Ford is betting its newest digital marketing strategy should be less distracting to consumers while simultaneously highlighting the automaker’s products and services as well as promotion of a charitable initiative

The foundation of this fourth-quarter digital advertising campaign is a. partnership with Internet radio provider Pandora. The campaign will allow Pandora visitors to use the provider’s social share feature to share a “mixtape” from playlists compiled by either Jewel or John Legend. Organizers stated that when a song is shared, Ford and Pandora will make a donation to the artist’s charity of choice.

This project is the latest Ford campaign on Pandora. The company explained it is part of a larger trend to shift its digital marketing strategy away from using primarily company-generated advertising that interrupts, such as a banner ad. Instead, the OEM wants a marketing plan that embraces and engages digital content creators to help tell the Ford story.

Ford also believes this philanthropic initiative builds on the company’s multipronged relationship with Pandora, which has more than 60 million registered users.

Earlier this year, the automaker announced Pandora would be more seamlessly integrated into the Ford SYNC experience through AppLink. It’s a software program that can allow owners to access and control selected smartphone apps, such as Pandora, through SYNC voice commands.

Matt VanDyke, director of U.S. marketing communications at Ford, announced the charity campaign while serving as a speaker Tuesday during the Interactive Advertising Bureau MIXX Conference and Expo in New York.

“We’ve found the most valuable digital marketing doesn’t interrupt the user experience but instead complements it,” VanDyke emphasized.

“By partnering with content creators, we’re able to support niche programs that audiences truly enjoy,” he continued. “That helps Ford spend its marketing dollars more wisely, while creating user-advocates, rather than just bombarding potential customers with banner ads and 30-second spots.”

Featuring Jewel and John Legend, the company believes this new Ford campaign on Pandora can seamlessly incorporate original video content and radio station mix options that let listeners broaden their music library while benefiting worthwhile causes in the process.

Jewel’s song sharing is set to benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation, while Legend listeners can help the Show Me Campaign, a nonprofit organization promoting equal access to quality education.

Along with Pandora, Ford highlighted that it’s working with other content creators from emerging digital broadcasters such as This Week in Tech (TWiT) podcasts, Podtrac and Revision3 Internet television to seamlessly weave in Ford products and services into their viewers’ worlds.

For example with Revision3, executives mentioned that Ford gave the hosts of its tech culture show, Diggnation, a 2011 Ford Fiesta equipped with Ford SYNC and asked them to enjoy the in-vehicle connectivity system with their audience. They stressed the segment was not scripted.

Ford thinks the results have been encouraging so far.

In an ad-effectiveness study performed after podcasts like the one featured on This Week in Tech and Diggnation, the automaker learned 21 percent of listeners reported being much more likely to purchase a Ford vehicle with SYNC after the broadcast. Officials added unaided recall of SYNC tripled, while aided recall doubled.

“Perhaps most telling, however, is that one-third of listeners claimed the SYNC advertising actually increased their enjoyment of the online shows overall,” VanDyke claimed.

“It’s encouraging, particularly in this day of commercial-skipping DVRs, to have consumers claim advertising actually added value to their content,” he went on to say. “The strength of Ford technologies such as SYNC gives us powerful leverage. Our goal is to continue to develop smart advertising solutions around our products that reach customers and keep them engaged and entertained more than ever before.”