As the EU plans to ban the sale of combustion vehicles by 2035, Ford is on its journey to electrification, turning all of its fleet electric. With regulation as motivation, a new EV launches in Europe every 10 days. Each one blends into the next, offering the same product features and range stats, creating a sea of sameness, leaving consumers uninspired. Ford wanted to change that, leveraging its rich heritage to stand out. Enter the Ford Capri—first introduced in 1968, it became a cultural icon during the 1970s as Europe’s answer to the American muscle car and the aspirational car for rebellious drivers.
Particularly in the UK, it became synonymous with freedom, speed, and a maverick spirit, which faded as the car was discontinued in the late 80s.
The original Capri was a car of mischief and freedom, known as a stunt car, a getaway car, and a race car. Reviving this rebellious spirit in the EV era required a campaign with energy and attitude. Ford needed a personality that could match the Capri’s distinctive legacy. Enter Eric Cantona, a 90s football legend known for his individuality and defiance. Just as the Capri symbolised freedom and rebellion, Cantona embodied nonconformity on and off the pitch.
By bringing together these two cultural icons, Ford injected mischief and nostalgia into the stagnant EV market. The campaign sparked conversation and visibility, reconnecting the brand with its daring past and introducing the next generation to the legend of the Capri, unveiling a car on social like never before.
The Creative Idea
Ford brought back the rebellious Capri, known for its nonconformist appeal, so this gave us permission to use mischief as our creative platform to be playful with the category and advertise the car in a mischievous way rooted in social. We started by pairing it with 90s football icon Eric Cantona, a figure synonymous with defiance and individuality. The campaign walked the fine line between the plausible and absurd, which was key for shareability, seeding ‘easter eggs’ across social to fuel speculation and viral engagement.
We blended nostalgia with disruption, reviving a classic car in a way that subverted traditional EV marketing with social, engineering virality at the heart of everything we did. Once we had applied a modern lens to the historically loved car, we tapped into newstalgia, playing with the juxtaposition of old and new throughout the campaign speaking to both original Ford Capri fans and EV innovators.
The Strategy
The strategy leveraged the nostalgia of the Ford Capri and the rebellious persona of Eric Cantona to engage two key audiences: nostalgic car enthusiasts resistant to electric vehicles (EVs) and, a demographic open to innovation. Recognising that EV car reveals often fail to capture attention, the campaign used the original Capri’s spirit to break through the noise with a disruptive, social-first approach.
By positioning social media as the lead channel for the Capri's unveiling, Ford tapped into the cultural zeitgeist surrounding the UEFA Euros 2024, ensuring high visibility and talkability. The four-stage strategy centred on blending plausible and absurd content, engineering virality across social platforms to ignite intrigue and build momentum.
With influencers, meme accounts, and podcasts fueling speculation and conversation around Cantona and the Capri, strategically building attribution to Ford. This organic buzz-building created a viral effect, amplified by strategic PR seeding, driving unprecedented engagement and reach.
The Execution
The execution of the Ford Capri campaign was a carefully orchestrated social-first reveal that unfolded in four phases across social to spark intrigue, create conversation and get noticed, carefully engineering attribution to Ford over a two-week period.
It kicked off by seeding absurd ‘easter eggs’ across social channels, featuring enigmatic appearances by Eric Cantona with a goat, creating curiosity and sparking social media buzz.
To fuel further intrigue, Ford collaborated with a range of meme accounts, and subculture influencers, spreading speculative content about Cantona’s involvement. These creators were given autonomy to craft their own narratives, adding to the campaign’s authenticity and shareability. As rumours circulated online, we seeded PR stories across prominent media outlets, reaching a wider audience and fuelling momentum.
The campaign culminated in the first-ever social-led reveal of the all-electric Capri. This multi-layered approach generated unprecedented earned media, viral engagement, cementing the Capri’s position as an iconic EV.
The Ford Capri campaign delivered outstanding results, breaking records in the EV category. The reveal became Ford’s most-seen electric vehicle launch ever, achieving 1 billion in combined earned reach. It generated 3 million organic impressions, 424 million in earned social reach, and 38,000 earned mentions. The campaign’s creator videos amassed 4.6 million views, while paid media delivered an additional 50 million impressions.
Eric Cantona’s involvement drove 33% higher engagement rates compared to Ford’s previous Explorer reveal. The sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, with 66% of social responses reflecting favourable views. Media coverage was extensive, with top outlets like The Sun, Campaign, Top Gear, and PR Week picking up the story, contributing to 820 million in earned PR reach.
The campaign’s success not only redefined the way Ford approached electric vehicle marketing but also showcased the power of a social-first strategy, driving massive brand visibility and engagement across diverse audience segments.
