Wei Shao 8 Week Ford Brand Monitoring Report

Ford Brand Monitoring Report: Week 1 Jan. 18 2016

Weekly Content Highlights

Recommendations

❖ #2: Conducting public service -- Ford created a winter-driving auto checklist to ensure that anybody on the road this winter, can and knows how to drive safely

Content Highlights

❖ #3: Initiating consumer conversation -- Ford focused on establishing two-way communications, by engaging its audience with the catch phrase “We know the feeling,” and tagging a specific user.

❖ #1: Promoting new product -- Ford Used the hashtag “#FocusRS” paired with a stunning photo of the new vehicle. This content received 206 retweets and 369 likes over one single week.

❖ For promoting the new Focus RS, Ford could have “gone deeper” with their promotional contents, such as offering more performance information on the new car model as opposed to using just a photo for attraction. This is more practical in attracting more serious car buyers and keeping them engaged. For example, the following tweets containing reviews of the 2016 Ford Focus RS would help.

Check out the review for the 2016 #FocusRS

here! http://www.caradvice.com.au/410638/2016-ford-focus-rs-review/

Here is another review for the 2016 #FocusRS http://www.motormag.com.au/reviews/1601/f

ord-focus-rs-review/


Ford Brand Monitoring Report: Week 2 Jan. 25 2016

Content Highlights❖ #1: Increasing cultural engagement -- Ford participated in the celebration of National Breakfast Week,

with a video on the making of a car shaped pancake, which prompted 235 retweet and 546 likes.❖ #2: Targeting new audience -- Ford live-tweeted the Ford GT global racing debut at Daytona

International Sepeedway to attract auto-racing fans.❖ #3: Analyzing company performance -- Ford held a digital press release of the company’s 2015

breakthrough earnings. This tweet boosted consumer confidence in the company, and generated a lot of positive feedback from followers, such as “ Congratulations! Those number will double this year”.

Recommendations❖ Since the Ford-shaped pancake was the hot topic this week, it is recommended for Ford to start a

“DIY Ford Power Breakfast” campaign, where Facebook users can share photos of their Ford-inspired breakfast designs. This can create more engagement amongst fans and increase consumer traffic. Some campaign ideas are below.

To Enter: Participants must “like” the

Ford Facebook page and share their own DIY Ford-

inspired pancakes with @ford

Contest Period: Week of Jan. 25 to Feb. 1

Contest Prize: Ten creative shots will be

selected as winners, and T-shirts printed with the winners’ own images will be given away!

Sample Post: #DIYFordPowerBreakfast: show

us your pancakes, and win customized T-shirts


Ford Brand Monitoring Report: Week 3 Feb. 1 2016

Content Highlights❖ #1: Promotion of the 2017 Raptor -- Ford posted a high quality GIF to capture the power grandeur

of this “beast” vehicle, and generated 322 shares and 1k reactions. ❖ #2: Revisiting classic products -- Ford brought back the iconic Mustang to social media this week. This

once again, reminded consumers of the integrity of Ford’s products, as well as the timelessness of the brand.

❖ #3: Pushing for clean energy -- Ford featured Comuta, an all-electric concept car from the 1967 Geneva Motor Show, this week. The post re-established Ford’s position as a long-standing visionary auto-maker. Recommendation

❖ Looking through this week’s comments on social media, Ford’s ability to respond to negative sentiments from followers are poor. The company’s inadequate response to negative comments creates an opportunity for a snowballing of dissatisfaction amongst consumers. A customer service response template, such as below, could help to cap and restrict the spread of unsupportive messages.

I hear you. Please send a DM with your VIN, mileage, phone

number and dealer info. I’ll assist you accordingly. ---

Ford Customer Service



Content Highlights❖ #1: Promoting brand history -- Ford’s caption, “Like father, like son” to this fun photo, emphasized

the brand’s long history in the American auto-making culture, and how it has been the car of choice to American families through generations. The tweet generated 217 retweet and 539 likes. This is a great method to connect fans and promote Mustang.

❖ #2: Asking question -- By using real-person voice of tone, Ford is boosting social media interaction with audiences.

❖ #3: Raising social awareness -- Ford used this Youtube cartoon clip as a method to remind drivers about the danger of distracted driving. The presentation of the content provided a means of education to both parents and children, and boosted Ford’s accountability as a public company.

Recommendations❖ When monitoring the Ford’s Google Alert messages this week, I believe Ford missed two

opportunities to promote the company’s activities around the world. The stories are as below.

Ford invested $4.5 billions in #electrified

vehicle push! http://insideevs.com/for

d-investing-billions-in-electrified-vehicle-push/

Here is the proof that Ford is super popular in China.

#Fordsaleshttp://www.inautonews.com/fords-january-sales-in-

china-reached-record-levels



Content Highlights❖ #1: Unveiling ground-breaking technology -- Ford shared new developments in their technology to combat

potholes issue in response to popular demands. Interest rose among many followers, rendering the idea “innovative” and “creative.” This hot post generated 3.3k reactions, 3444 shares and 351 comments.

❖ #2: Targeting new audience -- reaching millennial is a wise tactic to increase fan base. ❖ #3: Recruiting and networking -- Ford reached out to the public community on LinkedIn to seek

recruitment for potential employees. The act emphasized again on Ford’s image as an open and wholesome company. Recommendation

❖ Ford’s reveal of their solutions to potholes generated resonance amongst many drivers. I recommend Ford to start a Facebook campaign, to showcase the worse potholes, in order to continue the conversation and increase audience interest in the topic. Campaign ideas are as below.

Sample Post:Enjoy your ride outside,

now show us the #worstpotholes that you

have ever seen!

Sharing Post: Check out

https://social.ford.com, where Ford gives you

expert advice to tackle the worst potholes worldwide.



Recommendation

Content Highlights

❖ #3: Cultural Relevance -- YouTube “Culture Collabs” video is an extension of Ford’s “By Design” ad campaign that debuted in October, spotlighting the latest lineup of Ford vehicles. The campaign aligns with the new overall brand expression – energy and cultural relevance.

❖ #2: Breaking stereotypes -- Ford’s display of the pink Mustang allowed the vehicle to break away from the masculine muscle car image that it has been known for, and to equally embrace female clients at the same time.

❖ #1: Contributing to the economy -- Ford revealed the latest employment and economic statistics from the Cleveland engine plant. The tweet generated 94 retweets and 238 likes, and proved Ford’s strong financial performance in the last quarter.

❖ The limitation of the Culture Collabs campaign was that the project was limited to access on YouTube only. I recommend that this campaign should be integrated into Ford’s other social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, to achieve more viewings. Integration should be as follows.

#Ford #CultureCollabs: What inspired Jhené Aiko

and Mike Brown? https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=7q9LcnKuXn8

Jhene Aiko revealed what “drives” her for #Ford

#Culture Collabs. http://singersroom.com/content/2016-03-01/jhene-aiko-discusses-what-drives-her-

for-ford-culture-collabs/



Content Highlights

Recommendations❖ I would recommend Ford to create a “LEGO & FORD facts sweepstakes.” This is a great way to

increase Facebook engagement, because not only will this reward loyal fans, but it will also encourage participants to visit Ford’s Facebook page to check for the winner, and be expose to more updated material. Examples of campaign messages are as follows.

❖ #1: Embracing the art of cars -- Ford expressed the brand’s creativity through a collaboration with LEGO this week. This post brought physical interactions through digital concepts to Ford fans across the world. The tweet generated 131 retweet and 276 likes.

❖ #3: Providing career guidance -- Ford, once again, fortified its reliable and down-to-earth image by providing tips on resume editing to consumers.

❖ #2: Engaging social media -- Ford introduced a social media page, social.ford.com, on their official website. The webpage is updated frequently and improves social interaction between the brand and its consumers.

Contest:Be 1 of the 10 randomly selected participants to

win a LEGO Ford Mustang!

To Enter:Participants must answer 5 questions about the LEGO

and FORD brands.

Sample Post: Are you an expert of

#LEGO&FORD? Win a free LEGO Ford Mustang GT Speed

Champion model!


Ford Brand Monitoring Report: Week 8 Mar. 7 2016

Content Highlights

Recommendation❖ This week, truck family shot leads a hot conversation and many Ford truck lovers shared the

memories of their trucks in the comment section. To continue the conversation and improve Ford’s visibility in social media, I recommend for the same strategy to be used on photo-sharing social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest.

❖ #1: Introducing new wiper feature -- Ford enlightened fans with their new windshield wiper de-iceron the 2017 Ford Escape. This one-of-a-kind feature created excitement and engagement among fans. This post generated 20k views, 1.3k reaction and 469 shares.

❖ #2: Establishing leadership -- This short video introduced Ford’s autonomous vehicles, and branded Ford as a leading auto maker in the industry, thus enhancing Ford’s trustworthy image.

❖ #3: Targeting audiences -- Ford called out to unite truck lovers all over the world with a picture of its best selling truck vehicles. The picture rekindled the love that truck owners have for their vehicles and stimulated an avid discussion on the brand.

❖ Visual marketing is a popular trend currently. Many brands are now seeing a lot of potential in Pinterest. However, Ford seldom uses this tool. I recommend for Ford to start using and managing this channel to target audiences on Pinterest for branding.

Documents

Wei Shao 8 Week Ford Brand Monitoring Report