Social Media and the US Auto Industry
Kudos to the struggling US auto industry for putting a great social media face on their image issues.
Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford has a great post on how Ford has and is making changes. From leadership, vehicle mixes, green focus, manufacturing technology and new product 
offerings, he makes great points on exactly what Ford is doing to change. These more specific messages that leave me with a much better impression of Ford than I’ve had. (I own Toyota and Honda cars, but some of the fuel efficiency, green focus and Sync technology may swing me over to a Ford in the future… if they work on their design a bit more. 8-)
Follow Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford, here on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/scottmonty
I’m looking for any official Ford blogs, but haven’t found them yet. (Scott?)
GM has a corporate blog with posts by several VPs, and Bob Lutz the GM vice chairman. With so much ongoing controversy around their offerings and the recent financial issues, I think this more direct route to customers, 
media and pundits is a great way to get their messages out, without relying on the “spin” of press. They also have some VERY actively engaged readers, with over a hundred comments on several posts… Many of the comments are several paragraphs too.
There are several other GM blogs are here, with Saturn, Opel, Tuner enthusiasts, European focused and Cadillac blogs. Overall, it’s a pretty good effort from GM in the social media and customer conversation/PR space.
Follow GM Blogs Twitter with news and updates across their blogs:
http://twitter.com/GMblogs
Do you know of others in the auto industry with dedicated social media staff or efforts?
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Comments
Thanks for the comment Scott!
I like your approach to corporate blogs: the right strategy first, then execution based on a validated but flexible plan. Too many companies get started with blogs then have them die on the vine, either from lack of a good personality, lack of focus or just poor execution.
I think your efforts to create a more human face for Ford are right on… The CEO’s aren’t doing a good job (and they have many other tasks), advertising isn’t personal and everyone else is trying to sell me a car. 8-)
Are you adding staff/vendor support in this area, or will you have one person stretched to cover your efforts here for the foreseeable future? I.e. how much does this play into Ford’s pr, advertising, customer focus strategy? An experiment or part of a large effort?
I’d also like to hear/see more about Ford’s green efforts. (yes, including senior exec’s travel options getting more efficient. 8-)
Thanks again!
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Sorry for the delay in replying. It’s been, uh, a little busy lately.
First of all, thank you for noting the efforts of Ford in the social media space. I was only hired about 4 months ago, so our coordinated efforts are still a little green. One thing we have had in place for a while is Ford Digital Snippets – a collection of social media press releases. You can find these at http://ford.digitalsnippets.com.
No, you won’t find any Ford blogs out there. I was asked immediately after I arrived when we’d be launching a blog. The jury’s still out on that. To me, I resisted the corporate blog knee-jerk reaction. It’s strategy first.
If and when we decide that blogging is right for Ford, and we find the right personality to blog, we’ll do it. Otherwise, I’m not interested in setting up a PR-as-social media web site with comments enabled.
Ultimately at Ford, my goal is to create a more human face to the company. Right now, my blog and Twitter allow me to do that; but it’s going to have to scale to more than just me.
We’ve got some really cool things planned (and we’ll spend a lot of time planning more) in 2009. Expect to hear more.
Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company