As General Motors files for bankruptcy and plans to close thousands of dealerships, Ford Motor Company aims to gain market share. And a big part of their strategy moving forward will involve social media. Specifically, Ford has opened up a dialogue online between the company’s marketers, engineers, product people and its customers through mediums like Twitter, blogs, YouTube, Flickr and social media press releases. In addition, they’re reaching out to key influencers through a number of online initiatives.
And that’s just the beginning. Ford is in a different place from most of the American auto industry right now, says Scott Monty, the company’s head of social media, because of forward-looking innovation. “First of all, we didn’t have to take any government money,” Monty says. “We refinanced about a year and a half ago on our own. In addition, we’re shifting from 70 percent trucks and SUVs to 60 percent cars and crossovers. And we’re not just pursuing hybrid or electric. We have a number of ways to meet these new specifications,” such as fuel-efficient “EcoBoost” engines.
However, in order to create the new kinds of cars people value and want, Monty says, “we need a dialogue.” Using the Web for this purpose makes sense, he says, because it offers “real-time, transparent developments.” In fact, one Ford program, called the Fiesta Movement, allows online influencers to help co-create the final five to ten percent of the 2011 Fiesta automobile for the North American market, Monty says.
In these tumultuous times for the auto industry, Ford is looking to the Web to track customer feedback, monitor potential crises, educate consumers, get its message out, release news-and even build new cars. Below Monty answers questions and talks more specifically about Ford’s online media programs-and outlines how others can similarly leverage social media to position themselves for growth as the economy begins to turn around:
How is Ford using social media in programs like the Fiesta Movement program?
Ford is using social media in a variety of ways, primarily for marketing and communications purposes. With the Fiesta Movement, they are giving 100 vehicles to 100 digital influencers, or “agents,” for six months to get feedback on the vehicle before it goes into production. Together with these influencers [through test drives, experience reports, feedback and other "missions"], they are co-creating the final five to ten percent of the Fiesta automobile for the North American market. It’s a small car-smaller than a Ford Focus, and comparable to the Honda Fit.
How are influencers or “agents” chosen?
Each one has social presence across a variety of platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, their own blogs and other platforms. They’re out there talking about the project on their own, and we’re aggregating all of that content through a central portal on the Fiesta page.
Ford invited them to participate in a contest for a two- to five-minute video. Ford used an agency named Undercurrent to help get the word out, and we received over 4,000 applications and 700 videos. Ford selected the 100 agents through a whole screening process that included background checks.
What other social media outreach is Ford involved with?
Social media is rampant at Ford. Ford has been using social media releases for two years. We use Wordpress and repurpose press releases into digital snippets. All the photos we post are Creative Commons licensed and posted on Flickr. All the videos are fully embeddable off of YouTube.
Ford has had a lot of positive results. They have posted about 150 videos, which have received 1.2 million views, as well as over 30,000 downloads of Flickr photos-and our social media press releases have been picked up by over 5,000 blogs and media.
Ford is also on Twitter extensively. Ford leverages Twitter to give an inside look at the company, and they have a half-dozen corporate accounts from products to broader areas. For example, there’s Ford Trucks, Ford Mustang, Ford Drive Green-and our customer service team members are on Twitter. They use it to send out coupons and monitor customer comments.
Twitter is also handy for monitoring crises, because it’s in real time. Ford has a lot of comments about us on Twitter, and a lot of people who notify them via Twitter.
In addition, Ford’s social media hub is Fordstory.com, which is in a constant state of development. It offers a mix of marketing and communications functions and is the site through which we funnel our blogger drive experiences. So, if Ford gives a blogger a car to drive and they write about it on their blog, typically, only their blog readers see it. But Ford aggregates it through a single portal that distributes it through every platform, everyone can see what these bloggers are saying about Ford.
Everybody has a car story-and you want to know other people’s impressions before you drive a car. This gives customers a chance to do that.
Fords ultimate goal with these various social media initiatives
Ford’s goal is to humanize the company and put a face-or many faces-on the Blue Oval. If Ford has been viewed as not having any brand personality or very little human element, this breaks down the barriers and shows that there are consumers and people working at Ford who are passionate about it. Ford helps them connect with Ford and with each other to provide value. This ensures that everyone wins.
Ford is a company founded by a single man whose name is still on the logo today. Years ago, in the era of mass media, we moved away from that. Now, we’re bringing it back to the people behind these developments. You can now talk to the engineers, marketers and product people on a regular basis.
Competitors, like GM, have made great strides in social media? GM’s “FastLane” blog – What is Ford doing about this…
A number of independent studies showing that Ford has been ranked at the top of all automotive brands in terms of presence on the social Web. Other companies are doing things that are right for them. GM has been long respected and worked hard at “FastLane” and other online components. Ford has taken another approach. Ford went heavily into Twitter because no other auto company was on it, and it allowed us to have one-on-one conversations with customers. We zigged while others zagged. Ford always did something a little different.
How has the economic downturn affected the ways companies should be using social media?
Budgets have been trimmed, and people are looking at social media to be one of those ways to cut costs. But it’s not necessarily the cheapest. It’s certainly cheaper than buying a multi-million dollar ad. But there’s a human element, so there’s a people cost.
How are Fortune 1,000 companies in general embracing social media?
It depends on the sector. The travel industry has done well: Jet Blue, Southwest, Marriott, Starwood. They do a good job, and so do the more consumer-facing brands like Starbucks and Whole Foods, and the technology companies like Dell. There are a lot of great examples, but the entire Fortune 500 has not seen a lockstep movement forward. Sixty years ago, when everyone bought ads on TV-that was a single move. Now there are so many choices. Should you do Twitter? Facebook fan pages? A blog? There are so many ways of communicating. Each company has either figured it out or they’re watching it unfold and will jump in when the time is right.
When is the right time?
Every company must move at their own speed. And that’s the thing: Ford has often been thought of as an old school company-but from the inside, we’re always pushing for what’s next.
What are the best ways to integrate traditional and non-traditional media outreach?
Integrating Fordstory.com into ad buys to drive people to the online space is one way. And one component of social media that people overlook is face to face. There’s no substitute for getting out there and making relationships face to face. Ford does a lot of events where they invite bloggers to their test track.
Also, when you consider the Fiesta Movement, it’s a very powerful online movement with agents creating content, but there’s a parallel offline track, called “Ride and Drive.” We take 40 vehicles, separate from the 100 we give out, and do a city tour. This gives the public a chance to see the vehicles up front. By the end of the year, Ford will have 100,000 test drives completed.
Then, you can go the online and the two merge. When you see all of these test drive cars out there, they all have fiestamovement.com on the vehicles. We always drive people back to the website to interact.
What are the legal and IR ramifications of using Twitter and social media? Is that a challenge? Do IR and legal have to vet everything?
Ford works closely with their office of general council, particularly when talking about things where claims can be made, such as fuel economy, set standards or safety claims. Ford needs to be careful, because anything they say could be used in a lawsuit. For the most part, the way Ford thinks of social interaction on the Web is that it’s no different than how they interact on email or the phone. If Ford comes out of a meeting where learn of something that hasn’t been released to the public yet, there’s no way they would say that on the phone. The same holds for social media. Ford also has online guidelines that they’ve created with legal. It’s not censorship or restrictive, but they give social media users a sense as to what they can and can’t say.
What tips would Ford offer to other PR professionals who want to leverage social media right now?
Spend some time listening and observing out there. Know where your customers are and where you want to play-if it’s even appropriate. It might not be appropriate for some companies. Additionally, make sure you have the support of senior management. This can’t be done at the grassroots level within a company. Come from the top, and bring in legal early and often. Understand that it will take time. Social media isn’t a panacea nor will it have immediate results. It’s about relationship building. And that happens over time.
Lastly: Understand that it’s more than one person’s job. It’s not just for PR or marketing. Every division should be involved.
What are the implications here for agency side pros?
It can be tough and tricky for agencies. For example, blogger relations-while similar to media relations-is not the same as media relations. Bloggers have their own personalities and behaviors. It takes a while to understand that before you can jump in. Spend time reading blogs and learning about the issues of the bloggers in your industry before pitching them. As far as supporting clients goes, the agencies that come to the table with a strong strategic vision as well as strong operational backup to put that vision into practice will be helpful allies.
