More Reasons for Automakers to Get Closer to Customers

Regular readers of my blog will have noticed a certain, shall we say, antipathy toward many of the policies of the Bush Administration. That’s why I was stunned to read the following in today’s Wall Street Journal. 

President Bush, in an interview Wednesday, said GM and Ford should develop "a product that's relevant" rather than look to Washington for help with their heavy pension obligations, and hinted he would take a dim view of a government bailout of the struggling auto makers. 

For once the President and I agree. It appears that GM is stuck in the same rut as Ford – adhering to ineffective, unprofitable, old-school mass marketing in a world where the consumer sits firmly in control.

GM, more than other car manufacturers, has little excuse for this lack of consumer insight. Their GMAC finance arm offers ample opportunities for customer interaction. As a long-time Saab owner (a division of GM) I get all sorts of lovely brochures and mailings from the company … none of which reflect the detailed information they should have amassed on my preferences after a decade of car leases. 

Marketers across the country are awash in data and often have difficult translating it into insights. Today’s active participants in consumer generated media are ready and willing to give those insights – directly. Whatever companies spend on structuring the processes and systems to gather and respond to consumer input is well worth it. And it has to be less than the $4.78b loss GM reported for Q4 2005.

Comments

[Steven Silvers]

There's more on this at Scatterbox in a post titled, "Speaking of relevance, Mr. President..." The nation's CEO has a far worse track record than the auto companies he scolded for not controlling costs and being irrelevant to the public.

[Kelli]

Hi, Leslie,

I took a little time over lunch at my desk today to catch up on your posts and, as usual, I really enjoyed your comments. As you know I've been dabbling as a blogger and blog reader/poster recently and even though I've read about companies using the blogsphere to interact with their customers, it didn't actually hit me until today (OK, admittedly, I'm a little slow) that this as potential implications for my own employer! Duh. Working for a 100 year old phone company these last several years has been, let's just say, interesting. As someone who is passionate about customers and their needs, it dawned on me that blogland could be very applicable and relavent source of customer dialogue for my father's phone company.

Do you or your readers know of big, ancient corporations who have successfully entered the open dialogue ring with customers and potential customers? Or even medium-size places who have e-engaged with their base?

BabyBoom Blogger,

kt

[Leslie]

Steve -- That's a great point. I wonder if we could slip it into the White House suggestion box. Leslie

[Leslie]

Kelli -- Thanks for the props. That's a great question and I'm sure the Ma Bells could benefit from the use of CGM for consumer insights and as well as communications programs. I know that BMW, Lexus and P&G have all tried this approach. As you say, maybe other readers will have some examples for you. ~ Leslie

[toby - the diva ;-)]

Kelli - here's a resource that lists Fortune 500 blogs - including Sprint. http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi

Good luck!