Ford’s “Drive one” campaign, which debuted April 8, focuses on how the cars embody four pillars — quality, green, safe and smart, with www.forddriveone.com featuring webisodes in all four categories in which Ford employees talk about their work and the new technologies the company is introducing in its vehicles.
The webisodes were created by Team Detroit and produced by GMD Studios, Orlando, FL.
“They were looking for a voice for people within the company who could talk in detail about the specific pillars and drill down into the specific technology and ideas that have been developed at Ford, and drill down more than the :30 TV spots,” said Sam Walsh, executive producer at Team Detroit.
The website features four blue bars–Drive quality, Drive green, Drive safe and Drive smart, that can be clicked to play a webisode. Four new webisodes will be put up each week, with approximately 30 to be featured during the campaign, according to Paul Anderson, manager of Ford’s Cross Vehicle Marketing program.
Brian Clark, CEO of GMD Studios, said the company made 26 videos in the first round. They were shot “all over the map, from Ford headquarters to Los Angeles and Echo Bay. Most of the webisodes featured engineers who discussed things people wouldn’t know about the process. There are no episodes about cars like the Mustang, but there are shots of hybrid cars you can’t buy yet, like the Fusion 999 prototype, a hydrogen fuel cell race car that uses hydrogen gas with no emissions.”
“How Fast Can Green Go” combined footage of the Fusion 999 shot at the Bonneville Salt Flats in northwest Utah during a race event last August, when the Fusion 999 attained a speed of 207 mph. Clark used Ford footage from the event and shot an interview of Ford’s production engineer, Matt Zuehlk. They also shot new footage of five experimental vehicles. “We had the assets and we wanted to tell a documentary story, not sell the product,” Clark said.
The principal cameras Clark used were the Panasonic DVX100A with Letus lens adaptor and the Panasonic HVX200.
The webisodes currently play on the Forddriveone site. “The next step is socializing them in other places and it’s just being finalized,” Walsh said. “We’ll outreach them to various audiences through paid and viral syndication. Some auto industry sites have already picked them up.”
Ford’s “Drive one” campaign, which follows “Bold Moves” and “Swap Your Ride,” includes TV spots on American Idol and other top rated programs. The campaign seeks to motivate Ford employees and dealers as well as consumers. “The webisodes complement the TV spots, but give more information and tell a bigger story,” Anderson said.
Actor Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Arakawa and Their Dog Were Dead For Some Time, Warrant Shows
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple's Santa Fe home, according to investigators. Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 63-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa. Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds. The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn't find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff's detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the best actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s. "He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss," his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife A maintenance worker reported that the home's front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies, investigators said. He and... Read More