Facebook had a ‘do’ on the roof of their Palo Alto offices last week, specifically for PR people, imparting useful  information such as how to “like” any article online, use a Firefox plug-in and tips on live-streaming.

They’ve set up a PR page too (of course) which now has 3000+ fans and perhaps have started to take PRs seriously as future partners. There’s no doubt the interest is reciprocated, though most big brands are proceeding with caution.

Ford has just made a bold move however in eschewing the traditional auto show and advertising biltz, to launch their new Explorer model on Facebook.

They’ve used it a a kind of hyprid press room/consumer information hub, containing several video interviews, pre and post ‘reveal’ photos, a competition to win a new Explorer and a schedule of live city events.

Instead of the major auto show ‘reveal’ and $50 million to $100 million TV spend Ford released photos to traditional media just after midnight on Monday – July 23rd and followed up with a series of timed video releases under a ‘reveal’ tab on Facebook during the day.

Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of marketing, reported in The Detroit Free Press said Ford’s success with the social media-driven campaign for the Fiesta earlier this year, gave Ford the confidence to reveal the Explorer without relying on a major show.

So far so good. If you’re being picky, there’s no dates or exact locations for the city roadshows and you wonder if they could have come up with a viral video, as Toyota has done with the Sienna – maybe that’s to  come. You also can’t watch their videos in a Chrome browser – you have to be in Explorer – but maybe that’s the point!

And while it looks experimental now, in two years time this type of Facebook launch may have become the norm. PRs take note.