October 29, 2009

When Facebook is Not A Marketer's Friend

Honda Accord Crosstour

Introducing a new product, such as the Honda Crosstour, can be frought with customer reaction that can jade social media critics into cancelling a campaign. But read below to learn how to be manage complaints.

In September, 2009, Honda unveiled a variant on the Honda Accord. Called the Crosstour, the vehicle is a large 5-door hatchback, designed to appeal to SUV owners who want versatility but in a more sedan-like form. The hybrid design has become the latest rage in the industry, starting with BMW's X6 and continuing with Acura's ZDX, also being introduced with the Crosstour (Acura is Honda's luxury division. According to Honda few components are shared between the ZDX and Crosstour).

But Honda ran into a marketing storm when it unveiled the Crosstour on a Facebook fan page. Fans immediately panned the vehicle's appearance. Worse, Honda responded to specific posts with very general comments, which prompted more negative fan comments. Honda has since released more reveals of the Crosstour in more colors and interior pics, but the damage to initial buzz was done.

Companies need to understand how to position a brand extension with online communities. Accord is a very popular vehicle, but its popularity is among family car owners looking for reliable and affordable transportation. A FB fan is a fan in a true sense -- they're enthusiastic for the product be it Jack Daniels or Beyonce Knowles.

Also fans will want to share the experience. A vehicle reveal exposing the Crosstour to the FB crowd may have not be the best audience. Accord does not carry the same FB-like enthusiasm like a Ford Mustang or Nissan 370Z. An extension to a entry model like the Civic would potentially have been a potentially better choice for this channel, given its image with young buyers and tuner car heritage (Honda recently embraced the tuner image with a CivicNation ad campaign).

To Honda's credit, Facebook has seen an increase in adults, in segments that would be a potential audience for the Crosstour (The average age on FB is 35 years old, with more women than men). But this potential audience is recent relative to this campaign timing, so the "usual crowd", vocal and responsive, may have been the first to see the Crosstour reveal and comment.

Automobiles can be difficult to market. Vehicles contain definitive physical features that can be an elephant in the room when it comes to consumer impact. And these features can not be easily changed without a substantial engineering budget, very difficult in a competitive market with slim margins on some vehicle lines.

For example, Ford had a great handling vehicle in a compact sedan called the Contour, but had a negative in the rear leg room layout. The European-developed sedan needed more room, and the issue was highlighted in various car magazines. This is a feature or product quality that is not changed easily. For Ford it took developing a different offering, the Fusion. While not a direct replacement, the Fusion is larger than the Contour, carries more room, and developed on platform targeted for American roads.

Exposure online means immediate feedback, so buzz on a product like an automobile is extremely vulnerable to negative response. A grille change or trim change may not cover up a general sentiment that a overall shape is ugly or that a vehicle has poor function of its major features. GM made trim changes to the Pontiac Aztek, but the vehicle was (and still is among critics and consumers) considered an ugly vehicle that should have been re-imagined before production. These examples are why I still pay attention to automotive marketing even though I am now 8 years out of the game (I worked at Ford and interned at GM, as well as having lifelong car enthusiasm).

Small businesses can learn how to market extension of services by monitoring launches of extension products from large businesses, then learn to apply albeit on a small and quicker scale (fail fast, learn & apply quickly). Owners can search for blog posts or follow Twitter feeds to see what worked, what didn't, and reflect on how the suggestions and tone can best be used in their own services and products.

Engage your fans, but be cautious of egging on negative statements from the community if you can not really address fan concerns with specific actions or solutions.

Check out the Crosstour fanpage to see the comments. If you think I am alone in my thoughts, check out the comments at Autoblog.


4 comments on “When Facebook is Not A Marketer's Friend”

    1. Sarah, from your opinion (and I know you're a car girl at heart) is an an exciting body style enough of a justification to create buzz on a social media tool, like Facebook. Or should the vehicle have something much more radical to make the buzz and conversation more worthwhile?

  1. [...] tweetmeme_url = 'http://zimanablog.com/2009/12/17/when-social-media-is-not-a-marketers-friend/'; tweetmeme_alias = 'http://wp.me/peqW6-cp'; tweetmeme_source = 'zimanablog'; No matter how wonderful social media is among the marketing faithful, the content can sometimes become the foot in the mouth. Toyota tasted foot sandwich when a Saatchi & Saatchi- produced Yaris commercial was seen by Australian Facebook and You Tube viewers as too demeaning to women. Facebook negative reaction — Hmmmm, sounds familiar to the Honda fiasco with Facebook (Read the Zimanablog article When Facebook Is Not A Marketer’s Friend). [...]

  2. […] No matter how wonderful social media is among the marketing faithful, the content can sometimes become the foot that enters the mouth. Toyota tasted foot sandwich when a Saatchi & Saatchi- produced Yaris commercial was seen by Australian Facebook and You Tube viewers as too demeaning to women. Facebook negative reaction — Hmmmm, sounds familiar to the Honda fiasco with Facebook (Read the Zimana blog article When Facebook Is Not A Marketer’s Friend). […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram