PRO Case Study
Case Study: How Twitter Helped Save Ford From a PR Disaster
by Kimberly SmithCompany: Ford Motor Company
Contact: Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford
Location: Dearborn, MI
Industry: Automotive
Annual revenue: $139,300,000,000
Number of employees: 224000
Quick Read
When US Airways flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River, Twitter users broke the news, 15 minutes ahead of mainstream media, according to UK's Telegraph.
The same channel and its immediacy also helped Ford Motor Company's head of social media quell a different kind of disaster—of the PR variety—in December 2008.
After a fan site received a formal letter from Ford demanding that the site's URL be relinquished, the owner posted news of the event on the site's user forum, launching a firestorm of criticism against Ford.
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Comments
This is a splendid story. If I were Ford, I'd repackage it with the title, "Why We Don't Need the Federal Bailout Money - We're Figuring Things Out On Our Own".
I don't see "save this" at the bottom of this article. Am I missing something?
And where is Scott Monty's Twitter name???? Please!
Claudia -- Scott is @scottmonty on Twitter.
Need a print version of this article. Please.
Thanks for sharing... this is just the type of info I need to make the case to some clients that investing some time and resources in the community that is social media makes sense... not to "push product" but to connect on a human-to-human level. Sometimes the human connection is what makes the buying decision.
Addendum to story... see how it continues... this is a brief Twitter convo from Feb 1st.:
---
cristintx: Speaking of American autos... why did Ford have a #superad09 ?
Scott Monty: @cristintx Because we didn't take any government money and it was one we already had in rotation #superads09
Cristintx: @ScottMonty Duly noted. Thank you.
----
And that quickly, someone moved from questioner/antagonist to understanding (at least publicly). Also important, I think, to note that at the time of this exchange, cristintx had less than 50 followers. Scott appears to be reaching out to all those who are talking about Ford, not just "influencers." That is what makes social media powerful. IMO.