BlogWell Chicago Social Media Case Study: McDonald's, presented by Joe Curry
BlogWell Chicago Social Media Case Study: General Motors, presented by Joe LaMuraglia
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In his BlogWell case study, "Using Social Media to Avert a Crisis," General Motors' Manager of Social Media Communications, Joe LaMuraglia, presents a case study on how they used social media to help douse the flames around a misunderstood internal memo that got leaked publicly. --- BlogWell is the only conference where social media executives from big brands come together to share their case studies, offer practical how-to advice, and answer your questions. To learn more about BlogWell, visit gaspedal.com/blogwell/ BlogWell is produced by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council. Learn More: gaspedal.com and socialmedia.org
Transcript of BlogWell Chicago Social Media Case Study: General Motors, presented by Joe LaMuraglia
What’s in a Name?Chevy vs. Chevrolet
Joe LaMuragliaManager, Social Media, General MotorsTwitter: @GM_JoeBlogWellAugust 11, 2010
6/10/2010 – The Day “Chevy” Died An internal memo was leaked that
seemed to indicate that management at Chevrolet forbade any employees from using the nickname “Chevy” for the brand– The memo did indeed exist but it was not
approved and was in draft form– The purpose was to establish a consistent
name as Chevrolet expands in emerging markets
The memo quickly spread to the automotive online community and the controversy began
They Got the Facts Wrong…. ….but does that matter? Like a game of telephone, it quickly
turned into a story about Chevrolet “banning” the nickname Chevy and forbidding customers from using it
The facts were incorrect and it was being blown out of proportion by the online media but perception is 9/10 of reality
Media outlets all picked up the story and the commentary began
Chevrolet Mentions Increase6/1
/2010
6/2
/2010
6/3
/2010
6/4
/2010
6/5
/2010
6/6
/2010
6/7
/2010
6/8
/2010
6/9
/2010
6/1
0/2
010
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000Chevrolet
Chevr...
“Chevy” memo
Source: Converseon Date Range: 6/1/2010 to 6/10/2010
The memo caused Chevy Volume to increase to levels higher than they have ever been, dating back to Oct 1, 2009
Online Polls Regarding “Chevy” Announcement Major online outlets
turned to their readership to garner their opinion
The response was overwhelmingly negative with a tone of disbelief that it was even an issue
The number of comments on blogs and major media outlets were very high – showing the passion about the topic– USA Today had over 680
6
Source: Autoblog and Huffington Post
Our Response GM Corporate Communications was alerted of
the controversy and the Social Media team advised of a comprehensive response– Corporate communication responded with an
official statement that was delivered via Twitter– The automotive bloggers in particular weren’t
impressed
The passion and overall reaction in mainstream and automotive media indicated that this was not something that would “go away”
The Video The Social Media team
realized that the tide wasn’t going to change and decided to utilize video to explain the situation in “our own words”
Grabbed a flip cam, found an executive involved, briefed him for 5 mins and filmed a 2 minute video of him explaining what happened
The Reaction We posted the video on YouTube
and then disseminated the link via Facebook, Twitter and email
To date, it has been viewed over 11K times
The volume of criticism declined soon after the video was posted
GM issued a statement the following day retracting the contents of the memo
– “Chevy” will continue to reflect the enthusiasm of customers and fans
YouTube uses it as an example of how to utilize video to manage a crisis
Lessons learned “A company owns their trademark, the customers
own the brand” – Peter Esperson, Online Community Lead for LEGO
In this day and age of ubiquitous publishing devices, the story will likely NOT die quickly if it has picked up steam
Response to such passionate feedback requires a human touch
It is OK to say, “we were wrong” ALWAYS have a Flipcam and a TRIPOD ready
