12
2007
Ford’s Fantastic Social Media Release
Ford Motor company has introduced the 2008 with Focus with probably the best social media release I have ever seen (Thanks to Jane Quigley for sending me this link.). Incredible images, RSS enabled, YouTube Video, PDF fact sheets, bulleted no BS (or at least less BS) facts, correctly sized Flickr photos and a variety of executive quotes makes for a fantastic story making page.
This new social media news release takes the emerging form to a new level, and demonstrates that companies can reinvigorate, static and boring parenthetical form with dynamic content. The result: a virtual work sheet that any blogger, journalist or analyst can use as starting point for a story.
Kudos to the Ford PR team and their firm, the Social Media Group, for aggressively pursuing a new way of engaging media. Social Media Group blogger Maggie Fox discussed the SMNR on the company blog:
…with this implementation we were aiming for simply a way of sharing content with people who wanted it in formats they could use, all conveniently located in one place. Period.
The release was issued on the Ford web site. One must wonder how they pushed it out to traditional media and bloggers. And it would be great to get a post mortem from Maggie and the Ford SMNR team.
It does not look like wire services were used. In that sense it was more of a web-site only release, and not a true news release. But to be frank, based on my experiences with the wire services, I doubt any of them could have handled this sophisticated document (they still function in a primarily text world due to some of their receiving outlets low tech capabilities).
Todd Defren Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I agree on all fronts, but as gorgeous as this is, to me it is a “Multimedia Release” - there are no social components to it (beyond posting embeddable photos/video).
That doesn’t mean that it is not MUCH better than 99% of the releases out there… just wish it enabled conversation via comments/trackbacks. The lack of comments/trackbacks is “allowable” with releases that go out over the wires (which can’t and probably shouldn’t allow for it: not appropriate, really) but WHY NOT add these social components on Ford’s very own website?
Again, a beautiful and commendable effort, which is why these missing components are so glaring to me probably.
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Todd: Thank you for coming by and commenting.
I wouldn’t say it had no or zero social capes. The YouTube videos allow commenting as do the Flickr photos. Plus there’s the del.icio.us tags.
I suppose more bookmarking options would have been great. Maggie’s logic behind that (from her linked to post) was: “only del.ico.us. for easy bookmarking, because are people really going to Digg or Newsvine a press release? I doubt it (why would you? It’s not really content, it’s more like the ingredients required to make content, hardly worth rating, unless you want people to talk about how great you are for thinking of it).”
But it wasn’t a blog post with full commenting capabilities… and I guess she thought it didn’t need to be. It seems she went for more of a story board approach, which quite frankly is outstanding and I think highly effective. Of course, Ford may not have enabled comments on the actual SMNR, but to only the insiders know…
All in all, I give it a big thumbs up. It raises the bar, at least from a content and story-enabling perspective.
GL
Lewis Green Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Geoff,
Thank you for sharing. It looks great but other than using web 2.0 tools, I’m not sure I would call this a social media release. It is terrific and well-done but again there isn’t any “social” capability applied, or am I missing something?
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Lewis: Thanks for driving by! See my above commentary. Part of an SMNR — at least as I understand it — is form, bullets, etc. And it did have some social components; namely commenting on YouTube, Flickr, plus del.icio.us tags. It was not fully enabled, though.
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Via Email from http://lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/
Geoff,
It does deserve big thumbs up, and the kind of release that I would be proud to have created. And I understand your “social”? reference, as it is using social media tools. This is one of those terms, like conversation, that I believe need an updated and more relevant definition to today’s time and space. Feel free to add this as a comment. Great post!
Lewis
David Wescott Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Hi Geoff - this SMR sure does look spiffy.
Have they gotten any tangible results beyond what they would have gotten in a more traditional release?
I’m not trying to be flip - I’d love to point to something that WORKS.
maggie fox Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Hi Geoff - thanks so much for your kind words, it’s a small step, but a step nonetheless!
The ongoing discussion around whether or not this release is truly “social” has really been interesting. Our strategy was to get people talking about the 2008 Focus and to help them tell their stories using great content, but absolutely not to discuss the relative merits of the press release with Ford via trackbacks or commenting.
Our position was simple: Ford doesn’t need to own every conversation. However, what we did want to do was facilitate and enable the conversation that was already taking place. In other words, rather than trying to build a community, we’re joining one. If that does not meet the “official” description of an SMPR, so be it, but I fail to see how it’s anything but social!
Thanks again…
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
@David May be too early to tell…
@Maggie Thanks for the drive by and the extra clarification. Great job!!!
Brian Solis Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
We all agree that what Maggie has done is incredible and a much-needed step in the right direction.
The definitions are coming into play because it’s a healthy discussion for defining the future of all press releases and because there are many PR people who are trying to follow along with the increasingly loud (and confusing) conversations about press releases from SEO to New Media to Social Media.
The Ford release, to me, is a hybrid multimedia and social release - which can been distributed as traditional releases (PR Newswire MultiVu for example - http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr) and as web pages.
I think links to social networks and inclusion of social video and images are a fantastic start. Appearing in social search engines is a next big step. Creating a beacon for conversations are also important.
Again, Maggie, well done. Geoff, thanks for giving it exposure.
Geoff Livingston Says:
October 13th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
@Brian. Thanks for dropping by. Both you and Todd have done much to advance this cause from the beginning. It’s exciting to see SMNRs — or whatever the press release’s natural evolution may be — take serious strides forward.
iPlot: PR is Product Design: Ford's Social Media News Release Says:
October 14th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
san Says:
October 14th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
i agree with trackbacks and comments - that gives the communicative touch - creating conversations. that’s social media.
Community Guy - Jake McKee » Daily Links - Sunday, October 14 Says:
October 15th, 2007 at 2:02 am
[...] Ford’s Fantastic Social Media Release » The Buzz Bin [...]
PR is part of the product design: Ford's social media news release | Tech news blog - CNET News.com Says:
October 15th, 2007 at 7:16 am
collin Says:
October 15th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Interesting conversation created here, wouldn’t you say? I wonder how much this conversation would have contributed to the story of the 2008 Focus and Ford Sync if it happened on the SMPR… My guess… automotive bloggers don’t care about PR and Marketing folks talking to each other… all they care about is cars! When SMPRs become common place in the universe, then maybe the conversation will stay on topic. It is my estimation that on topic dialogue would be hard to come by if comments were enabled in these early days.
Goodness Gracious, Great Blogs of Fire! » The Buzz Bin Says:
October 16th, 2007 at 6:10 am
[...] In considering how public relations is evolving, PR Squared examines the lifecycle of a social media news release (SMNR). Through a short note to a well known “marketing guru”, SHIFT Communications was able to secure Twitter updates, a blog posting, and finally a Boston Globe article for their client. By developing interesting and accessible content, reaching out to the blogging community and monitoring and participating in the conversations that follow, you have a great recipe for success with SMNRs. [...]
CK Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Love this example and thank you, I’m so enjoying your blog and it myriad good teachings.
Do hope that companies are listening; this is one resource that I’m sending people to as I’ve all but given up trade magazines, save a couple.
Down with the Press Release!! Says:
October 18th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Matter/Anti-Matter - A blog on product design and innovation from frog design - Posts tagged 'social media news release' - CNET Blogs Says:
October 21st, 2007 at 10:54 am
Heuer Livingston Pre-CEA Podcast » The Buzz Bin Says:
October 22nd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
[...] Ford’s social media release [...]
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