DEARBORN -- Debbie Santiago is turning off the lights when she leaves a room. Frances Ruiz is avoiding plastic water bottles in favor of an aluminum bottle. And Kameel Zakaria is using a rain barrel for watering his garden. These are just a few of the more than 15,000 people who have shared "green" lifestyle tips on the new "Fusion + Hybrid" Facebook app called "You Speak Green" - the latest example of Ford's campaign to engage consumers on their own terms.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are more popular than ever. That’s why Ford has increased its presence in the digital space to better enable an open dialogue with consumers about sustainable lifestyle choices in which personal transportation can be both environmentally responsible and fun.
Data suggest that social media sites are increasingly one of the best ways to reach out to consumers. According to Nielsen Company research, the total minutes spent on social networking sites in the U.S. has increased in 2009 by 83 percent year-over-year. Total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, the most recent month reported.
The new Ford Fusion “You Speak Green” Facebook app is designed to encourage people to talk about ways to live sustainably and features a vine graphic that grows with each new eco-conscious comment, demonstrating the power of a collective effort through recycling, water conservation and other actions. Its design was inspired by the Fusion Hybrid’s innovative SmartGauge™ instrument cluster, which uses a similar leafy vine that grows as the motorist drives more fuel efficiently.
The app, which Ford created in collaboration with Wunderman-Team Detroit and social technology provider Vitrue, is an interactive component of the online “We Speak Car” campaign (http://www.fordvehicles.com/2010fusion/) that debuted in March. Since the app’s mid-July launch, more than 104,000 Facebook users have downloaded it to their profile pages and 15,000 have posted tips.
“The user response to the Fusion Facebook ‘You Speak Green’ app has been outstanding," said Adam Barrow, Ford digital marketing analyst. "By providing users tools to support and amplify their self expression and their point of view, we veer away from being intrusive and start to build a true relationship. That relationship will build brand awareness and consideration in an authentic way.”
Another example of Ford’s groundbreaking social media outreach is its support of the Fiesta Movement campaign to promote the company’s sporty, savvy new small car through social media agents. Agent postings have garnered significant numbers on social media sites, including more than 3.5 million YouTube views (http://www.fiestamovement.com/), more than 440,000 Flickr views and more than 2.7 million Twitter impressions.
