‘Driving Sales’ Up with Social Media

What is the largest social media tool in the automobile industry?
Hint: It’s not for consumers.  Think Business-to-Business.

Still stumped? Check out the video.

Launched in 2008, DrivingSales.com is already the world’s largest social network in the auto industry.  It connects dealership owners, car manufacturers, sales experts and auto salesmen, among many other visitors. Similar to other social media sites, users create profiles and upload their information.

Users are able to read expert blogs, view user photos and videos, see interviews and even recruit employees among other features. Together, the users network with each other as well as upload information and knowledge, exponentially increasing each other’s knowledge-base. These fellow experts or professionals upload automotive sale strategies that they feel work effectively, and other users rate and provide feedback on the strategies in order to determine the “Best Practices.”  Below is an image of the Strategy Feedback section. Users are able to vote on proposed business strategies. In the left side bar, you can filter the strategies to cater to your goals.

Users rate business strategies proposed by other users

Vendors also have the option to present their products and services for sale. Dealerships provide ratings and feedback on those products and services. In turn, the vendors can comment and discuss the reviews.  (See photo below for a preview of the rating system.) This allows auto dealerships to determine the most beneficial products to purchase. The site thrives off of Positive Network Externalities: when the network increases value as each person joins and contributes.

But how effective is all of this? By becoming the auto industry’s largest social media site within one year, they must be doing something right. According to Reuters.com, DrivingSales.com’s network grows at 30% a month. The article also mentions a research study, stating that this social media network for this industry was a main reason that it survived through the early recession. Overall, many people in the industry credit this site for helping them past the hard times in automobile sales  by allowing many people in the same situation to collaborate for a solution. Many dealers testify to turning toward the site to see what the most successful auto businesses are doing. The turnout seems to be effective, as creator Jared Hamilton redesigned DrivingSales.com in 2008 specifically to share information and thrive during the recession. DrivingSales.com was even nominated as a finalist in The American Business Awards under the “Best Web site or Blog” category!

A Cultural Sci-con

Rather than build a community like Ford did for their yet-to-be-released Fiesta (See my post on Ford’s Fiesta Movement), Toyota decided to take advantage of an existing community. Toyota, producer of the new Scion market, took a different approach than Ford.  Toyota developed Scion to be marketed toward the “Generation-Y” or “Generation Next” consumers. Scion even developed their cars using Generation-Y testers. These cars, known for their funky and customizable nature, are a hot commodity among Generation-Y’s. To narrow in on Scions demographic, most young Scion customers are “car-people” (opposed to Ford’s everyday “Agents“) who not only use their car for transportation, but more-so as a hobby. These Scion “car-people” make up a community of Scion fans, which is exactly what Toyota and Scion aim to take advantage of.

On Scion’s website, Scion offers a list of  “Scion Enthusiast Sites.” This list includes both a list and map view. The map view allows you to find Scion enthusiasts in your area, while the list view allows you to view online communities that are solely dedicated to Scion users.  However, Scion still takes this a step further. Rather than organize large number of small groups around the nation, Scion developed a master of all Scion enthusiast sites with their “Scion Speak.“

Scion Speak is a social networking site that allows fellow Scion owners to communicate in the cyber world, and meet in the real world. The idea of Scion Speak, according to marketing developer Scott Good of StrawberryFrog, the idea of Scion Speak was to create pride in the Scion community and allow this passionate community to spread the word. Their goal was for the passion within the Scion community to drive itself.

As seen in the video below, Scionspeak allows users to be a part of a community, yet express their own individually, which is a strong part of the Scion culture. Users are able to express themselves with customizable design symbols, which are similar to a coat of arms. Only a few of the unlimited possibilities are seen in the video. These symbols elaborate on more than the user’s style. Certain symbols aspects can represent favorite music, geographical demographics, relationship status, alternative hobbies and more.  I know Yahoo! allows customizable icons as well, so what makes these symbols different from everyday avatars? Well, many users can link their icon to other social networking sites. Similar to Ford’s “Fiesta Movement,” this integrates Scion into cyber areas that their target consumers already are. To further the use of ScionSpeak, many users paint or stick their “coat of arms” directly on their Scion to embrace their community as well as express individuality.

Not only is it effective – it’s fun. Check out Scionspeak to either “make” your own crest, or “look” to view thousands of users’ crests. With multiple options and customizable combinations, the possibilities are virtually endless. I went ahead and made my own crest for your amusement:

(Unfortunately, I don’t think that this would look as cool on my Nissan SUV.)

Scions approach to its target market (which, according to the project creator is young, creative customizers) seems to fit perfectly. So does Scionspeak work? According to USA Today Article, “Outside-the-Box Scion Scores with Young Drivers,” ScionSpeak.com attracts 170,000 visitors a day. Not only does such a community environment spread the word on Scion, it builds brand-loyalty, which could go a long way when targeting such a specific audience.

Ford’s Festive Approach in Social Media

With so many options in Web 2.0, what approach should the auto industry take?

Why not combine all of them?

American car company, Ford, aims to tackle the social media trend with their revolutionary interactive marketing plan for the 2011 Ford Fiesta. Launched in April of 2009 in Ford’s Fiesta Movement, the company connects with consumers with this interactive plan. Among the 4,000 applicants, Ford selected 100 American car-testers, or “Agents“  throughout the country to test drive the Ford Fiesta for six months. Upon discovering these vague details, I had to ask myself, “What’s the catch?”

The Fiesta Movement agents document their daily lives, specifically about the car they’re testing. The agents have monthly missions. So far the themes have been: “Travel,” “Technology,” “Style/Design,” “Social Activism,” and this month’s theme, “Adventure.” Each agent uses any social media of their choice, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Blogs, and other various means of Web 2.0 communication in order to document their journey. The viewers can select their favorite agents and follow them along the Fiesta Movement. Ford establishes connectivity with potential customers by using social networking sites that they are already using every day.

Ford does an excellent job with transparency, a trend that many companies are taking today in order to build trust. On their YouTube Channel, Ford posted a video that showed a behind the scenes look at the beginning of their project. You can check out that video below:

Ford built 100 Ford Fiestas in Germany for the 100 winners of the Ford Fiesta Movement.

Not to be forgotten in the midst of the fiesta, Ford has also incorporated the entire company into the mix with The Ford Story. This is another social networking opportunity. Similar to The Fiesta Movement, Ford launched a site that allows users to read the stories of real people and their Fords. The site allows users (opposed to “visitors”) to interact with both the story teller and other users about the Ford products. Comments and forums allow open discussion, which is vital in the online community. The site also includes Ford’s twitter feeds, articles, videos, and Ford-based events around the country.

When you are considering purchasing a product, where do you read about it? Who do you trust more, the advertisers or user-comments and feedback? Rather than listen to corporate executives or car experts, visitors to the Fiesta Movement can interact with people similar to themselves. Ford stresses that the stories are uncensored, unedited, and none are deleted – good or bad. I feel that, by using everyday people from around the country, Ford incorporates trust and validity into an industry that many distrust today. Followers of the Fiesta Movement develop a relationship with the agents that allow a more genuine “word-of-mouth” type feel in the advertising. Instead of listening to marketing pitches and catchy slogans, consumers listen to the agents speak their mind about the Ford Fiesta. I feel that Ford’s passive approach is a less threatening form of communication and results in visitors embracing the message. I personally enjoyed visiting the site because I did not feel that a message was being forced on me. The crucial aspect of the Fiesta Movement is Ford’s attempt to build a relationship with each and every customer one by one. Mass one-way communication is a thing of the past, and Ford is far ahead of the curve.

Ford’s ultimate approach has been extremely successful.  The campaign has an estimated reach of 1.5 million, with over 40,000 images uploaded to the Flickr account.  (One couple of newly-wed “Agents” even changed their last name, from “Hodges” to “Ford.”)  Their Facebook page has over 20,000 fans. The American Fiesta Movement has ignited approximately 13 million impressions, and awareness has grown by 40%.

So what can we learn from all of this? How can this revolutionary marketing approach change the face of the Auto Industry’s communications? Ford’s social media expert Scott Monty lists his top 5 lessons from this movement.

There is a large gap in-between the end of the Fiesta Movement (November 2009) and the release of the Ford Fiesta (Summer 2010.)  How will Ford keep the word of the Ford Fiesta alive? Will they be able to continue mass success? After the success of the Fiesta Movement, I have faith in the Ford Company to brainstorm something new.