Today's marketing campaigns are often lambasted for being long on bells and whistles while short on central ideas. The following example offers ample evidence that a big idea can originate on TV -- or more broadly, video -- and then extend across media to leverage the particular strengths of each vehicle.
One of the most under-discussed campaigns of the past year was the incredible Powered By You effort for Ford of Canada, developed by Y&R Toronto.
Yes, I said Ford -- not Scion or BMW or Lexus.
This remarkable campaign was designed to rekindle interest in the Ford brand after years of anemia-inducing "Sell-a-brations" and employee pricing asterisk gimmicks. How can a car company that is lumped into the Detroit morass signal to customers, as well as lapsed considerers, that its new self is actually… new?
Well, here's one way:
The genius of this idea lies in exploiting human empowerment as a tool to get people to take "ownership" of the Ford brand again. Note: Not one filmed serpentine on the hills of Marin, California! Not one "0.9 percent" on the screen!
There was a helluva lot more to this effort than a TV ad. The Powered by You program was extended into digital via a robust social media website that shared information about the new Ford while soliciting ideas and opinions from visitors. My admittedly brief sojourn through the comments sections on this site demonstrated both the positive consumer response to this effort and Ford's willingness to let everyone -- fans and detractors -- discuss what is happening and should be happening at Ford.
The campaign was well-supported in SEM and SEO, which is great to see in a branding effort. Too many companies trying to reposition themselves forget to reach users in Google and Yahoo Search results.
Additionally, the brand developed some innovative video content for the launch, including this "making of" video seeded on video sites across the web.
The campaign was buzz-worthy enough to be the subject of several hundred blog posts, as well. When I reviewed a sample of these comments, it is apparent that this citizen journalism discussion wasn't taking place primarily on industry or piston-head blogs, but rather in places where the "everyman" and "everywoman" writers were taking a new look at the venerable blue orb.