Social Media Marketing

Add a Comment

2 Comments

Comment by RANDI PAYTON on June 3, 2009 at 2:42pm

GM’s Social Side Must Be Remembered

Ideally, corporations should be responsible citizens in our communities. Yet, very few companies do so. However, the auto industry in general, lead by GM, Chrysler and Ford, has played a massive social and economic role across the United States. For many historians, it all started when Henry Ford made the decision to offer fair wages to African American factory workers, and in the process created the black middle class. This of course, in turn, created more customers for Ford’s vehicles.

And thus auto companies connected being good corporate citizens to selling vehicles. Happily, that realization translated into tens of billions of dollars of support to education and the arts, civil and social organizations, small businesses, and the development of minority executives, dealerships and suppliers. Unfortunately, these efforts are largely ignored by the mainstream press, and therefore seldom come up on the nightly news.

Of course GM is in a survival mode and social responsibility is the last thing on its list of priorities. Its first priority is to trim the fat and then hopefully it will have something to give back to the community. Unfortunately, since the financial analysts aren’t addressing this side of GM, communities across the country will feel the void left. Organizations may cancel or downsize fundraising events, media companies will struggle or shutdown, and dealers and suppliers and the many jobs and communities they supported will also suffer.

When the Big Three’s social outreach efforts are compared to most other corporations, they have no real peers. How many Americans are aware of the millions of dollars put up by Detroit after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and other disasters? When a major corporation sets aside 10 to 15% of its profits to give back to the community, taxpayers should applaud them. If more people saw and truly valued the massive social projects these companies have undertaken, we might not be hearing such strident cries to let them fail.

Yes, Detroit knew it made good business sense to connect with its customers where they live. But they also did a great deal of good. And frankly, they must have had the right idea, because their major competitors very quickly followed in their socially responsible footsteps by launching such projects of their own. But now that GM is being restructured with an eye toward returning it profitability, will that generous support of students, colleges, small businesses, and charitable programs continue? Once the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler is complete, will they return to their caring ways?

Yes, the new GM and Chrysler may profit under the resulting stripped down structure. But, will the financial experts in charge recognize the value of good corporate citizenship?

Comment by Robin Sherman on November 4, 2008 at 3:58pm

WEBINAR: A B2B Journalist's Guide to Creating the Next New-Media Resource.

How to register: You can register on-line for this Webinar at http://eventcallregistration.com/reg?cid=4772t11.

Shortly after you register, you will receive a confirmation of your registration by e-mail that will include the dial-in number and access code.

Fee: This Webinar is $10 for all ASBPE members and $35 for non-members.

Date and time: Webinar is 60 minutes beginning at 1 pm on Nov. 17.

The program: On the Internet, smart writers and editors can reach millions of people — and make money doing so — without the backing of a large media company.

During the webinar, two who have done it will share what they learned about launching a new web venture:

Harry McCracken, the former editor-in-chief of PC World who has since founded the personal technology blog Technologizer, and Joe Pulizzi, founder and chief content officer of the search community site Junta42. They'll discuss how to:

• develop an effective marketing strategy to promote your content;
• identify and participate in online conversations that can help draw audiences to your work;
• use social networking Web sites to reach out to on-line communities who are likely to value your expertise;
• leverage the power of “free”; and
• build successful permission-based marketing initiatives.

More info at www.asbpe.org.