A few weeks ago I wrote about the growing use of social media in launching new vehicles and challenged that its benefits–mainly in cost and targeting–when measured against traditional vehicle launches could tip this burgeoning launch methodology into the predominant mechanism for launching a new vehicle.  With the recent launch of the 2011 Ford Explorer on Facebook one thing is certain –  we’ve had an excellent opportunity to take a look at how social launches have evolved into a rich and engaging experience for fans.  I’ve taken note of some of the most engaging and interesting moves Ford has made with this launch:

• Live chat with Chief Engineer, Jim Holland
• Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) and Alan Mulally had a candid interview in Time Square that paints Mr. Mulally as one of the most accessible CEOs of recent times.  In fact, one woman posted the following on her attendance of the NY City debut:

“I was one of the five women that were introduced to Mr. Mulally by Mike Rowe at the unveiling of the new Explorer in NYC on Monday. This was my first experience meeting a CEO, and I have to comment on how down to earth and personable Alan (may I call you Alan? ) was. Even though only one of the five of us actually… owns a Ford vehicle, he graciously took time to share with us the details of the new Explorer, as well as giving his reasons as to why he declined to take the bailout money last year. And he made us feel that our opinions on both subjects were of importance to him.
Thank you, Alan, for spending time with us! It was an incredible day!”

• The nature of the Facebook reveals prompted people to check back in, mention it to their friends, and post pictures/stories about their Explorer’s durability and longevity.

201,398 miles on odometer
199,999 miles on odometer

In my opinion, Ford provided a downright neighborly experience throughout this launch.  They provided a space to engage consumers on a very personal level, but they did so with class.  What makes this social launch different from the ones we’ve seen in the past is the sheer volume of exposure.  Ford Motor Co. reported the following numbers to Automotive News (August 2, 2010) in response to the Facebook unveiling of the redesigned Explorer on Monday, July 26:

• “The 2011 Explorer site had more than 500,000 visits, compared with about 7,000 a day for the 2010 Explorer.
• The number of Facebook Explorer page fans grew to 54,000 from 30,000 two days before the launch.
• Users completed 48,600 price-and-build forms for the 2011 Explorer on the Ford Web Site, compared with about 700 on an average day for the 2010 Explorer.”

Ford has taken the traditional launch paradigm and turned it on its head.  Jim Farley Ford’s new approach in a speech at the 2010 Ad Age Digital Conference (excerpt runs 4:33).  Mr. Farley challenges the old vehicle launch marketing pattern where there is a huge inflection of targeting taking place at launch followed by a gradual petering out (as seen in Figure 1)

Instead, Mr. Farley favors emphasizing the importance of pre-launch programs (e.g. the Fiesta Movement) with new partners and content while maintaining engagement during post-launch.  It’s about engaging  the right people and focusing on the experience.

What is most interesting about this concept is that if you start serving the potential customer early and stick with them longer, consumer interest seems to steadily increase through and beyond post-launch activity.

I don’t think that Ford will be canceling traditional auto show launches anytime soon, but considering the palpable success of the 2011 Explorer Facebook Launch, I think we’ll see many more of these to come.

Social media has become more important than ever before.  You need not look far to see signs of this, from last year’s Fiesta Movement and the “Meet the Volkswagen’s” Facebook page to the 2010 Volkswagen GTI iPhone.  Automakers are in the game and here to stay.  But why social media?  Charlie Taylor, general manager of VWs digital marketing, was asked “Why Facebook?” in an interview for USA Today last year to which he responded, “More and more consumers are selling products for us … Social media and word of mouth is much less about brochure downloads and more about brand awareness.”

When VW launched its 2010 GTI solely on a free iPhone game, Tim Ellis, VP of marketing, said the following in an interview with ABC News, “… we tasked ourselves to rethink the way we launch vehicles in order to engage our consumers in a meaningful way … Launching the all-new 2010 GTI via the Real Racing GTI App allows us to connect with this savvy GTI consumer within his or her everyday life in a way that no 30-second spot ever could.”

Through social media, manufacturers are attempting to leverage “the law of the few.”  To quote Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point “It’s not necessarily how many people you engage with, but the quality of engagement you have with a select few –Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen.”

Manufacturers’ budgets are constrained and their product teams are being forced to create more global products, putting pressure on distribution of marketing budgets across the fleet –begging for a new and more global solution.  What is more globally accessible than the Internet?  Could social media prove to become the predominant way to launch a new vehicle?  Certainly marketing costs could be greatly reduced using this approach, so then isn’t it more a question of reaching the right people at the right time?

The Ford Explorer used to be the king of SUVs.  At its peak, annual sales topped 440,000, but with the tire fiasco, higher oil prices, general market fragmentation, and recent recession, the Explorer has essentially become a niche vehicle.  In fact, only 50,000 were sold in 2009.

Rather than unveil the new Explorer in typical auto show fashion, Ford has decided to slowly reveal their latest All-New Explorer CUV on Facebook.  Interestingly enough, according to J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Prospects Current Behavior June release, 56% of new vehicle buyers can be found on Facebook in a given month.

Christopher Baccus, author of The Auto Marketing Blog has some interesting insight regarding Automotive Facebook Fan Page Strategies.  In the case of the Ford, they have decided to set up vehicle fan pages.  Ford has been gradually updating the Ford Explorer Fan Page with teaser photos instead of the typical gallery or even buff magazine shots.  Ford is also engaging fan questions on the page.  One fan asked whether a particular engine would be offered because he wanted to make sure it could tow easily.  The page manager had this to say, “Eric. More news to come soon on exact specifications on powertrains.  As you know, we are making sure that towing is assisted as much as possible for Explorer, not just in terms of absolute numbers but also how easy it is to tow and hitch up which is equally as important. Jay”

Between now and the Facebook unveiling, said to take place in July, Ford will show us bits and pieces, teasing its visitors and its 5,000+ Fans.  But as Mr. Baccus’s monthly report on Automotive Facebook Fans recently noted, there seems to be a shift away from the “become a fan” ad buys that were extremely popular last year.  It is uncertain however, whether Facebook has a new and more targeted method that is more difficult to measure or if manufacturers are moving toward accepting more organic fan growth.  If this is due to a shift to a more organic approach, the cost savings toward the campaign could be significant.  Also realize that the page will likely have many more visitors who don’t become fans, substantially increasing the reach of the Fan Page.

While Ford may have saved some money with this new approach, is it going to reach enough people and ultimately sell Explorers?  Certainly subsequent marketing will be TV and Print heavy, however in my opinion the formula seems to be set up for success:

• Facebook = 56% of New Vehicle Buyers
• Facebook and social media in general is made up of a great deal of Mavens and Connectors

Facebook certainly has two of the three pieces to create a tipping point.  Can Ford capture enough Mavens and Connectors through a Facebook unveiling to cancel future auto show unveilings?

Update: Chris Baccus recently wrote about the soft launch of Saab’s 9-5 via iTunes.

The modern automotive dealership has be on top of its game just to compete effectively: good lead management processes, regular inventory updates with sufficient pictures, high quality and usable Web sites, search engine keyword purchasing, etc.  For dealerships that don’t have those basics in place, diving into social media must seem completely overwhelming and quite frankly, unnecessary.  After all, what’s the point of conversing with a few hundred followers when your lead response rate is low or your vehicle pricing isn’t optimized for the market?

But social media can more tangibly create more sales.  It’s not about friends and followers jumping on your current promotion – instead, a blog can bring quality links and traffic to your primary dealer Web site.  Blogs provide inbound links, are updated frequently, and are generally published via platforms that adhere to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) standards.  Facebook and Twitter are good mechanisms to publish your blog activity and bring people to the blog, which improves its authority and further aids SEO performance.  But don’t expect unauthentic updates and Tweets to have any impact.

The content CANNOT just be about the latest deals!  If that’s all you have, then don’t bother.  Talk about your dealership and your involvement in the community.  Talk about the vehicles.  Be creative – Courtesy Hyundai of Georgia (@HyundaiAtlanta) tweets car care advice.

Marlboro Nissan offers a great case study on how to do it right.  The dealership is active across many forms of social media, particularly blogging, Facebook, and Twitter (@marlboronissan).  The range of content (up to ten blog postings per month) includes fashion, recipes, product updates, and dealership info.

It works.  Try typing in “nissan dealer” into Google and you’ll see www.marlboronissan.com show up in the top 10 no matter where you’re located.  Vehicle shoppers around the country can get linked to this one dealership in Massachusetts and may find the right vehicle for them, even if they’re hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Third-party leads used to be the primary means for dealers to generate online sales but organic traffic has become increasingly important.  SEO is critical to driving that organic traffic, and social media – when done correctly – can play a substantial supporting role.  The case of Marlboro Nissan demonstrates how a dealership can take even greater control of its online destiny.

We all know that we’re supposed to be involved with social media in some way and it’s easy enough to create a blog, build a fanpage, start tweeting, etc.  The greater challenge is maintaining that commitment across multiple channels in a strategic manner.

General Motors jumped into social media years ago with its Fastlane blog, which offered a semi-direct line to GM’s leadership, including Bob Lutz.  Blogging remains the central element to GM social media presence, with frequent updates and webchats with GM executives, and additional blogs (also accessible via GMblogs.com) for Europe, Cadillac and The Lab (from GM’s Advanced Design team).  The site also includes feeds from and links to GM’s presence on other social media outlets.  I was disappointed by the lack of an obvious RSS link, since it’s an easy way for some consumers to keep on top of new postings.

For some reason, the site doesn’t link to other official GM blogs.  FacesofGM, which is operated by three members of GM’s communication team, brings a more personal touch to GM’s online presence.  But it’s run on a separate platform that’s disconnected from GMblogs.  Then there’s GM Behind the Scenes on yet another blogging platform.  This blog reports on GM events with images, video, and audio.  The overarching goal of all these blogs is undoubtedly similar – establish a dialogue with consumers.  But there’s no interplay between these disparate entities.  People who are truly interested in GM products would benefit from being able to find all of them easily and then follow the one(s) most relevant to them.

GM also participates in other social media channels.

• Twitter (@GMblogs, 13k followers).  46% of tweets are replies (source: tweetstats).  Frequently links to FacesofGM and GM Behind the Scenes.  Other GM-related accounts include @GMNewsUS, @GMCustomerSvc, @facesofgm, @Buick, @Cadillac, @Chevrolet and @ThisIsGMC.
• Flickr.  Still actively adding images.
• Facebook.  120k+ followers.  GM seeds some conversations and occasionally participates.
• Delicious.  Seems to have been abandoned in 2009 after seeding 9 links

Ford’s social media strategy is fundamentally different.  Notably, Ford does not operate a corporate blog – instead, the company puts its resources toward other social media channels.  Scott Monty, Ford’s head of social media, recently comment on his own blog that “We use all sorts of forms of social media because, let’s face it, people are using all sorts of forms.  We try to be where the mainstream are.”

Those social media channels include:

• Twitter (@Ford, 27k+ followers).  More conversational than @GMblogs, with 64% of tweets as replies (source: tweetstats).  Other accounts include @FordDriveGreen, @FordCustService, @FordLatino, @FordRacing, @FordMustang, and @FordFiesta.
• Flickr.  Ford actively posts images, but many come across as complete marketing spin (see screenshot below).
• Facebook.  94k+ followers.  Ford posts topics but rarely participates in the resulting conversations.  There are other specific Facebook pages, with the Ford Mustang (423k fans) being popular.
• Delicious.  Ford continues to actively seed links.
• YouTube.  Also several other active channels, including Mustang and trucks.
• Scribd.  106 documents with over 285k reads.  Examples: product sheets, financial statements, corporate info (“fact sheets”), owner manuals.  Ford also participates in conversations about the documents.

Ford brings these disparate channels together in part through www.thefordstory.com, which carries its own content (articles, chat transcripts, video, etc.) and also links to social networks.  Unfortunately, these links are often problematic.  For instance, the YouTube tab only lists three Ford accounts, even though others (such as Ford Trucks) are still active.

Meanwhile, the Flickr links require an extra click because Flickr doesn’t allow frame embedding.  Even worse, the Facebook links don’t work at all, returning a “Page Not Found” error.

Both Ford and General Motors are among the automotive leaders in utilizing social media.  But to gain a greater understanding of a truly integrated social media presence, we can consider Whole Foods.

The Whole Story blog is a comprehensive resource for all Whole Foods social media efforts.  The blog entries themselves frequently link to recipes and embed video or audio.  The video section is powered by YouTube and includes chiclets to share the content.  The Whole Body podcasts in the audio section are available via iTunes.  And there are clear links to other social media channels.

This cross-channel behavior continues across other social media.

• Twitter (@WholeFoods, 1.75M followers).  Extremely conversational with 84% of tweets as replies (source: tweetstats), some of which direct users to Whole Food blog articles that address their specific issues.  Whole Foods also has ~240 other Twitter accounts to address specific consumer needs, e.g. cheese, wine, recipes, metro areas, and individual stores.
• Facebook.  215k+ followers.  Video, Flickr pics, feeds from blog and podcasts, and wall posts that often point to the Whole Story blog or YouTube videos.
• Flickr.  Photos are mostly about the stores which helps personalize this massive company.
• YouTube.  Over 200 videos, many of which demonstrate recipes.

Whole Foods doesn’t just sell organic products – it sells an organic lifestyle and a food lifestyle.  The company engages directly with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of customers daily in its stores, so social media is a natural extension of that engagement.  Even so, the company’s coordinated social media presence is impressive.

Last year Facebook was the new online darling– users were signing up at a phenomenal rate and site traffic exploded. Suddenly, companies were forced to consider whether they needed a presence in this suddenly-popular social media sandbox. Now that everyone is moving on to the Next Big Thing – aka Twitter – I thought it would be instructive to evaluate the automotive manufacturer involvement with Facebook one year later.

To establish a Facebook presence, companies first create a page, such as the one below from MINI. They can then add descriptions of themselves and/or their products, links to other sites, product images/video, and widgets. Note that individuals can create fanpages that are sometimes indistinguishable from “official” corporate pages. Since Facebook is a social medium, consumers can also upload their own media and participate in discussions. Additionally, any time someone becomes a “fan,” his/her friends get notified.

A quick scan reveals that fewer than half of 37 automotive manufacturers in the U.S. have established their presence on Facebook. Many of these manufacturer pages seem to have been created as part of a marketing push or similar one-time effort and then left untouched. For instance, the Audi A8 page was last updated with imagery over a year ago and Audi does not participate in the ongoing conversations. Yet, the page has attracted 184,504 fans (as of April 20), so enthusiasts do have another online hangout in which they can interact. Other stale pages include Chrysler (8,118 fans), GMC (10,504 fans), and Volvo (26,982 fans).

On the other hand, active manufacturer participation doesn’t necessarily make a page more popular. Saturn and Scion have both been adding content throughout 2009, winning only 868 and 3,516 fans, respectively.

Facebook pages for brands with built-in enthusiast appeal naturally garner the most attention. The pages for BMW (309,290 fans), Ford Mustang (261,624 fans), HUMMER (170,728 fans), Porsche (459,952 fans), Jeep (102,428), and MINI (160,805 fans) all have relatively large followings and active ongoing discussions. The first four seem to have been created by consumers with little or no manufacturer presence, while the latter two seem to have been created the manufacturers, who continue to participate.

Regardless of who created it, a Facebook fanpage can be a great place to passively monitor conversations as well as provide media and information to enthusiasts. As with all social media, the key component is interaction. Showing up to the party is a one-time event, while participating requires a sustained effort.