Future in focus

  Radioactive Lead singer Edward Kowalczyk
(second from left) of the band Live will be a part of a celebrity
panel at UCLA on Friday. The band will perform at the Wiltern
Theater Friday night.

By Howard Ho
Daily Bruin Contributor

Don’t be scared ““ this isn’t the same old
boring career day.

The “What’s Your Focus Festival” campaign
consists of a test-ride-and-drive of the new Ford Focus in Jackie
Robinson Stadium, a celebrity forum discussion of career options,
and a concert at the Wiltern Theatre featuring the band Live.

“Rather than just buying pages in a magazine, if we do
something like this, it shows another tie with the people
we’re trying to reach,” said Miles Johnson, a Ford
press relations manager.

The Celebrity Forum, which takes place today in the Ackerman
Grand Ballroom at 3:30 p.m., will feature distinguished panelists
from television, sports, film and music. Some of the guests will
include Darren Aronofsky, director of “Pi” and
“Requiem for a Dream,” Tony Hawk, famous skateboarder,
Ed Kowalczyk, lead singer of Live, and Brooke Burke, television
host of E! Entertainment Television’s “Wild On.”
The event will be moderated by Jay Mohr, who starred in
“Jerry Maguire” and currently hosts a Fox sports
show.

“We really went out to look for people with interesting
stories. We didn’t go to the guy who’s dad was a
producer and now he’s an actor,” Johnson said.

Instead of instilling corporate values to students, the
advertisers realize that it is necessary to find what students are
already into and get involved with it. For example, a past Ford
campaign advertised a car as being “Detroit Techno,”
which led them to securing a spot on Moby’s Area One Tour.
Another event, titled “Fashion and Focus” in New York
City enlisted the efforts of 10 up-and-coming fashion designers to
make clothing out of parts of the car, which were then sent out on
runway models.

Our core target is people in the ages of about 18-26 with a bias
towards being college educated. In everything we’ve done with
Focus, we’ve tried to be a part of what’s going on in
people’s lives. As we sat back and thought of doing a college
tour, we thought what better way than to bring something, not just
the vehicle and some banners to an event, but something that is
real and relevant to students,” said Bob Fesmire, marketing
manager for the Ford Focus.

The campaign is centered around five “touch points”
that advertisers believe will attract students; they are fashion,
technology, sports, entertainment and music. While the New York
City event touched on fashion and the Moby tour touched on music,
executives hope that the current festival will be able to touch on
all the points.

“We tried to put an event together that would touch on all
the touch points. What we’ve come up with is a festival that
allows us to do everything,” Johnson said.

Perhaps most intriguing about the campaign is the concentration
away from the actual product itself, but the lifestyle that
advertisers are trying to associate with the product. Advertisers
are hoping to appeal to youth culture in a way conservative
corporations have largely avoided for fear of tainting their
corporate image.

“It is about the lifestyle. We realize that we have to be
where the kids are at and be a part of what they are doing, not
just put up a sign,” Johnson said.

Now it appears that, instead of resisting counterculture and
alternative lifestyles, Ford is embracing it, if only to sell more
cars.

“The goal behind the Focus is to get people into the
brand. Hopefully, their next product is a Ford Escape or a Ford
Explorer or a Mustang, whatever,” Johnson said.

Even if the event is another event to boost Ford’s bottom
line, the people involved are real and talented. Aronofsky’s
risky film “Requiem for a Dream” broke ground with a
terrifying vision of drug abuse, which earned the film an NC-17
rating. Hawk is by far the best known skateboarder in the world and
has even branched out to become a successful entrepreneur.

“Tony Hawk is obviously the man in the world of
skateboarding. I remember watching his videos in the early 1980s,
when the sport of skateboarding was breaking in. Now, he’s
got his own business as an entrepreneur and has really made it. I
would like to talk to him about how he got from A to B,”
Johnson said.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Mohr, who will open
the segment with some of his stand-up comedy. Ford got the
cooperation of so many people through its advertising contacts.

“Basically, there are a lot of publications that we
advertise in. We’ve been working with ESPN the magazine with
advertising. We brought them something like this and asked them
what they would do to help out. They said they would ask Tony Hawk
to see if he wants to do it. ESPN the magazine has a much better
relationship with Hawk then we do, since they cover the X-Games
every year,” Johnson said.

But the question is whether students will dig the festival.

“I think it’s good that we have a career forum,
because, especially at UCLA, we have a lot of students that are
interested in media, like communications majors. It seems random
that it’s sponsored by a car company,” said Annie Wong,
a fourth-year undeclared student at UCLA.

Whether that will necessarily lead to the actual buying of a car
and eventual brand loyalty is rather iffy. Some decisions will not
change based on the culture a car is made to represent.

“No, I wouldn’t buy an American car. The event
wouldn’t convince me to buy a car. I think it’s nice of
them to have the event, although I don’t know how successful
in terms of marketing for Ford it would be,” Wong said.

Advertisers, however, remain optimistic that the “if you
can’t beat ’em, join ’em” philosophy will
get others to become interested in the car. If anything, the event
will simply be a lot of fun and include interesting ideas and
people.

“We have always looked at the Focus as an enabler,
enhancing the experiences that we’ve taken it to. We want to
be part of their lifestyle, not just out there with banners on
signs. We’re really out there to enhance experiences,”
Johnson said.