Ford and Yahoo! have announced a new program to promote the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, with “Plugged In,” Yahoo!’s first reality competition series.
Ford and Yahoo! have announced a new program to promote the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, with “Plugged In,” Yahoo!’s first reality competition series.
The series is being broadcast exclusively on Yahoo! Screen, Yahoo!’s video site. Plugged In features two-person teams competing against each other in a series of challenges centered on the chance to win a Ford Focus Electric.
“Ford is launching the Focus Electric on Yahoo!, once again recognizing the power and reach of the Web as we continue to rely more on digital media,” says Matt VanDyke, director, U.S. Marketing Communications for Ford. “The electric vehicle market will grow over time, so we electrified our popular small-car platform with a targeted online campaign instead of creating a one-off vehicle with huge ad budgets.”
Plugged In competition locations include Los Angeles; New York; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Seattle; Austin, Texas; Atlanta; Raleigh, N.C.; and Boston. A celebrity, serving as the hometown’s personal insider, kicks off each episode and provides clues that require contestants to complete various tasks and challenges while exploring and discovering hidden cultural gems and “best of” locations in their city. The winning teams in each city move on to participate in the finale event in Los Angeles, where they will compete with teams from other regions for the chance to win the Ford Focus Electric.
“The winners of Plugged In aren’t vying for just any car, they are competing for the most fuel-efficient five-seat vehicle in America – just one more reason this competition is all that much more exciting,” said Ginger Kasanic, Ford’s experimental marketing manager. “The hope is that viewers not only find the competition element of Plugged In exciting and interesting, but also learn a little bit about the possibilities offered by Focus Electric.”
