Ford Focus Ultimate Test Drive: First video entry submitted

Entries in the Ford Focus Ultimate Test Drive are raising the bar high.

Janet Leach’s slickly produced effort sees alter-ego De De Zign jetting in from somewhere posh to tout stylish sunscreen products. She’s ticked all the boxes for professionalism: impeccable hair, makeup and wardrobe; larger-than-life screen presence and high video production values imparting a clear message. All delivered on time and within budget (whatever that was). Great job, Janet.

But don’t be intimidated by Janet’s artful hauteness. Because the Ford Focus Ultimate Test Drive relies not on technological accomplishment but on the innate wit and wisdom that’s there, somewhere, in every one of us.

All Mark Barwell needed for his early entry was an eye for house style and a standard camera for his Carsales review of last night’s dinner. All Danny Cvetkovski, recently repatriated from Ireland, needed was plenty of drinking experience and a smart turn of phrase for his review of Dublin pubs.

For those looking at a video entry, slickness can help but it comes second to content. Two minutes on YouTube is all it takes to discover some terrific stuff simply being spoken or acted into a single static lens – often just a mobile phone.

In other words, the message comes first. As long as you make good use of your chosen medium, you’re in the running.

How to do it? First send in a review of something you love, in words and pictures or on video. Doesn’t matter what it is – by our reckoning, the wider the range the better (this side of explosives and intimate rubberwear, anyway...).

Impress our panel of judges enough to make the shortlist and you’ll spend six weeks in a top-spec Focus Titanium, during which you’ll be able to put your Focus through half a dozen tests and report your results back through the Ultimate Test Drive website (link). The Carsales Network audience votes up the best of the blogs and if you come out on top, you keep your car.

If you fancy yourself in Ford’s high-tech hatch, it’s time to get going. Entries for this first phase close at noon on June 17.

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...