2009 PRO Awards: Drive One 4 UR School

Agency: JWT - Team Detroit
Client: Ford Motor Company

The success of Ford’s Drive One 4 UR School program can be summed up in its 205% ROI. At a time when the auto industry, as well as public schools, are facing heavy financial challenges, Ford created a win-win campaign that not only generated a triple-digit return, it also raised $800,000 for U.S. high schools.

Participating Ford dealers partnered with local area high schools to foster test drives of Ford vehicles. For each test drive completed on event day, Ford donated $20 to the designated high school booster club, up to a maximum of $6,000. In addition, the school that generated the highest sales (over the next 120 days) received an additional $15,000. Dealers received program kits 4-6 weeks in advance of their event that included posters, banners, floor graphics, car flags, vehicle and window clings, staff T-shirts, stencils and spray chalk, directional signs, balloons, a tent and numerous giveaways. Extra banners and posters were provided to give to the schools. In addition, JWT set up a headquarters for the program with a toll-free number and email address, and created a planning guide to help dealers conduct a successful event. 

Dealers welcomed the promotion with enthusiasm and held 280 events at high schools across 44 states. Local residents countrywide were equally enthused as nearly 37,000 conducted almost 39,000 test drives, with 66% being people who were not currently Ford owners. Participants also were entered into a contest to win prizes such as a Magellan GPS or Microsoft Zune.