Ducati Streetfighter: The Social Media Campaign That Never Was

Nov
18
2008

Ducati Streetfighter: The Social Media Campaign That Never Was

Ducati recently launched its new Streetfighter motorcycle with a reveal video and at the EICMA conference. Both events have been captured on YouTube, but for several reasons this online launch marks another corporate social media failure.

Yay. YouTube, but is that really social? Consider the lack of discussion on Twitter. How about blog posts? Only 285 in Technorati in all languages, including all of the prelaunch rumors.

In my mind, that means the community was not engaged. Companies who experiment with social media often make this mistake. They publish content instead of interacting with their stakeholders. They push messaging instead of engaging the community. Influencer relations and knowing the prominent Ducati owner and motorcycle influencers to involve them in the launch would have been savvy. Consider India’s Bikers on the Fastrack Facebook Group.

Heck, even the official web site doesn’t have the basic tagging and sharing principles that any major online product release should have. I don’t care whether you call that a social media release or just common sense. Consider that the reveal photos were not issued on Flickr though lots of folks at the show took them.

In addition to influencer relations and posting content in socially accessible locations, here are several pointers that Ducati could have benefited from:

Choose the right medium. Was a private URL with a flash video the right place? Or a blog where people could comment? Or a Facebook group? It all depends on the Ducati community.

Bookmarks: Let people bookmark and share your content with their communities

Whether direct marketing or PR, know what you want searched. Make that text prominent!

Campaigns like this can use specific hashtags. Encourage the community to use a specific tag! Have the hashtag or tag clearly and prominently associated with the effort or content (calls to action, too).

What else would you suggest for this effort?

Tags: Ducati Streetfighter, grassroots, social media, social media press release, tagging, viral, YouTube

by Geoff Livingston | Geoff, Internet Marketing, PR, social media |

7 Responses to “Ducati Streetfighter: The Social Media Campaign That Never Was”

Philipp Sauber Says:

November 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pm

I absolutely agree. And that’s exactly the problem most marketers and advertisers face these days. They simply can’t handle a social media campaign. As soon as the first A in AIDA (attention) isn’t as easy to cover anymore, they don’t know how to promote such a campaign. But that’s our advantage and a big chance!
Thanks for the example.
Rob McMurtrie Says:

November 18th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

How about inviting key bloggers and Twitters to the event? So they can provide first-hand reaction to the rest of the community?
Frank Martin Says:

November 18th, 2008 at 8:34 pm

Durn! I was so disappointed with that video! What a missed opportunity. Why the hell haven’t they hired you to help them with a campaign?

It’s missing passion. With a product like the Streetfighter, a campaign without passion is almost marketing malpractice!
Brent Billock Says:

January 6th, 2009 at 11:21 pm

This is an accurate assessment of exactly what’s wrong with most companies’ Social Media efforts. I wonder whether the effort was handled freely by Ducati USA, or whether the parent company in Italy is the out-of-touch culprit.

Ducati USA does a nice job of engaging local rider clubs in the real world through events, and they host a broad list of forums for Ducati owners, but they are clearly a bit behind the times when it comes to more modern social tools. Their Facebook page does almost nothing to invite interaction, but serves merely as a placeholder for a long list of photos and videos.

By the way, the motorcycle pictured is a Ducati Monster (or Mostro). Any sportbike without racing plastic is often referred to by the automotive press as a streetfighter, but that’s only a descriptor and not the name of the model. The original Monster is credited with creating the category, though.
Brent Billock Says:

January 7th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

Ugh. I stand corrected. They did introduce the super souped-up Monster under a new name. Why they would undercut the well established “Monster” brand is yet another possible misstep from a marketing perspective.
Chris Says:

March 12th, 2009 at 7:49 pm

that is the streetfighter, and not a monster.

Ducati has a passionate user base, like Apple. It doesn’t really need social media marketing as general WOM gets the job done.

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