After the Detroit debacle of a couple of weeks ago in which all three Big 3 CEOs managed to distinguish themselves by being indistinguishable, there’s been a strong public relations effort by Ford to reestablish its own identity and convince the public that it has been restructuring all along.
It’s always a good move for a company to set itself apart from its competition, and perhaps no more so than when you’re sitting at the same table with a privately held company run by a guy (Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli) who could lose a publicity contest to Attila the Hun and a publicly held company (GM) whose only plan up until now seemed to be to keep doing what hasn’t been working.
I’m no expert on Ford or its CEO, but I’ve always thought of the company as the U.S. automaker with the best chance of retooling. Now Ford has launched a new Web site, The Ford Story, that talks about its plan, its progress, and “how very far Ford has come and how we’re doing business differently.” In so doing, the company is redirecting the conversation about its brand away from bailouts and back toward Henry Ford’s vision to create cars that are affordable to ordinary Americans.
The company’s also using social media very effectively to spread the word. Ford’s head of social media, Scott Monty, has been using his personal blog and his Twitter stream to reinforce the Ford story. He’s written an excellent post on why he went to work for Ford earlier this year, what the company’s been working on, and how each of us can help. The blog has generated 66 comments as of today — remarkable in and of itself, and that doesn’t even begin to take into account how many others have read and shared the blog post. Meanwhile, he’s been Tweeting about Ford. My favorite Scott Monty Tweet from today: “P.S.: It’s not a bailout plan. We’re asking for access to a line of credit should we need it.” Talk about getting your message out.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Since my post caught the attention of Ford’s Chief Marketing Officer, we’ve been a little more focused on getting the word out officially rather than just on my personal blog (to be clear, there were other driving factors involved; I don’t mean to imply that my post prompted us).
What we did do was develop a simple site with a straightforward message, sharing functionality, and a couple of key videos to help tell our story. The Ford Story can be found at http://www.thefordstory.com.
This is just a first attempt - the team worked diligently over Thanksgiving weekend to prepare this in advance of our Tuesday morning announcement - and we will be improving it along the way.
Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the added background, and kudos on all the work that you and your Ford colleagues are doing via both traditional channels and social media to get out the story of your company and its employees. For me, the power of The Ford Story lies in its simplicity: simple language, matter of fact tone, clear messaging.
Best,
Daria
Hi Daria,
Your post is thought-provoking, and I find myself a bit inspired by what you’ve written. Ford has indeed been trying to separate themselves from the pack, and I admire what they’re doing to try and save the company.
Cheers,
Michael
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312-932-9000 / michael@blogcouncil.org / twitter: merubin
I am a Blog Council employee and this is my personal opinion.