Our research gave us this surprising little insight: apparently, most car enthusiasts in America had a pent-up desire to let loose with the legend that is the Mustang. While some had already acted on this desire and had a Mustang story to share, others had only dreamed of doing something amazing with the car.

So to launch the new 2010 Mustang, we created a program to let people unleash their Mustang side. Enter The ’10 Unleashed. Ten incredible opportunities to unleash your Mustang side, any way you want to, no holds barred. In the next year, we made good on our promise and we captured it all on tape. All told, we created ten unscripted, uncensored, original documentaries, fed people’s Mustang fantasy with an online customiser, and launched the Mustang in a way that truly transcended marketing. Along the way, we also inspired an entirely new generation of Mustang enthusiasts.

It all began by unleashing the Mustang live on national television, a historic first for a car debut. Then, we set about finding the most incredible Mustang dreams. Like the story about the blind man who wanted to drive a Mustang. We turned each and every one of these stories into an original documentary that we promoted with print and online campaigns, and shared in the digital space - at the2010Mustang.com, on social media sites, through email and mobile campaigns, at national auto and racing events, and even at retail outlets. And so that people could continue to unleash their Mustang sides, we developed a groundbreaking interactive tool, the Mustang Community Customiser. It allowed users to customize their own Mustang, in real time, simultaneously with other users or on their own. They could then share their creation with friends on Facebook and Twitter, which in turn helped spread the word.

As some car enthusiasts put it, The ’10 Unleashed is the ultimate collection of Mustang experiences. There is perhaps no better way to express the impact and success of this idea. That said, here are the numbers. 10,000 consumer submissions. 2.4 million online views. 3.4 million site visits. 900,000 custom Mustangs built with the Mustang Customizer. 684 million media impressions. 60,000 Mustangs sold as a result of the campaign. All for one of the lowest ad budgets in Mustang’s history.