and neutral.  However, people commenting on the article were pretty passionate about their brands–much more so than comments by Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Company, and Christopher Barger, director of social media at General Motors.

2011 Ford Fiesta S2000 Rally Car Drivers Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich gave a clear description of their opening race in the 2010 Sasol SA Rally Championship.  Expectation and excitement were at an all-time high for this team due to the relentless interest of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, the press coverage of the Rally Championship and the early championship success of the team.  Read the story and see how the team did.

The second Ford Fiesta team we reviewed this week was Team Philadelphia.  Their team of Mikey and Tim will be strolling around the streets of Philadelphia in their Fiesta.  They introduced their upcoming Chapter 2 adventure on the popular Philadelphia geek blog, Geekadelphia.com.

Scott Monty made the headlines again this week in another interview.  This interview was conducted by Lee Oden of TopRank, a top ranked blog (we could not help ourselves… funny, right?) at Ford Motor Company’s World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.  This interview was not as animated as the previous interview Scott Monty was involved in earlier in the week, but definitely a genuinely nice Scott Monty shares wonderful successful social media insights of Ford Motor Company and their plans to become “a car, utility and truck company” instead of “just a truck and mustang company” in the upcoming years.

We must admit that the 2011 Ford Fiesta is definitely a car to buy for 2010.  But who are we to toot our own horn?  G.E. Miller, the creater of 20SomethingFinance.com shared why the 2011 Ford Fiesta is a financially sound decision for potential car buyers in his article, “Ford Fiesta: The Must Buy Car of 2010.”  For first time car buyers, those wanting a B-size vehicle and anyone else interested in a financial observation of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, review this article.

We end this week’s review with a question, is the Ford Fiesta Movement a social media experiment or just a sponsored buzz machine?  Let us know what you think.

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Ford Fiesta Movement in the Blogosphere this Week

The weekend is officially here.  And to kick it off, your weekly Ford Fiesta Movement updates from earlier in the week.

The new 2011 Ford Fiesta can give you dating advice.  Just watch.

Fiesta Movement opens Chapter Two.  AutoEvolution was the first blog to release the new information, so we felt it necessary to share their view on the latest installment of the Fiesta Movement.

The Ford Fiesta agents for Chapter Two have been released on the road.  The agents received their new 2011 Ford Fiestas earlier this week.  The format for Chapter Two is quite different than the original campaign.  Nonetheless, this campaign should impress and continue Ford Motor Company’s dominance on the social media stage.  Check out the first video we found from the first team to release information on Chapter Two, Team Dallas.

Ford Fiesta Movement Team Boston finally released their first video.  Hopefully, the remaining teams will release their videos next week.

Enjoy your weekend!

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• Learn Social Media by Example: The Ford Fiesta Campaign Analyzed (thoughtpick.com)
• Ford Fiesta Movement: Can Social Media Sell Cars? (mashable.com)
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• Ford: Popular Fiesta Hatchback Coming to the U.S. (seekingalpha.com)
• Harvard Business: How Ford Got Social Marketing Right (blogs.hbr.org)
• Preview: 2011 Ford Fiesta (blogs.thecarconnection.com)
• Ford lets people reserve a 2011 Ford Fiesta online (crunchgear.com)

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