Ford

Social networks, most notably Facebook, dominate schools in terms of usage and demographics. It is no surprise that corporations look to social networks as a way of communicating with potential customers to grow sales and to establish its brand name.

Is Facebook a viable channel for advertising and for building customer loyalty?

A case study to answer this question originated from my past research on Ford Motor Company.

If you will recall, auto sales and home sales were the first to decline in 2008. By 2009, Ford, the only American company to not take a bailout, thrived.

Good management and discipline led Ford to grow sales, to re-establish its brand name, and to get customers excited about its product line. One of the small ways it achieved this was through Facebook Fans page.

Ford used the Facebook fans page to communicate with customers. With over 103,000 fans now, the count pales in comparison to the user count on the Facebook game, “Mafia Wars” (10 million users – customer appreciation is March 30 – be there).

Exact figures are not available, but Fords use of Facebook generated a sufficient number of sales to justify the use of the fans page. Even more important than demand dynamics of this social enabler is the exposure it provides Ford.

More specifically, Ford and other companies are aware of the potential market size of the mobile market.

We in the IT world are aware that mobile applications exist for anything from Twitter to Facebook. Companies are keen to understand image sizes and the related architecture to deliver ads alongside the mobile content.

Ford is well ahead of its competitors. Its presence on Facebook makes strategic sense from the advertising sense.

In terms of a product, it is all about Ford Mytouch. Mytouch brings an integrated mobile devices to its vehicles.

MyTouch (as described by PC World) will “bring Wi-Fi and Web apps to the vehicle’s dashboard with features like Internet radio, Twitter and 3D maps for navigation.”

Putting it all together, Facebook was a social enabler for Ford. Advances in the “mobile office”  by Ford re-defined mobile Internet technologies. The Facebook fans page is small in the grand scheme of things, but Ford is embracing new things. It is this comfort for new technology that continues to define this company.

Can you think of other examples of social enablers, particularly on Facebook and Twitter that benefited organizations?