America's Next Top Automotive Journalist

Live Photos Copyright ©2009 Sebastian Blanco / Weblogs, Inc.

I am in the process of submitting my application to become a Ford Fiesta Agent. If you haven’t heard of the Fiesta Agent program, it’s Ford’s way of getting the word out about their new ultra-compact car, and my are they doing a great job.

Ford’s already done one round of viral marketing with the new Fiesta to where they have 80,000 hand raisers ready to buy the car the second it comes out. That’s phenomenal in a country where people (comparatively speaking) pay less for gas than the air they breathe.

With the Fiesta Movement Chapter One, Ford Motor Company was able to generate this much viral buzz:

Fiesta Movement agents have traveled more than 1.4 million miles and have generated more than 6 million YouTube views, nearly 740,000 Flickr views and more than 3.7 million Twitter impressions.

That’s a lot of Tweeting, especially when you consider this movement is now immortalized in the Guinness Book of World Records.

A week ago the Fiesta Movement held the largest “tweetup” in the history of mankind with 1,149 attendees. Here’s a definition of a “tweetup” pulled from the Ford press release:

“A tweetup is any gathering of two or more people who know each other through Twitter.”

On the heels of all this buzzing, tweeting, blogging and being viral – sounds like a night in Thailand more than social-networking and hip corporate marketing – Ford has just announced it is looking for new Fiesta agents for its Fiesta Movement Chapter Two.

The Future Number-One Automotive Journalist in North America wants to be a part of something historic and record-breaking, so I am working on my application to become a Fiesta agent. This involves filling out online forms and filming a video, so it should be fun.

I consider it another chapter to add to my story.

Speaking of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, I just saw it at the L.A. Auto Show and it looks brilliant. For instance, the leather quality is on par with luxury cars. It’s like Lincoln made a supermini. Quite frankly I blame a lot of Fords success on its decision to sell off Jaguar.

A few years ago Ford couldn’t make nice cars because they wouldn’t be able to sell Jaguars. Why make a nice Taurus, or a Five Hundred as it was called back then, and cannibalize Jaguar X-Type sales?

Now Ford is in a position to make cars that undercut the luxury competition by 10 to 20-thousand dollars, and there’s a lot of sales and profit to be made in the “undercutting luxury” segment. Hyundai’s been at this strategy for several years now, and look at how successful they are.

This strategy continues for Ford’s most compact car in America. Imagine, this car might not have existed in the U.S. if Ford hadn’t sold Aston Martin because, rather laughably, Aston Martin is getting into the small-car market with the Aston Martin Cygnet.

The Small Car for Rodeo Drive?

Ah, it’s nice to know Ford has some breathing room with the cars they now bring to market, and this is exactly why the Ford Fiesta in the U.S. will be a great set of wheels.

So there you have it, the Fiesta Movement – isn’t it a little ironic this car is called “party”?