Young Russians love YouTube. They also absorb lots of information from Facebook and local social media. So our new brand hero was the face and voice of YouTube video blogs providing branded content that we renewed constantly to share relevant automotive topics and stories with our new, young audience. These video episodes were ‘edutainment.’ We also made nine video blogs containing product placements. As viewers got to know our friendly red-bearded man, they started finding him on social media sites too. He had profiles on Kontakte, Facebook and Odnoklassniki, where he amplified our video blog content. He also integrated content into active Ford communities on social media and began conversations in unbranded automotive communities. Not only had the Focus established contact with young Russians but it was also talking to them. The brand became, suddenly, far more relevant.

After almost 3 million unique video views, the Ford Focus became the number-one foreign car brand in Russia among young people. It was no longer seen as a car ‘for old men’. We saw 6% growth in favourable opinions among those who watched our videos. And many people watched them. On Ford Russia’s YouTube channel, weekly viewing of pure video content during the campaign soared by almost 84%. After they watched them, 52% said they liked the Focus. After watching our nine video blogs, 75% said they liked the car.