Dive Brief:
- Ford partnered with Outfront Media on an out-of-home ad campaign allowing consumers to create and share their original Ford Mustang logo art, which could appear on an outdoor digital billboard, per a news release.
- Logos will be chosen from Ford's Pony Personalizer, an online tool that lets fans design customized Mustang logos and also order prints, clothing and limited-edition grille badges for late-model Mustangs based on them.
- Professional drivers Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr., as well as the YouTuber David "ThatDudeinBlue" Patterson, created their own Mustang art as part of the effort. The campaign will run through July on Outfront properties in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando.
Dive Insight:
Ford is putting Mustang fans in the driver's seat by letting them design their own logos and have a chance to get them recognized on billboards in high traffic areas around the country. Gearheads already enjoy customizing their vehicles, and the Mustang has a particularly ardent following in the U.S. and around the world, making the campaign and Pony Personalizer likely to draw interest.
Digital billboards that incorporate some form of user-generated content are one way marketers are evolving their OOH strategies, previously defined by static billboards and signage. To promote "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" last year, Disney displayed real-time Twitter reactions to the film on billboards in Times Square and on Toronto's TEC Towers. Several brands, including Coca-Cola, Samsung and Hyundai, also took part in a an interactive billboard campaign in London's Picadilly Circus, which tracked cars and passersby to deliver targeted ads that people could interact with in real time.
More automakers might be attempting to tap into innovative digital marketing tactics as car sales in the U.S. decline. Jeep earlier this month rolled out a 360-degree video experience with the World Surf League that lets viewers explore Oahu, Hawaii with pro surfers driving the brand's vehicles. Earlier this year, Honda launched a targeted social media campaign where Facebook and Twitter users could create personalized award videos for their friends that could be shared on the platforms.
