(Reuters) – Forget the Super Bowl: Ford’s marketing chief Jim Farley says he can get more for less on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
If Farley is right, millions of hits for Ford Motor Company on social media websites will dwarf the impact of ads broadcast during the National Football League’s February championship game — high-profile space selling for $3 million for 30 seconds.
“Customers are spending as much time with the mobile smart phone or online as they are watching TV now, so our advertising dollars have to flow to where the people are,” Farley told Reuters in an interview.
Under Farley, 48, who joined Ford from Toyota Motor Co in 2007, the No. 2 U.S. automaker has bet bigger on the emerging category of digital advertising including websites and social media than any of its rivals.
Farley has taken the approach credited with the early success of the youth-oriented Scion brand he launched at Toyota and applied it to the makeover of an established auto brand.
He is betting Ford can use Facebook and Twitter to accelerate the word-of-mouth recommendations long familiar to the auto industry and help the blue-oval brand connect with younger and richer people.
Continues at: Ford bets big in digital marketing departure | Reuters.
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