There have been a couple of interesting social media-driven corporate communications stories during the last quarter. One is, of course, Motrin. That has been posted about ad naseum. Suffice it to say that there was a missed opportuntiy there for J&J, but that's another post.
The more interesting story unfolded in the middle of December with Ford. While the specifics of the conflagaration between Ford and it's attempt to protect trademark with Ford fan sites and blogs, the more interesting by-product is Scott Monty's (Ford's recently hired social media guy) willingness to jump into the conversation. He held a sober conversation, stayed within the bounds of messaging without coming off like a flack in any way, and he didn't take the bait from the more extreme voices in the comment flow.
For those who weren't following along, the basic skirmish arose as follows (from PickupTrucks.com):
"Ford and TheRangerStation.com, a 10-year-old website for Ford Ranger enthusiasts, have mutually agreed to end a legal dispute that originally had Ford's attorneys demanding $5,000 and the rights to the domain name "TheRangerStation.com." Word of the dispute quickly caused an eruption of online support for the fan site that had some questioning Ford's relationship with some of its most loyal customers.
According to Jim Oaks, owner and founder of TheRangerStation.com, Ford's legal action had merit. It focused on vinyl decals sold to raise funds for site maintenance that bore Ford trademarks without Ford's approval.
"We sold vinyl cutouts with Ford trademarks that we shouldn't have," Oaks told PickupTrucks.com. He posted similar words on TheRangerStation.com's forums.
After being contacted by Scott Monty, Ford's public relations manager for digital media, Oaks and Monty quickly worked out a tentative agreement that ends Ford's pursuit for monetary compensation and the site name"
The more interesting side to this was Scott's willingness to carry on a blog-verse discussion (trying to avoid the "blog-o-" word) about what was going on while at the same time offering some clarifications on Ford's POV on the bailout and even his perceptions of Alan Mulally's leadership. Scott commented 8 times over the course of a day.
Here's an example of a comment from Scott on the Voltage Blog (marketing firm in St. Louis that hosted a 59 comment post on the subject):
"Scott Monty 12/10/08
Sorry, I wanted to add one more thing. In the heat of the RangerStation fiasco, I neglected to respond to some other points you made above.1. Ford has not been denied. In fact, we chose *not* to accept any of the funds in the pending bill. Our statement is at: http://is.gd/aSY1
2. In my experience at Ford (and mind you it's only been 5 months), Ford does not suffer from hubris. Anything but. That's been part of our perception problem - we've just got our heads down and are working steadily.
3. Alan Mulally is a very honorable and likable guy. He had a long day of Congressional testimony behind him when he said that, and I'm sure he regrets it.
We've tried to put together a pretty plainspoken and user-friendly site to tell our story. It's appropriately titled "The Ford Story" and can be found at http://thefordstory.com. I hope you'll check it out, including a video of Alan on the "Our Plan" page.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share our side of the situation and for being so fair in your airing of it.
Scott"
This is the form of modern coporate communications: a willingness to have a clear conversation with people over an issue of mutual interest. Scott and Ford carefully (and quickly responded) with facts and what I will call human-speak (normal conversation not "message-delivery"). They joined the conversation out where it was happening. They didn't freak out when they got criticized.
Motrin comparison: I would argue that J&J overreacted in the Motrin case to the complaints of moms about their admittedly poor web video spot. they could have easily engaged and discussed and ended up ahead of the game. What woudl have happened if J&J asked moms to create a better spot about their particular pains? I got the sense that they just wanted to mollify those crazy mom bloggers and Twitterers and get the hell out of the conversation.
The Ford approach is much different. I actually believe that having Scott's voice out there will have a great and positive impact on the Ford brand reputation. He will not only help be a corporate communications voice (and brain) as they navigate the next tricky 12 months, I believe he will be part of a new commitment to word of mouth marketing (strategic use of social media) that will ultimately help sell cars in the future.
Check out this case study of Scott's experience from Ron Ploof, a B-to-B social media consultant:
The Ranger Station Fire
Great to see this shift taking place with perceived "stiff" companies taking the offensive to create their own voice with customers and the market in general. The shift toward real and transparent conversations is happening, and faster than many realize. Maybe this is also a reflection on why Ford is not asking for billions from us all (a mindset that is more open to change)?
Posted by: Scott Moroney | December 25, 2008 at 08:45 PM