Scott Monty is a man on a mission.
Scott is head of social media at the Ford Motor Company and is using everything up to and including his personal Twitter account to engage the world in discussions about the organization and the auto industry.
But in perhaps what’ll prove most effective, he’s empowering a community to support his cause (which is one of the fundamentals of social media success).
His calls to action include:
- Share what you discover: Scott set up a Delicious page for people to bookmark articles, videos, audio files and anything else that supports the industry.
- Get active: Teaming up with colleagues at GM, Scott is promoting the Facebook group Support the U.S. Economy by Supporting the U.S. Auto Industry.
- Educate yourself: Scott points to several articles in publications such as the NY Times and BusinessWeek dispelling myths about the industry.
- Drive One: Simply, Scott is encouraging folks to get behind the wheel and experience Ford’s products
- Share the video: In what Scott describes as a real-life Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Scott wants everyone to see (and share) this video.
Will one person save the auto industry?
Unlikely.
But a community of passionate people, empowered and guided by the head of corporate social media at an organization amidst the turmoil?
Yeah, that could make a real difference.
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{ 4 comments }
This is clearly not a job for one person. Nor is it something that should be relegated to a personal blog. My “manifesto” was part of a series of events that led to Ford creating The Ford Story, found at http://www.thefordstory.com.
It’s the result of teamwork – and an enormous amount of it – over the Thanksgiving weekend. Government Affairs, Marketing, Communications and our agencies all gave up their personal lives for the 5-day break and contributed. It supported our overall PR efforts of being first with our announcement, and it gives Ford a more solid foothold in social media.
Because of the timing, this is just version 1.0. We are planning to build it out with more functionality as we move forward.
Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company
Scott, agreed, social media is about teams, communities and, yeah, often a lot of personal free time.
Cheers to you, your crew and your community.
Can’t wait to see next versions.
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312-932-9000 / cale@gaspedal.com / twitter: @calejohnson
I am a Blog Council employee and this is my personal opinion.
What makes the work that Scott Monty and his colleagues have done in the last two weeks so remarkable is that they have managed to shift the conversation away from an indistinguishable Big 3 and to a discussion of what steps their own company — Ford — has taken already and continues to take to restructure. Social media is one component of this effort, and it has certainly been put to good use.
Best,
Daria
Daria, you bring up a good point.
While Scott is certainly working to support the industry as a whole, he and his colleagues’ efforts are giving Ford a unique voice, which is important considering GM and Chrysler have both already established themselves in social media as leading voices of the automotive industry.
It’s great to see Ford finding its own voice and community — and better for the industry as a whole.
Thanks for the input!
—-
312-932-9000 / cale@gaspedal.com / twitter: calejohnson
I am a Blog Council employee and this is my personal opinion.
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