Following the success of the showroom upgrade programme and of the Ford Store programme, we were tasked once more to deliver a completely new concept, called Ford Signature, sponsored by Elena Ford directly and the Ford Global team based in the US.

Ford Signature is a new global design for a vibrant, innovative and digitally connected retail environment. It links the in-store and online Ford experience and provides a ‘Best-in-Class’ automotive purchasing experience for the customer.

The new design allows for optimal vehicle presentation, positioning the vehicles as ‘heroes’ within the showroom. Immersive, inviting spaces and supportive digital technologies are provided, which put the customer in control and encourage them to explore and discover.

Ford Signature encompasses an update of showroom exteriors, as well as customer facing interior areas, to create a seamless customer journey.

Ford of Europe and the Ford Global Team appointed us as the main supplier to support and guide the Ford Dealer Operations Managers in all 24 countries and their dealers on this exciting journey.

We have developed, tested and improved furniture designs and adapted it to the European standards where required. We have undertaken a very strict price review with the Ford Global Team and Ford of Europe to make sure that the Ford dealers would receive the best products and the best services at the most competitive prices.

This project has been a real team effort, with support provided from our APS Multilingual Account Management Team, the APS Multilingual Customer Service Team, the APS Product team, the APS Logistics and Transport teams and the APS Installation team and we are all extremely proud to carry on supporting Ford and its dealers on this new inspiring journey will see all the Ford network fulfilling the Signature concept over the next 7 years.

As the automotive customer journey is constantly evolving, we discovered a need for a more immersive experience in Ford’s showrooms – a customer-led approach that improved the decision and sales process.

Think

Behind a driving force of changing customer expectations Ford required a solution that would improve customer service and signposting within their dealerships, creating a more immersive experience. It was vital that the end result had the ability to evolve and grow as well as fit in any dealership.

Create

We were tasked with facilitating a premium showroom upgrade programme across Ford’s European dealerships; managing communications, manufacturing, procurement, logistics handling and implementation for materials, such as free-standing walls and furniture.

Deliver

We created 4 fully interactive customer ‘zones’ in each showroom, along with over 1,000 pages of self-guided, multilingual documentation and videos for dealers. Due to varying dealer sizes, we produced modular ‘kits’ that would work in any dealer environment across Ford’s 3,500 locations.

“APS’s end-to-end management approach has delivered some great flexibility for us and our dealers and customers have been really impressed with the service.”

Manager Retail Experience, Ford of Europe

With around 200,000 visitors and over 2,500 exhibitors ISH is the world’s leading trade fair and international meeting place for the combined topic of water and energy. For Ideal Standard, a multinational bathroom, sanitary ware and plumbing fixture company, it’s the key event in their calendar to showcase new products and ranges to the industry.

The Challenge

We were approached to manage Ideal Standard’s social media channels at the event, as well as ensuring that during the event, social media channels were optimised with content that promoted the events taking place in Frankfurt such as press conferences and product launches.

Think

Our pre-event approach involved posts around the new brand pillars to create an emotion, countdown posts to build excitement about the event and a LinkedIn strategy to encourage the 15,000 followers on LinkedIN to also follow the brand on Instagram.

Create

Our team, comprising of social media managers and filming, editing and photography professionals landed in Frankfurt the day before the event and immediately set about capturing what Ideal Standard had to offer at ISH, with a posting strategy comprised of the following:

• Mix of reportage style shots from the stand and beautiful product shots all showcasing the range and the new brand positioning with a focus on the 3 defined brand pillars.
•  Instazines – Instagram is a great platform to showcase beautiful product shots, however in order to portray product innovation, a greater level of detail was required. We created a series of Instazines – Instagram posts specifically designed to be mini catalogues that gave a greater level of product detail
• Reactive Instagram stories and daily highlight reels were posted throughout the week of the conference building on the buzz surrounding the event and tapping into the audience attending

Deliver

At the end of the pre-event activity and in-event activity, we had grown Ideal Standard’s following from 50 followers to over 5,000, with numbers increasing all the time due to an ‘emotion’ based posting strategy.

“I would like to thank APS Group assisted for a successful ISH 2019. Their dedication, availability and efforts are appreciated. Our posts look great, they drive engagement and growth which is the key in social media.”

Global Digital Director, Ideal Standard