According to a story in Emirates Business 24/7 the Middle East bloggers failed to respond at all to their oh so clever social media marketing campaign...
"Ford is to count on the efforts of 100 bloggers to launch its new Fiesta model. However, Middle East Ford officials said they won't be able to replicate the innovative campaign here as they feel blogger marketing in the region still lags behind other cyber marketing tools."
"According to Ford, the campaign was the first of its kind in the automotive segment. Bloggers invited to offer their inputs from around the region, however, generated no response."
I suggest the failure was not Middle East bloggers failing to respond, or be ready for such an initiative, I suggest the failure was in their communication and engagement of the Middle East blogger community.
As a little experiment - I'd like to ask did anyone here know of this campaign, see their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter or most pertinently be directly asked by Ford to participate.
Further reading and commentary at the ever reliable Fake Plastic Souks
Responses please...
Nachhaltiger Ökotourismus in den VAE
3 days ago
Posts
11 comments:
It was a well kept secret....
Fix
Or
Repair
Daily
Anonymous said...
Fix
Or
Repair
Daily
Grow up. I havent ever owned a ford, but 2 cousins owned mustang GTs, another owned a cobra. Trust me, as with any car, you get what you pay for. the GTs were some of the worst cars ever, the cobra was like a dream.
a little POS like the fiesta is probably going to be in the garage alot. a 230K mustang cobra isnt. Simple. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
A very well kept secret
Well kept secret indeed. Their loss.
So well kept that they themselves forgot that they were keeping it.
On the other hand, you have a local company trying something new on Twitter and getting some success with it: http://shuffle.to/twitterday
If Ford did not tap the UAE Community Blog, they obviously did nothing. Claiming that there aren't enough bloggers in the Middle East is almost like claiming that Ford makes good cars. Absurd!
Hi DXbluey,
Some clarifications, as posted on Fake Plastic Souks:
We didn’t undertake a full-fledged blogger outreach programme in the Middle East. For the UAE Fiesta launch, only a few Dubai based media that have their own blogs, such as Kipp Report, Emarat Business, Adnation, etc, were sent information.
The UAE Fiesta launch was part of an integrated marketing campaign that had a digital component. It was a success as we raised AED63,000 for charity through the auction on souq.com, and all 24 Special Edition cars have already been sold.
Digital marketing initiatives are new to this market and we look forward to doing more.
Thanks posting and for the comments; we look forward to getting your perspective on future campaigns.
Theo Benson
Marketing & Product Manager
Ford Middle East
tbenson1@ford.com
Theo,
You might want to learn to spell "Emirate" correctly for the next UAE digital marketing campaign.
Just a thought...
Theo, even though you think that your answer helps, it doesn't! Bloggers around the ME are still disappointed by the total disregard your company has shown.
If you want bloggers to be sincere to your brand and campaigns again, a simple apology would go along way! Scott Monty, of Ford Motors USA, replied to us yesterday mentioning that such statements are for you, at the Middle East branch, to think out and study its potential ramifications. No one from your side in the Middle East has commented yet!
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