 
Scott Monty by Dave Delaney via Flickr
Switching gears from DigiDay Mobile (see previous posts on my blog here, here, and here) to DigiDay Social.
12:45pm: Social Media & the Automotive Industry: Moving Along the Networked Information Superhighway
Keynote Presenter: Scott Monty, Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager at Ford Motor Company
All the stuff below comes from Monty, unless noted otherwise.
Fun fact: Ford did not take any government loans.
First, Strategy.
How many people associate personality with Ford? A problem is Ford lacks it. An opportunity's been lost that can be regained through social media.
Now has "Drive One" campaign. Should be: "Meet One" – get connected to the people.
How many people here have heard of "eco-boost engines"? (Maybe one person.) Problem. Reduces CO2 emissions by 15% and boosts mileage 20%. 90% of vehicles will have these. Direct impact to oil import. Also doing other hybrid stuff, battery electric, etc.
How does Ford get the message out?
Gets into discussion of what&39;s important with social media, plays clip of Seth Godin. Godin: Social networking doesn&39;t matter in the sense of how many Twitter fans and Facebook followers. What matters is doing it to help people achieve their goals. All the hyperfriending is a waste of time.
Back to Scott: Has to be about building relationships over time.
One area where most crucial: dealer network. Dealers want to learn this and how to do it right. Dealers that have been around are integral part of offline community. People know, respect that. Online, shouldn&39;t be any different.
Ford portal: at.ford.com – broadcasting employee news feed to rest of world. Knowledge management is building Fordipedia.
Results: Anecdotally, starting to see separation from GM, Chrysler. Benchmarking themselves against Toyota, Honda.
Another site: Fiesta Movement – recruiting 100 people who will get car for 6 months to do as they want while joining social movement.
For more on Ford&39;s take on social media and why it sees cars as social networks, read my CES Interview with Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields or watch the video below:
Twitter Highlights During the DigiDay Session
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Show comments Hide commentsVery good post. I think that this problem is not unique to Ford but is common with many large corporations. Social Marketing can be a real asset to help these large corps connect with everyday people and build relationships. It will be very interesting to see how many of these corporations actually embrace and utilise it and how many miss the boat like so many other things.