Car+Matchbox+Marketing = ?

What would be the first thing that comes in your mind when you read the above title? It would probably be about the marketing program for this miniature toy that many of us (especially the boys) are familiar with:

Maybe. But rather, consider this viral marketing campaign in 2007 by Ford Malaysia in light of their Ford Ranger line. The truck boasts an extendable bed for extra cargo. Now, how and what would be an excellent way to reach its target consumers - mainly consisting of people are loosely related to construction, manual labor, transportation, field workers etc. Most of these workers tend to smoke and drink.

So Ford came out with an innovative viral marketing tool which was distributed in pubs and bars:

1. Captured the intended audience
2. Delivered the message precisely and cleverly

What were the results? More than 1,600 people have visited Ford with about 450 booked a test drive. All cars of the limited edition of Ranger Extreme were sold out a month ahead of its expected sales schedule.

Here is what they did: