Ford launched a digital magazine with Metro to explore the future of technology and launch the Ford Focus in a unique and innovative way.

1.
Executive
Summary
Ford
Focus
is
the
UK’s
best-­‐selling
small
family
car.
Despite
industry
growth,
Focus’s
segment
was
shrinking,
provoking
aggressive
marketing
tactics
from
competitors.
Ford
needed
to
launch
the
Focus
in
a
unique
and
innovative
manner
to
maintain
leadership.
Partnering
with
the
Metro,
Mindshare
created
WARP
a
digital
magazine
exploring
the
future
of
tech.
WARP’S
mobile/tablet
lead
strategy
resonated
with
the
target
audiences’
primary
interest
and
differentiating
them
from
competitors.
Background
and
objectives
Focus
has
the
highest
share
C
segment
market.
While
the
C
segment
has
increased
in
units
overall,
it
is
not
keeping
up
with
the
market
as
a
whole;
the
C
segment
only
grew
7%
during
2013,
compared
with
11%
market
growth
for
the
overall
automotive
industry.
As
a
result
competition
within
the
C
segment
was
fierce
with
little
differentiation
between
messaging.
In
order
to
overcome
this
Ford
needed
to
build
a
desire
around
the
new
Focus,
amplify
the
car’s
style
and
cutting
edge
technological
features
(in
line
with
the
client
brief)
and
do
this
in
a
way
that’s
innovative
and
unlike
any
competitor
activity.
For
this
launch,
rather
than
planning
a
standard
print
or
display
campaign
we
recognised
that
Ford
needed
to
work
with
a
partner
to
create
content,
which
allowed
them
to
connect
with
their
target
audience
(Lorenzo)
and
build
favourable
opinion
around
the
car,
it’s
features
and
tech.
Ford
also
tasked
us
to
ensure
that
the
response
was
an
inventive,
adaptive
and
digitally-­‐lead
content
solution,
however
didn’t
have
any
content
to
promote
themselves.
In
addition
to
this,
from
sign
off,
Ford
required
activity
to
be
turned
around
within
2
weeks
meaning
that
time
was
against
us.
Business
objective:
Maintain
market
leadership
in
C
segment.
Marketing
Objective:
Increase
favourable
opinion
(thus
consideration)
by
building
an
emotional
connection
with
the
nameplate.
Role
for
Comms:
Launch
and
define
the
New
Focus
through
amplification
of
its
style
and
cutting
edge
technology
features.
Research
also
showed
that
along
with
various
other
topics,
technology
was
a
key
passion
for
the
target
audience,
presenting
an
opportunity
to
amplify
the
new
technology
features
of
the
Focus.
Insight
It
was
evident
from
the
brief
that
Lorenzo
was
digitally
savvy
being
62%
more
likely
to
access
the
internet
through
a
tablet
and
24%
more
likely
to
access
the
internet
via
their
mobile
than
the
average
online
user
(TGI,
2014)
presenting
a
key
opportunity
for
a
tablet/mobile
lead
strategy.

2. The
plan
Taking
the
above
research
into
account
Mindshare
partnered
with
the
Metro
to
launch
WARP
an
exclusive
four-­‐part
digital
only
magazine,
available
across
mobile
and
tablet,
which
brings
you
the
future,
now.
WARP
was
automatically
downloaded,
within
the
Metro
app,
along
with
your
Friday
digital
edition
of
the
Metro.
With
everything
from
3D
printing
human
ears
to
predicting
what
‘Back
to
the
Future
II
Got
Right’,
the
digital
magazine
was
packed
with
need-­‐to-­‐know
technology
and
innovation.
Each
edition
also
featured
a
Focus
specific
article
looking
at
the
innovative
technology
from
the
new
car
and
how
it
changed
a
user’s
driving
experience.
In
addition
to
this,
WARP
also
featured
a
hidden
section
called
Flip,
powered
by
accelerometer
technology,
where
users
could
physically
flip
their
tablet
or
mobile
device
to
unlock
additional
historical
content
looking
at
innovations
that
changed
the
way
we
live,
linking
the
second
creative
territory.
While
the
new
Ford
Focus
is
packed
with
smart,
useful
technology
to
‘make
you
go
further’,
this
partnership
established
Focus
as
a
leader
in
the
tech
space,
meeting
the
role
for
comms,
tapping
into
one
of
Lorenzo’s
passion
points
and
achieving
Ford’s
ambition
to
employ
a
mobile
first
media
strategy.
It
is
important
to
note
that
Mindshare,
Blue
Hive
and
the
Metro
team
worked
collaboratively
around
the
clock
to
produce
WARP,
a
completely
bespoke
product
that
is
a
first
for
both
a
traditional
print
partner
and
a
market-­‐leading
motoring
brand.
Each
week
new
editorial
articles
had
to
be
written,
shot,
approved
and
set
live
allowing
for
only
4
working
days
for
content
to
be
produced.
To
promote
WARP,
display
ads
ran
across
mobile,
tablet,
email
and
print
amplifying
the
magazine
in
association
with
the
New
Focus
launch.
Results
WARP
attracted
over
22,000
users
each
week,
with
over
35,000
users
reading
the
magazine
on
the
first
week
of
launch.
Overall
throughout
the
4
week
campaign
period
the
activity
reached
54,808
unique
browsers,
illustrating
that
the
same
users
were
re-­‐visiting
the
content
on
a
weekly
basis
demonstrating
its
engagement.
It
was
also
evident
that
users
were
keen
to
read
the
entire
magazine,
rather
than
snacking
on
the
content,
with
a
total
of
2.4
million
page
views
across
all
editions
and
devices.
In
order
to
allow
us
to
measure
success
against
the
business
and
marketing
objective
a
study
was
conducted
by
3rd
party
research
company
focusing
on
1,200
Metro
readers,
key
study
take
outs
showed:
• 79%
uplift
in
favourable
opinion
of
the
new
Focus
• 86%
uplift
in
associating
Focus
as
innovative
• 90%
uplift
in
associating
Focus
with
cutting-­‐edge
technology
• 38%
of
respondents
who
had
been
exposed
to
WARP,
or
WARP
promotion,
stated
they
took
some
sort
of
action
as
a
result
of
the
activity,
including
searching
for
more
information
on
the
new
Ford
Focus,
talking
about
the
content
and
visiting
the
website
• 46%
of
all
respondents
who
recalled
the
ad
also
stated
they
would
consider
a
Ford
Focus
for
their
next
car
purchase
Client
view
“The
mobile
first
strategy
of
WARP
meant
Digital
was
core
to
this
important
campaign.
Ford
has
always
embraced
innovative
ideas
/
technology
and
WARP
was
a
great
opportunity
to
try
something
new,
differentiating
us
from
others
in
the
market
–
especially
important
for
the
Focus
launch.
WARP
was
also
well
received
internally
and
we
were
extremely
pleased
to
be
involved
in
such
an
exciting
piece
of
work.”
Rachel
Moore:
Media
&
Fixed
Marketing
Manager
for
Ford
UK