I'm sure the Ford Ranger Station Fire social media case study will still be talked about when we are all writing our blogs from our graves but more importantly, has Scott Monty done more than avoid a bit of a PR crisis? Has he started to change the internal culture of Ford Motor Company? And if so, what impact could this new mindset have on the future success of Ford?
Take the recent Fiesta Movement campaign as a pure business focused adventure.
To launch a proven model such as this into the gas guzzling US market at this time is a fantastic idea; a gamble admittedly but time will hopefully show it as another success that will become social media folklore!
But Scott Monty has absolute support from the people at the top and look at the results that he is generating (albeit yet to show full value). Imagine someone at at organisation such as Ford trying to do the same without the senior support - just would not go anywhere I am sure. Maybe it would in time but time is not a luxury the likes of Ford or many others have these days.
So, if you want to push social media within your organisation, you will get a lot more done if you have senior management support. Obvious to most but often missed in the excitement! But how do you get them interested? Become as knowledgeable as you can within the social media environment, collect great case studies, and convince them of any great workshops or seminars. Internal selling takes time but will ultimately save you time in the long run.