fiestamovement

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Weirdness from the Fiesta Movement

February 24, 2010 in Advertising/Marketing Business, Automotive Industry | 10 comments

Well, it’s now been 17 days since Clifton and I submitted our application and video for the Fiesta Movement 2 (if you want to check it out, go back to this post).  That was a Sunday, and the very next afternoon, I had a 30-40 minute phone interview with a guy from one of the agencies partnering with Ford on the project. The phone call covered a wide range of topics, from my background to the creative people I associate with here in KC, to why Clifton and I would make great candidates for the project.  It ended with me being told we’d have background check forms to fill out the next day and a statement that Ford would be making decisions late that week or early the week of the 15th. Chosen pairs would be going to Detroit for training that weekend (Feb 20-21).

Clifton and I got our form in and waited with baited breath for the rest of the week, visiting www.fiestamovement.com over and over, refreshing my TweetDeck search for #fiestamovement and grabbing my phone every time it vibrated, hoping for a call.  And it never came but we did see a few different agents post that they’d been chosen and on their way to Detroit. We were disappointed but figured it was over.

Well, after a few searches and tweets, I discovered that there was a bunch of people who’d had the exact same experience.  That is, until @FordFiesta posted this:

The last info we've gotten from Ford...

Since then, myself and the other applicants have all been contacting Ford, trying to find out what’s going on.  I’ve left two voicemails with the guy who interviewed me, DM’d Sam De La Garza and tweeted once or twice a day.  All that sort of culminated in this chain of Tweets today:

There's some confusion happening...

@fordfiesta is not tweeting anywhere near its normal volume and nobody seems to be responding.  So I guess we’ll continue to wait, but it’s highly disappointing to see Ford handling it this way. It certainly doesn’t reflect the reputation and work that they’ve put into their social media efforts over the past couple years.  They’re late on their own self-imposed deadline – see the screenshot from fiestamovement.com taken tonight at 11:10 CST.

Feb 22? Didn't happen...

I hope we get some kind of explanation from Ford at least; I don’t expect the world but after all the work we put in and them taking the time to interview me and conduct a background check, the promised follow-up would be nice. Guess I’ll start working on my video for the Mustang Movement – how about it Ford?  All I want is a new GT convertible with the all-new 412 HP 5.0.

EDIT 2/25 around 10:30 AM: it appears the mini-firestorm this started prompted a response this morning.  I’ve exchanged three DM’s this morning with Sam De La Garza, which you can see below.  My response to his first DM was “Thanks Sam – not a big deal in the end just surprising not to get more comm. from you guys. Hope my team still has a chance!”  And my response to his second DM was “Figured that was part of it – would love to tell u all why KC is a strong creative market if it’s in question. Mind if I share these DM’s?.”

A much-appreciated response

So I’m glad I have an update now; it’s still a bit odd that they’ve chosen not to simply post via @fordfiesta and let us all know these same things.  Soon after Sam’s DMs, I also got a call from the agency partner to give me some more insight/details, which I won’t share here.  This is the kind of response I expected from Ford from the beginning.

Thanks Sam…now choose Team KC and everything will be good!

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The Ford Fiesta Movement 2 – My Entry

February 7, 2010 in Advertising/Marketing Business, Automotive Industry | 1 comment

I’ve mentioned the Ford Fiesta Movement on here before but if not, check out the site so you can see more about it. Now that the original Movement is over, Ford is launching the Fiesta Movement 2.  This one’s a little different, for a couple reasons:

  • Applications are in pairs, instead of individual.
  • What the chosen agents will be doing is sort of a mystery – here’s the description:

In anticipation of the Fiesta’s US launch, for the next chapter of the Fiesta Movement we’re handing over creative direction for the all-new 2011 Ford Fiesta’s advertising and promotion to our fans.

You’ll need a creative vision and passion for the Fiesta. We’ll provide the public spaces and help connect you to local creative talent. Together, we’ll bring your ideas to life.

Your team will also have access to an all-new 2011 Ford Fiesta for the duration of the program (with gas and insurance) and a shot at winning a brand new Fiesta for yourself and your teammate.

All that leads me to believe there’s going to be a lot of event marketing, local promotions and other marketing related parts in this Fiesta Movement, which is why I think I found the perfect partner in Clifton Alexander of Reactor Design Studio. Clifton and I spent a lot of time thinking about what would help us stand out among the likely huge crowd of applicants, and it came down to a couple simple things.

First, Clifton and I know each other, but we’re not best friends.  Most of the applicants will be best friends, spouses/couples or even family members.  He and I will get to know each other as part of this Movement, and that should make our thought process a little different. Second, we both love cars and are involved in the creative industry but on different parts of the spectrum.  I’m an account guy at a B2B shop; Clifton’s the owner/creative director at a small design shop. And the contrasts between us gave us the inspiration for our video entry, which you can see below:

So there we are – the application is in and I’m ready to get started.

To Scott Monty, Sam DeLaGarza and the rest of the Fiesta Movement team, you may find a pair as good as Clifton and I, but you won’t find better. We’re ready to prove it, so let’s get started!

In anticipation of the Fiesta’s US launch, for the next chapter of the Fiesta Movement we’re handing over creative direction for the all-new 2011 Ford Fiesta’s advertising and promotion to our fans.

You’ll need a creative vision and passion for the Fiesta. We’ll provide the public spaces and help connect you to local creative talent. Together, we’ll bring your ideas to life.

Your team will also have access to an all-new 2011 Ford Fiesta for the duration of the program (with gas and insurance) and a shot at winning a brand new Fiesta for yourself and your teammate.

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