Alan Mulally, world president of Ford Motor Company and successful businessman in the United States, announced that he would be visiting Spain from 1 to 3 March, challenging Ford to make his arrival a newsworthy event. How to capitalise in the media on the presence of a businessman who didn’t even have any reason in particular for coming here?Objective: to position the CEO of Ford as one of the most important businessmen on an international scale thanks to his business strategy in Spain.Strategy: to create an agenda of meetings with HRH King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the President of the Regional Government of Valencia, Francisco Camps, and the leader of the Partido Popular, Mariano Rajoy, as well as a meeting with dealership representatives, a visit to the Almussafes factory and meetings with the firm’s employees.

Results: In 3 days, there were 16 items on television, 48 articles in the print media and more than 120 online hits. The media interpreted the implicit message transmitted by the visit, portraying Ford as one of the backbones of Spanish economic stability, with the constant presence of the new Focus playing a prestigious supporting role.

Before the visit, the media were informed about the executive in order to increase their interest.

The launch of the new Focus became a three-day event, with the network of dealerships, receptions with the authorities and the "Man of the Year in the Automotive Sector" award, presented annually by El Mundo newspaper. The media were invited to each newsworthy event.

A press visit and breakfast was organised with Alan Mulally and the president of Ford Spain, José Manuel Machado, for journalists from the leading dailies, with one-on-one interviews arranged.Alan Mulally’s presentation was broadcast live through video-streaming hosted by Ford Spain’s corporate website. Video press releases and video news were distributed throughout all national television channels.

After Alan Mulally’s visit to Spain there was increased dealership traffic. The following were generated during the 3-day visit:• 16 items on leading TV channels and a total of 23 minutes on prime-time news bulletins• 48 articles in the national and regional print media• More than 120 hits in online media • An audience of nearly 20 million on TV and in the press alone• An advertising value of €671,297 with a public relations’ value of €2,013,891• 95% of coverage in non-automotive mediaMost of the media presented headlines that perfectly summarised the visit’s publicity objective: "Ford looks to the future at Almussafes" and "Alan Mulally highlights the strategic value of the Valencia factory" were some of the most popular.