It wasn’t quite the level of broadcasting the birth of his newborn baby, but DJ Khaled had yet another one of his major key alerts this week when the hip-hop producer and Snapchat raconteur introduced the Ford EcoSport on the social platform on behalf of the brand.
The subcompact and redesigned EcoSport, an SUV sold outside of the US since 2003, will be making its stateside debut and be marketed toward millennials and downsizing empty-nesters. The vehicle reveal marked the first-ever on Snapchat for any major car manufacturer.
“He’s the king of Snapchat,” Ford spokesman Michael Levine told [a]listdaily at the LA Auto Show. “We know that our younger customers love to share experiences over buying new things. The customer is looking for something that has a great value to it, and experiences that they can share with friends and family. That’s a growing lifestyle.”
Levine said that they wanted to introduce a versatile car that was more desirable to mobile, connected consumers. And what better way to connect with customers and attract a new market than enlisting the ultimate millennial whisperer who has a following of 6 million people on the breakout platform of 2016.
The tiny SUV made a major splash with the maestro to uniformly speak with its “going small and living big” message behind the car.
Ford created a special compound in the heart of Hollywood for the unveiling where other influencers like Ryan Seacrest and musicians like Echosmith and Chromeo took turns engaging the fans who had gathered for Ford’s three-day interactive experience.
The pop-up consumer event, entitled “Go Small, Live Big: LA,” was a Venice Beach-inspired installation lined with tiny homes, a minizoo featuring animals from the Los Angeles Wildlife Learning Center and local food trucks. The hipster haven was also paired with a Snapchat geo-filter.
Ford first used social media to unveil the Explorer SUV in 2010 on Facebook. For the EcoSport, they also had a live Facebook reveal with iHeartRadio.
“Whether they are watching TV or listening to radio or increasingly using digital media, we like to talk to our customers wherever they are at. We’re very pleased with the results that we see,” Levine said. “We have presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and with the all-new EcoSport, we know that our customers love to stay connected with great technology. It’s not one way, or another. It’s multiple channels to talk to all of our customers.”
Follow Manouk Akopyan on Twitter @Manouk_Akopyan
