Ford Case Study: Using Mobile Advertising on Idle-Screens to Drive Purchase Intent

Ford recently deployed idle-screen advertising via mobile phones and devices to help drive interest in its 2010 Taurus. From September through November 2009, the idle-screen ad racked up an enviable 20% average click-through rate. Working with Mobile Posse Inc., a provider of mobile marketing services, Ford increased purchase consideration and referred consumers to the Taurus mobile Web site, where they could view product videos, find a dealer and receive more information.

We recently spoke with Alex Hultgren, who manages digital media planning and budgets at Ford, about the underpinnings of the idle-screen strategy. Here’s a snippet from the full interview on eMarketer Total Access.

eMarketer: How does idle-screen advertising work on a mobile device, and why chose this mobile medium to launch the Taurus SHO?

Alex Hultgren: At certain points in a consumer’s use of the phone, an idle ad would appear on their screen. The idle-screen technology enables users to launch Ford’s mobile Website after viewing the Taurus ad. At the site, they could find a local dealer. We worked with Mobile Posse on the idle screen, one of several mobile tactics we used. We tied the idle-screen effort to a national campaign for the Taurus in which we used a fair number of banner ads that ran on different mobile sites and networks.

We try to push the envelope in mobile to see what new ideas are out there, to see what resonates. Mobile is evolving. The idle screen was of interest because there are still a relatively limited number of phones that are able to show a banner ad. This was an opportunity to talk to a different group of consumers who maybe didn’t have the technology on their phone.

The thing that really appealed to us about it was that it’s an opt-in program. Consumers decided ahead of time that they were going to receive a message. The mobile phone is such a personal device that you don’t want to put an ad on someone’s phone like that in an idle state when they aren’t expecting it.

eMarketer: What were your objectives from both a brand and direct response perspective?

Hultgren: It was more of an awareness and consideration campaign than a direct response effort. The overall target for the Taurus is males ages 35 to 60. The target for the Taurus SHO is a subset of that target. The SHO has the eco-boost engine performance. The Taurus SHO is more of a subset of that.

eMarketer: Are there metrics you can share?

Hultgren: Across the board, both with the target audience and the control group, we saw lifts in brand awareness, intent to visit the mobile site and purchase consideration. We saw double-digit increases in the four measures we were interested in: aided brand awareness, mobile ad awareness, purchase consideration and mobile site visitation intent, which is among people who saw the idle-screen ad, how likely were they to visit the Ford Taurus mobile site. Overall, we found that aided brand awareness was higher using the idle-screen ad than using standard mobile banners.

The other key metric was for the idle unit. Specifically, we had a 20% click-through rate on it. So one in five people who saw the ad clicked through it.

eMarketer: What are the key takeaways?

Hultgren: We realized that not only did we reach our target audience of males ages 35 to 60 but we also got favorable feedback from a younger female audience. That feedback is helping us examine whether there are some other opportunities to reach car-buying females using the idle-screen unit. Perhaps for the Ford Fiesta. We’re now asking, “How do we use idle-screen ads to reach an audience that might be even more receptive?’ We’re learning as we go and open to trying new ideas.

The full version of this interview is available here, to eMarketer Total Access clients only. Every day they have access to new interviews with digital marketing leaders and trendsetting entrepreneurs.

Click here to learn more about how becoming an eMarketer Total Access client can strengthen your business.