MIAMI BEACH, FL: Ford, the automaker, is tapping into areas like music and food in order to connect its multicultural marketing efforts with consumer passion points.

Rajoielle Register, Head of Cross Brand Strategy and Growth Audience Communications at Ford, discussed this topic at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2017 Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference.

“Two things that are most influential about our multicultural consumers are food and music. We’re leaning into that when we’re trying to target this particular consumer,” she said. (For more, read WARC’s in-depth report: Ford reengineers its multicultural-advertising program.)

As an indicative example of how this focus can yield significant payoffs without a major investment, she cited a tie-up between Ford and singer Sevyn Streeter, who created a playlist for the brand based on what she likes listening to in the car.

“The number of impressions that we got was eight million. We had three million unique visits, and then a 5% click-through rate,” said Register.

Such a program effectively proved out the findings of consumer research. “One of the things that I always try to do is take a step back and understand what research and the data are telling us,” said Register.

Ford’s activations around music can also be linked to its four-wheeled products, as demonstrated by its industry-exclusive deal on Bang & Olufsen’s “B&O Play” technology to bring the listening experience back to the automobile.

“Music was one of those things that I learned very quickly was important, especially for Ford’s business,” Register reminded the ANA delegates.

And Bang & Olufsen’s sound system is “the best place to hear your favorite song in a vehicle. Most times, music brings happiness and something fun. And, when you're marketing, it's very important to start off with those positives,” she added.

“If I'm able to show how cool this audio system is in a unique and creative way without just blowing out music … I'm able to do some unique things.”

Sourced from WARC