Ford's Community Relations

Ford Motors has an entire page of their media website dedicated to showing their contributions to the community. The page operates very much like a news page, which leads the reader to believe that it changes as new contributions are made. Such an innovation should not go unnoticed as it highlights how Ford does have a number of contributions in their community.

Towards the top of the page, there is a quote from Henry Ford himself, "A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business." From the top of the page, the reader gets the message that Ford is more than just a motor company, but it also has ideals that are meant to benefit society at no cost. I would like to emphasize that quote because I think it's an important part of the page, showing that from the start of the company, Ford has been more than just a business.

Beneath the quote, there are links to different articles that show the philanthropy of Ford. The biggest feature today is "Ford Volunteer Corps Supports Hunger Relief", an article about how one of Ford's volunteer groups of over 600 employees helped deliver food to over three dozen nonprofit locations.

While there is no denying that the employees did a great thing for the community, this article was written like a Miss America speech. In the introduction especially, the author had a tendency to sensationalize the situation. Yes, they did help make the world a better place, but they made the company seem a bit grandiose. Further in, the author felt the need to elaborate about more of the projects that Ford had partaken in, such as a Winter Coat Jacket Drive in southeast Michigan. I would have liked to see that in a separate article where it could have its own amount of spotlight, considering how it's inclusion in the article seems to me like Ford is just trying to list everything they've done for the community.

Next to that article, Ford has another about a driving safety school. This legitimately pertains to Ford as a production company, obviously because Ford makes vehicles. It is unclear if the author of this article is the same as the author of the last one, but it was an exponentially more well written article. The author highlights the mission as a whole, to show teenagers how to navigate a driving course safely. The author includes mention Ford's subgroup Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSLF), and their collaboration with the Governor's Highway Safety Association to encourage safe driving habits from a young age. This article was clear and concise, and explicitly had a message which they more than adequately conveyed. 

Finally, Ford has a section for their contributions to the educational community. They have a news article about their collaboration with communities to inspire innovative education, and below the article link they have a link to show they community activities they sponsor that involve student bodies to make contributions in the community. The link is something like a timeline and is very easy to navigate and use; it provides links to short articles that talk about what events they sponsored and who participated, including "Global Week of Caring", and the "Green Eco School Bus" all the way to scholarships that the Ford Motor Company is offering in the UK.

Ford is clearly well involved in their community. There was a single article where it tended to indulge itself more than I would have liked to see, but that is not to say that it is not doing great things in the world. The site is easy to find and user friendly, and promotes a positive, friendly message for Ford in the community.

Ford's Recent Campaigns

Ford has been running ads lately showing off their latest products that they have released and will be releasing. Most notably, Ford has been flaunting their new Police Interceptor vehicles; they take great pride in knowing that our nation's police have trusted Ford for so long with reliable machines to do difficult jobs.

The Facebook page had many likes and comments for this post, and one of the top comments was by a John Sher, who gave a picture of his car and said, "Nothing beats the Crown Victoria." While the comment did not exactly support the release of the new police line, it did show loyalty to Ford's vehicles.

Ford is also proud of the new 2015 Ford Expedition.

They have posted: Capability has reached new heights. Introducing the 2015#Expedition with standard 3.5L EcoBoost.http://ford.to/O99Tdm — with Shabeeb Thayyil and 17 others.

They have gotten much positive feedback, receiving many "likes" and "favorites". People have responded by complimenting on the shape of the vehicle, saying that they like the way it looks like a truck. Some people have voiced some disappointment with the design, however Ford has not responded to the criticism. It is sometimes seen that a company will respond to negative opinions, and it could be that these posts are relatively new, but it does not look like Ford will respond on these mediums.

Ford currently uses their social media pages to promote products as they are first and foremost a retail business. They have included posts where they mention the Winter Olympics in Sochi, they have mentioned "Love your Pet Day", and other topics that would appeal to more than just Ford Motors consumers. To see statistics about sales and customer satisfaction- the nitty gritty facts about Ford- media.ford.com is the site to look at. It features news, features, products, multimedia, people, Chicago, and an animated directory. While they use their social media for a more casual audience, Ford seems to reserve the media page for their more business-oriented audience, such as stakeholders.

Welcome to the Officially Unofficial Official Blog of Ford Motors. This blog has been created for my Corporate Public Relations course at Quinnipiac University, and will be tracking the public relations example set by Ford Motor Company.

I am a third year Public Relations major here at Quinnipiac, and have always been very interested in American made goods, especially the auto industry. Being raised around Ford vehicles, I have found them to be reliable machines which have always suited my needs. From the Taurus to the Expedition to F-150's to F-350's to diesel 6-wheel Super Duties, I've never had a bad Ford. This gives me the opportunity to delve into the Ford Motor Company's operations. I am looking forward to getting an in-depth look in the most successful auto company's PR strategies.