PR professionals everywhere best take notice of what Ford has just done to future of pitching reporters.
This week, the company launched public, personalized video pitches to influential industry reporters for the Ford Focus Global Test Drive campaign. They’re fantastic. Ford employees personally invite the writers on video and ask those writers to share the invitation with their readers. And while they’re at it, they show off the product and its standout features.
Brilliant. Reporter gets a perfectly personal pitch. Reporter gets to invite readers to experience an exclusive new product demo. Reporter spreads pitch, which doubles as invitation. Readers wanting to test drive vehicle Like the Ford Focus Facebook Page and enter for the chance to go to Europe to test drive the vehicle and receive money to put toward a good cause. Next year, reporters and readers test drive the vehicle and share the experience. Earned media. Social media. PR gold.
I reached out to Scott Monty, Ford’s global director of social media. Here’s what he told me:
“We decided to use personalized video invitations for the Focus Global Test Drive because we wanted to be sure we had the attention of the high-level influencers we wanted to reach. Moreover, we wanted to be sure that it would be in a format that they could easily share with their readers. We believe that video is one of the most personal and intimate ways to communicate online, and it’s also a medium that allows us to showcase our products at the same time. A video invitation, shared with the world, is basically one-on-one communication in the public square.”
Ford may have taken a page from the Old Spice playbook on this one, but I say bravo with the approach. Old Spice made a big splash with personalized video ads and companies have been looking for ways to adapt the idea. Ford did it right.
Bulk distributions of releases, off-topic and non-personalized pitches don’t cut it now, and will be even worse in comparison to something like this. Across the industry, one of the biggest ongoing issues giving PR a bad name is the pitch process. Ford has been out in front of how social media and traditional media can coordinate to help each other. This is a great PR effort for Ford, but it’s bigger than that. It’s an important effort and potential new trend for the entire PR industry to watch and evaluate.
Keep an eye on this one.
Scott is great. I follow him and really admire the way he is getting a big slow corporation like Ford to act in a really agile and creative way. But he needs some help with his wardrobe. Where DID he get the bow tie from?
Scott is super smart. And he’s working with a lot of other super smart people. I’d argue that Ford is in now way a slow corporation, I think over the past few years they’ve proven they’re going to be out in front of setting industry standards.
And, Scott’s wardrobe is fantastic. It takes a real man to rock a bowtie.
This rocks… what a fun way to engage the right media influencers directly. Love it!
Quick question–
How did Ford distribute each personalized video.
Even you can get the video past the media property’s firewall, most reporters disdain emails with large attachments.
We emailed each influencer to explain the process and we included a link to the YouTube video. Only after they acknowledged receipt and replied to our invitation did we post the video for others to see.
Just curiously, Scott…did any decline the invitation? I’d be surprised if the answer was yes, but it would be interesting to know if any media reacted negatively to this approach.
It’s a nice touch, Scott, but still a simple emulation of email pitches that begin with “Dear, Ben…”, a personalization ploy really.
Congrats on being one of the first to try it. The challenge of course will be when everyone emulates it, and quasi-personalized video emails become the new quasi-personalized text emails.
I’m a huge fan of what you’re doing at Ford … so don’t think of this as a ding, just a prod, how will you avoid commoditization of this approach when all video emails do the same thing?
Cheers, and best wishes,
Ben
I think part of the beauty of this is that they won’t necessarily have to do it again. In some cases, being first is a big advantage and in some cases it’s not. I’ve already heard plenty of chatter about “ripping off Old Spice” on this, and there are always going to be people who don’t like to see ideas adapted for new types of outreach.
I don’t think video pitches like this are going to become a norm anytime soon because they simply aren’t suited for every type of PR effort a company is trying to do. But, I do think in the next year, a lot of companies are going to get a lot more creative with their approach to reaching out to journalists.
I’m anxious to watch this entire campaign play out.
Yeah, what Becky said.
Hi Becky,
Thanks for sharing. Creative, personalized video pitches aren’t new, the Ford campaign takes the idea to the next level. The best video pitches work because video, well-done, is a great way to tell a story. A few years ago, Skype sent tech bloggers personalized Christmas carols via video, which were a big hit. And eBay pitched style stories via video to major national TV shows, which resulted in numerous placements for the brand. Great hooks, smart, targeted stories and an element of surprise (and fun) is what makes these videos so effective.
Good idea, but does not seem to be much more than a gimmick to me.
Really? In what way?
I don’t think this changes PR pitching at all. This is very clever on Ford’s part, but keep in mind, it’s also…Ford. You have a large, historic brand that sells a distinct product. Ford has the luxury of being able to do things a lot of brands can not, simply because they’re Ford. Again, not to take anything away from what Monty and Ford have done – they are definitely shaping the digital space. However, just because Ford is using videos to pitch, this in no way changes how other brands should start pitching.
It’s not the tool that’s important. What is important is that pitches are targeted and relevant. Whether they’re digital or print is irrelevant. This might work for Ford, but this doesn’t mean every other brand should start making video pitches.
Also, Matt Batt (@StoryAssistant) at Pipeline has been preaching/using video pitches for awhile now, so it’s nothing new. It just happens that Ford is the latest (and biggest) brand to experiment with it.
You’re definitely right in that the use of video isn’t the new part. And, the key to any pitch is that it’s researched, targeted and relevant to the the reporter. But, the thing about Ford is that since they’re such a big brand and have decided to go this route with pitching this campaign, they’re going to have a lot of exposure with this method, and I think it’s going to change the way a lot of PR pros think about pitching and the way a lot of media will expect pitches to be made.
The distribution vehicle (video in this case) isn’t the important part.
These videos are built with the expectation they will be shared. They double as invitations for the reporters to share with readers. Most pitches are not created that way now. That’s a huge shift in thinking about the function of a pitch… from something to deliver a message to one person to drive interest in a story into something that will be public and shared beyond a reporter’s inbox. You’re right that this approach isn’t going to work for everyone (but nothing works for everyone). Companies pitching events, services and experiences will probably see the most return on a method like this over pitches about a product. But, hopefully someone will get creative and prove that wrong.
While you make some points I agree with, Kasey, I do think you’re wrong about smaller brands not being able to take an approach like this. I’d actually argue this is a fantastic approach for small brands that have smaller niches in media or a more targeted geographic area of media. There’s endless potential on a local level for something like this.
Thanks for reading and the feedback!
I wonder if smaller brands using less professional equipment and editing would be received as more authentic? I was impressed with Ford’s level of production on a few of these (specifically the pitch to Chris Price) but I think if a pitch like this came from an employee of a smaller company using a flip-cam, I would be more intrigued. There might be less fanfare about the methodology, but more pick-up by connectors.
Agreed. While high production quality is awesome if you have the budget, if a message is great, something shot on a flip cam would be totally fine. It can be authentic and personal. While many small businesses might look at this method as expensive and out of reach, I think you’re right in that this is actually a method that has a pretty low cost to entry.
I like the idea. Would love to have that budget. But Becky this font has to go! It borders on impossible to read, and I am using a30 inch monitor! ;-]
Really? Is the font hard to read or do you just think it’s too small?