The American carmaker fuels its electric story with Hollywood tastemakers
Carmaker Ford is attending the Sundance Film Festival for the first time this year, co-hosting a lounge with the W Hotel in Los Angeles as well as the eco platform Shift and other partners. Ford joins an increasing number of brands connecting their brand message with Sundance, including Bertolli, AT & T, Solstice Sunglasses and Puma.
With a growing number of electric cars in the market (more than any other carmaker), Ford representatives said Wednesday that the company is using Sundance to connect with a new type of customer and to reach out to Hollywood celebrities interested in green causes. Celebrities endorsing products can make such a difference to a brand's success," said Wes Sherwood, communications manager for Ford Electrified Vehicles.
fordFord will have seven electrified vehicles on the road this year, including the Focus Electric, the company's first gas-free car. It sells for $32,500, after rebates.
"Sundance opens doors and there is a big interest in Hollywood in green projects. And we want to find our way to those clients," said Sherwood.
As part of its Sundance campaign, Ford will host a dinner using sustainable foods many of which go into making its cars these days. Ford has hosted a series of sustainable dinners around the country.
Some of its car interiors are now made up of 100 percent recycled materials. Soy is used to create the foam base for its car seats.
"We are looking for as many new avenues as possible to get the message home," said Sherwood. "Other car companies are doing one offs. And no one has had an electric car built in the same plant as a regular car, giving the same production line quality. We are adding jobs and bringing jobs back. That's a proud moment for us."
Ford has approved 40 sustainable materials for use in its cars. "It was a big shift to make for us when so many of our competitors were going bankrupt. It was a difficult decision a couple of years ago," said Sherwood.
Inside the lounge, Ford presented several new products, including their new bio car seat made from soy, and talked up their increasingly green focus, which is in line with the Sundance eco-ethos.
Bottles of plastic water had a label reading, "This Bottle Could End Up in a Ford Focus Electric Car." The car company will use 2 million recycled bottles in its cars in the coming production year.
Posters outlined details on how Ford plans to become more eco conscious. The carmaker says that a key goal is to use recycled or renewable materials in vehicles, including post-consumer cotton, nylon, yarns, and plastics.
Lending the Ford eco car seat a certain level of cool, it was positioned alongside snowboards, made of bamboo, selling from the ArborCollective Snowboard for $476 through Shift, with whom Ford is also partnering to make an online series about pioneers in sustainability.
Other products Shift presented in Sundance include speakers made with hemp and bamboo drivers, to deliver an "organic sound," by Glow Audio.
Shift promotes sustainability through art, culture, design and lifestyle and it also runs a retail site.
---Liza Foreman
