Ford’s Hierarchy of Social Media Effects

Quick. How many of you know about the new Ford Fiesta? According to the Free Press report, 60% of the public are now aware of the brand, even though the vehicle doesn’t go on sale until early next summer!  That’s got to be music to Ford’s ears.  In fact, the awareness of a non-existent automobile is better then the awareness numbers recently reported on all of the candidates in our upcoming Wisconsin gubernatorial election.

What’s really interesting here is not that Ford has done a great job of getting the awareness level to 60%, which they have, or even that they’re using social media in a very large way to get the word out about the Fiesta through the car’s social media website, Fiesta Movement (www.fiestamovement.com), which they are. Nope. The real interesting thing is that they’re using social media to move consumers up the “hierarchy of effects” escalator.

Hierarchy of Effects Model

Ford’s Connie Fontaine said it best in a PRWeek article.

“The first chapter was about developing awareness, and now it’s about driving unparalleled consideration,” said Connie Fontaine, Ford brand content and alliances manager, in a statement. “We want to put Fiesta on the shopping list.”

In classic hierarchy of effects fashion, Ford is following all the rules and using all of the tools. Better yet, they’re developing a significant following and a solid tribe around the Fiesta.