Ford tunes up social media pitch for Fiesta redesign

DETROIT -- The first time around, Ford's 2009 Fiesta Movement social media campaign gave the new Fiesta a high-profile launch the following year and broke new ground in marketing.

Now Ford is launching a midcycle makeover, a sleeker version of the Fiesta. Ford is also going back to the well with the Fiesta Movement, which it has retooled.

This time around the Fiesta will be offered in more varieties. The base model, priced at $14,795, including shipping, is arriving in dealerships now. The sporty Fiesta ST will arrive at the end of the summer with Ford's 1.6-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine, followed by a version powered by Ford's 1.0-liter three cylinder EcoBoost. EcoBoost engines were not available on the outgoing models.

Ford has been pushing its small vehicles, such as the Fiesta, Focus and C-Max, particularly hard in California and elsewhere on the West Coast.

Scott Simmers, general manager of Palm Springs Ford in Cathedral City, Calif., and Fiesta Ford in Indio, Calif., says the new, broader lineup will boost the Fiesta's appeal. The Fiesta already accounts for 25 percent of volume at Palm Springs Ford and 28 percent at Fiesta Ford.

"When the 2014s start hitting, the only place it can go is up because of the powertrain changes, styling changes and the performance element," Simmers says.

The Fiesta ST will bring in performance-oriented buyers who have not been attracted to the Fiesta before, he says.

Liz Elser, brand manager for the Fiesta and Fiesta ST, says the campaign will use social media even more intensely than the original Fiesta Movement did. "TV won't be a huge part of this campaign," she says.

As it did in the original campaign, Ford is using bloggers to connect with its customer base through social media.

Ford chose the agents based on the number of followers they have on social media sites. Some are professional comedians or aspiring musicians. They are making videos of their experiences with the Fiesta and posting them on various social media Web sites. But Ford won't abandon TV entirely; content generated by the bloggers will be used for TV spots on "American Idol" and on ESPN's broadcasts of the X Games.

Ford doesn't pay the agents, though they do get use of the cars -- 80 for the base Fiesta and 20 for the ST. Ford pays for insurance and fuel.

Ford spokesman Dan Mazei said that social media have expanded significantly since the original Fiesta Movement campaign in 2009: "Instagram didn't exist. We didn't have these short-form video platforms like Vine," a short-form video sharing application. "There are all these new ways they can get the content out there."

Sales of the Fiesta, which was introduced in mid-2010, have rebounded in 2013. Sales peaked in 2011 at 68,574 and dropped to 58,775 in 2012 -- in part because Ford introduced a revamped Focus in 2012. The Focus was larger but scored nearly as well as the Fiesta on fuel economy.

Fiesta sales shot up 104 percent in June to 9,363 units as Ford sold down the outgoing 2013 model in preparation for the arrival of the 2014. Overall, Fiesta sales are up 22 percent for the year.