SYDNEY, Australia – Country singer-songwriter Kelly Hope lived out of a brand-new Ford Focus TDCi for two weeks – sleeping, cooking and colouring her hair in it, while also turning it into a wardrobe, music studio and personal training tool – and ended up getting to keep the car for good.

Hope, who even wrote a song about her time with the car and recorded it with her band, was one of 30 finalists who got to drive either a Focus or a Fiesta for a fortnight in Ford Australia’s "Fwd: A Ford" campaign. In return, they blogged, tweeted, took photographs and made videos of the car. The one who generated the most online chatter won.

“Kelly stood out as the most socially-connected Aussie after sharing her exciting driving experiences on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube,” said Raelene Wilson, Ford Australia’s Event Manager. “Her posts received thousands of views, making Kelly one of the most watched people online in New South Wales over the summer period.”

Kicking off the first phase in early October, the campaign aimed to change brand perception by letting the public experience Ford vehicles. The funky Fiesta and the fuel-sipping Focus started turning up at entertainment hotspots, weekend markets and outdoor events such as the Manly International Jazz Festival, Sculpture by the Sea, Moonlight Cinema and Telstra 500 V8 Supercar Series where the public could get up close and personal with them.

Yet it was the second phase of the campaign, the summer drive programme, which created the most buzz and positive mention for Ford in the cyber world.

In all, the finalists drove 46,862 kilometres, posted 1,660 photos and 85 videos on Facebook, which was the hub for the activity. It was estimated that the Ford campaign touched at least 560,000 people going by the conservative guess that each person on Facebook has an average of 120 friends.

Hope, who already owns a Ford Ute with shocking pink decals, managed to convince her 808 friends on Facebook and the 566 fans on her fan page that she deserves the Focus by showing off its versatility and fuel economy in daily video diaries.

She gave two radio interviews on how much she loved the Focus and appeared with her car in a Tamworth Daily Leader newspaper article. During the Tamworth Country Music Festival, she even got bestselling country artist Kasey Chambers to play the guitar and sing while sitting in the boot.

“The acoustics in this car are so good that we can record a whole album in here,” gushed Chambers after the session.

At the end of it all, it was Hope’s creative use of the Focus that won her the car.

“I thought it would be really difficult to live out of a car for two weeks but I had an amazing time and it’s an experience I’ll never forget,” she said.

Now, who’s going to get pride of place, the Ford Ute or the Ford Focus?

The must have accessory wrist band given away by the Fwd A Ford crew at the V8 Supercars.	Relaxing Fwd A Ford activation at a local Sydney Market.
The Rocks Sydney Market a perfectly relaxed atmosphere for Fwd A Ford.	The very popular Fwd A Ford Sculpture By The Sea Shuttle Service.

Fwd A Ford at Parklife Outdoor Music Festival.

Catch Hope’s videos by clicking here 

Listen to the song by clicking here