Electrifying the electric Mustang

While Ford’s stable of vehicles today is progressive, brand perception and favourable opinion has lagged with millennials who still perceive it as an outdated heritage brand.

Enter the Mustang Mach-E: Ford’s first electric SUV that is anything but traditional. In this new initiative, we were tasked with showcasing the innovative Mach-E and its electrifying performance as a means to revitalize Ford brand perceptions.

The Insight

Today’s tech-savvy millennials are increasingly embracing and opting for engaging online experience like livestreaming. Not only are livestreams a great source of entertainment – spanning the spectrum of everything from 24/7 panda cams to musicians busking from their bedrooms – it is the de facto place on the internet for the gaming community to congregate. However, the stigma still exists that these online passion points are lesser than IRL ones and are a waste of time. 

Insight: Virtual hobbies are real hobbies

The Strategy

[BUSINESS PROBLEM] Ford's declining brand perceptions  is eroding Ford's marketshare with millennials

[CONSUMER PROBLEM] Problem is tech-savvy millennials are stigmatized and judged for their online hobbies

[INSIGHT] However, virtual hobbies are real hobbies 

[SOLUTION] We need to bring the Mustang Mach-e into their real virtual playgrounds

[CONSUMER GOAL] So that they can feel validated in enjoying their online hobbies shame-free

[BUSINESS GOAL] Growing brand perceptions with tech-savvy millennials 

The Idea

For one night only, we invited the internet to take a reinvented test drive with us, allowing users to control a real Mustang Mach-E driven by a professional driver on our custom-built 100,000 square foot racetrack. True to Twitch and Mustang culture, we gamified our test drive by incorporating racing game elements into our livestream such as laps, high scores and of course, turbo boosts. 

The Comms Strategy

Pre-event, we released a teaser trailer to generate hype, which was spread by partner Twitch influencers who simultaneously announced their participation in co-streaming the event.

During our livestream, viewers would be served prompts that presented them with commands they could enter by typing W (straight), A (left), X (turbo boost), D (right) as comments in the chat field. The most popular response at each sequence as calculated by our chatbot would be executed by the stunt driver in real-time.

Post-event, a long form making-of video of this interactive stunt was distributed in online video channels to amplify reach.

The Results

1. Best-in-class 8% lift in Brand Favourability (2x benchmark)
   
   
2. 87,000 virtual test drives averaging 9m17s time spent per user
   
   
3. Over 19,000 game commands entered in 25 minutes, peaking at 44 commands per second

Awards

• Cannes (Shortlisted)
• CMA Awards: Media Innovation (Gold)
• ADCC (3x Silver, 1x Bronze)
• Applied Arts
  
• Marketing Awards