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Car Makers Take Case to the Web - WSJ.com
Faced with an unprecedented financial crisis, automakers are taking to the Web. Embattled car c ompanies say word-of-mouth marketing and search performance are inexpensive ways to reach interested people and route their messages around the media that, they believe, doesn't give them a fair shake. General Motors has http://gmfactsandfiction.com/ and Ford has http://www.fordvehicles.com/thefordstory/. Could crisis be a turning point in digital influence?
MediaPost Publications - Forrester: B2B Blogging Takes Nose Dive - 07/07/2008
Surprise! Corporate b-to-b blogs aren't a cure-all. Forrester examined 36 companies that touted blogs a year ago and found that only half of them were sustaining the commitment. The problem: topics are boring, the voice is institutional and uninspiring and the authors don't invite conversation. There are tricks to blogging right, but just yammering about your products and company isn't going to stimulate conversation.
Southwest Airlines' Blog Re-launches
...and it's a big improvement, says corporate blogging expert Debbie Weil.
GM expands social media marketing strategy…and sees sales up | illuminea
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One other auto company that is jumping on the social media bandwagon, albeit more slowly and a little shakily, is Ford. Ford recently released their first social media release. A social media release is an evolving structure that is aimed at becoming the modern answer to the ancient format of the conventional press release. It includes “social” elements that are updated, and that users can break apart and use as they see fit, such as flickr photos, de.licio.us tags, etc.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later Ford’s lawyers did a very unsocial thing and stopped some of their most exuberant fans from printing up a fan calendar with photos of their own Ford cars in it.
“The folks at BMC (Black Mustang Club) automotive forum wanted to put together a calendar featuring members’ cars, and print it through CafePress. Photos were submitted, the layout was set, and… CafePress notifies the site admin that pictures of Ford cars cannot be printed. Not just Ford logos, not just Mustang logos, the car -as a whole- is a Ford trademark and its image can’t be reproduced without permission. So even though Ford has a lineup of enthusiasts who want to show off their Ford cars, the company is bent on alienating them. ‘Them’ being some of the most loyal owners and future buyers that they have. Or rather, that they had, because many have decided that they will not be doing business with Ford again if this matter isn’t resolved.” (From BoingBoing - read more there)
Technology News: Customer Service: The Case for Open Comments on Corporate Blogs
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Checkered Flag Motor Car Company, a regional auto dealership group based in Virginia Beach, Va., launched its blog several months ago and is delighted with the feedback and sense of community that it has generated, not to mention its bolstering of Checkered's search engine ranking, said Alex Snyder, the director of e-commerce for the company. In fact, the company is in the process of redesigning its main Web site to serve as the blog.
The dealership hasn't received a complaint -- yet -- through the blog, Snyder told CRM Buyer, but if one does come through, "we will either address it in the public forum or take care of it before we post the complaint and our solution to it publicly."
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