Ford’s Blogging Strategy: Win

AdAge has an article about an interesting blogging strategy taken by Ford Motor Company, who has lent 100 Fiesta’s to bloggers who will post their experiences over six months of driving them. I liked this quote from Fiesta Product Manager Sam De La Garza:

“We realized that the message is increasingly out of our control and that we have to roll with it,” Mr. De La Garza said. “For us it all rests on the quality of this product. We’ve all driven the Fiesta, and we felt so confident about the car that we could start this. We’re going to allow people to tell the story [of the Fiesta] from their lives.”

Out of our control is right (and could be a good thing), but they are making a shrewd move to gain a bit of control by giving a free car to 100 people who, aside from being grateful for the vehicle, are probably very inclined to make a positive impression on the public for the sake of their own bit of “fame.” I’d be willing to bet that a very small minority, if any, will post negative reviews.