Ford eyes Grammy’s for Explorer promotions

Detroit-based automaker Ford has decided to go musical for promoting the latest version of its SUV, the Explorer.

The automaker will be using the 53rd Grammy Awards platform, to be held on Sunday, to tell the Explorer story with three commercials including a 60-second television spot featuring hip-hop artist Nelly focusing on Explorer's new audio system from Sony.

The ad with Nelly shows the artist interacting with a television director about the ''best'' way to tell people about the Explorer's cool sound system. The director wants to use a lot of theatrics, and Nelly wants to keep it real.

Nelly's new song ''Gone'' is played in the background as the two go back and forth about which approach is best.

''We are always looking for relevant opportunities to get our messaging out there, and this really came together in an interesting and timely way for the Grammy's,'' said Eric Peterson, Explorer communications manager.

Ford has been actively promoting the latest version of the SUV on social media like Facebook through videos featuring engineers and celebrities, who answer various questions about the SUV.

''The nature of social media changes so rapidly that you have to reinvent yourself every time you go to market,'' said Peterson. ''If your content is not engaging, informative and authentic, customers will tire of you quickly. They won't wait for you, and they will go somewhere else.''