In a tough new car registrations market, Ford Focus sought to build brand consideration among 25-44year-old males. Key to this was communicating the Focus' tech credentials; a new Ford Focus edition launched in early 2011, laden with lots of cutting-edge technology including active park assist and traffic sign recognition. By definition, T3 reader are lovers of tech. Importantly they love sharing their opinions with their peers, making them powerful advocates. T3's audience spend twice the national average on new cars, making this the perfect platform for Ford.

Build brand awareness and consideration among an influential male audience.

The solution was headline sponsorship of the T3 Gadget Awards 2011. Aligning the Ford Focus with the biggest publicly voted tech awards in the world, provided Ford with the perfect showcase. The awards are a truly multi-platform property; held in high regard by the tech industry with a huge amplification effect into the mainstream. 2011 was the biggest T3 Gadget Awards ever - with 970,000 votes. Support was a dedicated microsite, online, print, social media, iPad and print ads, newsletters, competitions and features on C5's The Gadget Show!

Record numbers interacted with the 2011 T3 Awards driving business success for Ford. 168k UK unique's visited the Ford Focus sponsored awards microsite, with an average page dwell time of 118 seconds. There were 66k video views and brand consideration shifted to 74% among T3 readers exposed to the campaign!

Ford Focus' association with the T3 Gadget Awards went beyond a simple sponsorship to dramatise the Focus' tech credentials. The awards platform showcases how Future can deliver clients truly integrated editorial/advertiser 360* partnerships.