Despite an uphill task of carving its presence in the overcrowded and competitive small car segment, Ford was determined to create a bang with the launch of its first small car – Figo! Ford’s new consumer for Figo, was the face of modern India - young and tech-savvy. Ambitious yet pragmatic. Through an integrated path of engagement - from high engagement digital campaigns including a pan-India drive with young couples, to traditional methods involving test-drives, and technology sessions. Figo made a huge impact not only on its target audience but across the country!

Even before the launch, Ford managed to connect with half a million consumers, courtesy its micro-site. The Figo launch events were attended by more than 800 journalists and bloggers across 15 cities helping it achieve 10,000 bookings in its first month and 25,000 in just 100 days!By February 2011, Figo had achieved over 40,000 fans on Facebook; not to miss the triple digit growth for Ford India with over 80,000 proud owners. 'Indian Car of the Year 2011 [iCOTY]' notwithstanding, Figo also became the most awarded car ever with over 20 top auto excellence awards in Indian automotive history.

The information and influencing started with a first of its kind offsite – bringing the best of India’s 'auto' minds together to introduce Figo & its technology/design differentiators.

For consumers, Ford launched a series of 12 webisodes on an unbranded website, WhyIsthisManSmiling.com, around the adventures of an animated character called 'Smiley Raj' – strikingly similar to Figo’s target consumer. Apart from active engagement with media, Ford sustained the momentum through experiential drives and lifestyle placements both in Tier I and II cities. Contests for bloggers and lifestyle placements sustained feature stories around the Figo than just reviews. Creating a perfect harmony between traditional and non traditional media, the Ford Figo Discover Smart Drive had four young couples documenting their 2,500 KM journey across media channels.

Creating a 360 degree impact, the sustained communications strategy since its launch resulted in energizing the dealer, employee and consumers community.

- Ford Figo continued to be amongst top No.2 in terms of share of voice against competition- Ford Figo received more than 1,100 stories in national newspapers, magazines, and blogs- Figo digital engagement drove over half a million visitors to whyisthismansmiling.com and 10,000 conversations around Discover Smart Drive- Over 15,000 seconds of non-paid traceable electronic coverage across TV networks within 11 months of its launchBusiness impact of the campaign: - Ford Figo achieved 10,000 bookings in just one month of the launch, went to become second fastest to reach the 50,000 production milestone, doing it in just six months- By February 2011, Ford had sold 80,000 Figo cars making it the best sales year for Ford in India- Having become the most awarded car ever in India, Figo got international acclaim with exports planned to over 50 countries – making it truly global Ford product from India!