After placing the Ford Ka in the latest James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace”, Ford is now breaking new ground in the field of advertisement. Ford aims to address the young target group with the new Ford Ka. As part of a 360°marketing campaign including TV, print, online, and mobile advertising measures, the company now co-operates with MySpace Germany for the second season of the web soap “They call us Candy Girls”.

The measures of Ford and MySpace include a casting call for a guest appearance in the series. Advertisements were placed on MySpace and resulted in a specially created brand community. Moreover, the “Candy Girls” will be driving a Ford Ka in the season.

To renew its young image and to emphasis the “urbanity” and “coolness” of the Ford Ka, the company decided that the “Candy Girls” community was the ideal target group. By co-operating with MySpace Germany, Ford is also able to position itself in an innovative environment with a broad community. The average age of MySpace users is 25, but the web soap addresses an even younger audience. In fact the average age of the “Candy Girls” is between 18 and 20 years.

The last season was watched 1.9 million times by users and the “Candy Girls” had remarkable 700.000 page views, thus a certain reach within the target group is guaranteed. But one must admit that the quality and content of the soap are not appealing to everyone. This might also be the reason why Ford communicates the co-operation almost exclusively via MySpace: to avoid a negative image transfer with regards to its older target groups. But at the latest with the start of the new season of the series in April, we will find out whether this co-operation pays off for Ford and Ford Ka.