Ford came to us with two challenges. First, the automaker wanted to introduce its new Mustang Mach-E to the world and position itself as an innovator in the BEV space. But in a marketing landscape that looks to Silicon Valley for technological advances, how could a 117-year-old company compete?

Second, the Mustang Mach-E wasn’t ready to be unveiled publicly, yet they needed to generate excitement to drive people to pre-order.

How do you convince the world to pre-order something it can’t see?

Knowing we lacked access to the vehicle, we had to create excitement by leaning into the limitations to create a sense of mystery. We handpicked a group of influencers across a range of interests — and invited them to co-create a visual experience in a secret Detroit location. Using light to form abstract art, we challenged the world to decode its meaning, which slowly revealed the gorgeous Mach-E silhouette. Additionally, bit by bit, we hid images of the Mustang Mach-E in the backgrounds of our influencers’ posts, teasing the vehicle and instigating speculation. It all culminated in the final reveal at the live premiere.

We made our weaknesses our strengths by positioning the vehicle as something amazingly unexpected—“the one you didn’t see coming”. All of our campaign’s behaviors and communications were shrouded in mystery and intrigue to create elements of surprise. This also enabled us to create a sense of excitement in the early stages when we had no vehicle to show.

Despite initially being unable to display the new Mustang Mach-E, we created a visual experience specifically designed for influencers to spread on social. We invited influencers of varying interests to a secret event hosted inside a Ford landmark building in Detroit and allowed them to post tantalizing glimpses of the vehicle, leaving followers to clamor for more.

Next, light-painting artist Sola created dynamic light portraits that formed the backdrop to the influencer posts. While each piece separately resembled abstract art, we challenged their followers to assemble the posts, revealing the Mach-E’s silhouette. The completed image of the vehicle was then shared across social.

Later, we hid images of the vehicle in backgrounds of influencers’ posts before anyone was supposed to see it. By hiding the Mach-E in plain sight, we stoked conversation and speculation. Finally, influencers revealed the vehicle on 11/17, driving 4 million+ people to the live premiere.

More than 5 million fans livestreamed the event, making it one of the most-viewed product reveals of 2019. Overall, there were more than 40 million video views, 54+ million influencer impressions and 2 billion total estimated impressions.

More important, every 2021 Mustang Mach-E First Edition sold out, which exceeded client expectations.