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Digital Automotive Trends and Insights from Razorfish

Android gets in the driver’s seatDecember 16 2008

In past articles in this series, we’ve talked about the emerging meme of phone-car convergence. It is difficult to predict what sorts of automobiles will emerge, or how innovative automobile companies are willing to be in this volatile economic climate, but as we study trends in the two seemingly distinct technology areas of automobiles and cellphones, it is becoming clear that cars are well on their way to becoming highly sophisticated network computers. In this article we look at Android, and why it could be significant to the automobile industry.

A Google car?
Google, at first glance, is an unlikely player in the automotive landscape beyond providing mapping services to existing car computer systems such as BMW Assist. Consider, however, the release of Google’s mobile operating system Android, and how it is being used by third-party developers to create some very innovative applications for cars.

The first phone to run Android — the G1 from T-mobile — was released a few months ago and is considered to be a potential contender for the iPhone. Like the iPhone OS, Android offers an SDK for developers and a “market”

Lessons in changing consumer perception of a major brand, one tweet at a timeDecember 12 2008

Scott Monty heads up social media efforts for Ford Motor Company, an effort he began in July. In that role, he’s responsible for internal and external adoption of social media strategy to help improve Ford’s overall reputation. I sat down with Scott last month to discuss his approach, before what could only be categorized as an extremely active period for Scott.

We spent an hour discussing audience, tools, tone, content mix and etiquette. During our conversation, I was impressed by Scott’s unwavering approach. His answers to the questions I asked almost always came back to the same point: getting Ford’s story - from innovation and safety to green technology and affordability - out to a larger audience. In the time that has since passed, I have watched in awe as Scott juggled events both planned and unplanned from any number of locations. Below I take a look at one week in the life of Scott Monty. From this, one can get a sense of how to begin thinking about social media in conjunction with a major brand.

Choose your medium
Many social networking outlets exist for brand managers today. Picking the right audience for your message is crucial to success. Scott is an active member of several networks - LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter - but it is Twitter that he employs most frequently. He does this for three reasons:

1. The format fits the communication style he wants to p

How automotive marketers should be using social media in a downturnNovember 20 2008

It’s no secret that automotive marketers will be slashing budgets over the next year. Social media programs, often classified as experimental, may likely end up on the chopping block, but perhaps wrongly so. In 2009, marketers mustn’t drop social media all together in a recession; instead they should refine what social media means to their organization by adopting the following three strategies:

1. It’s time for utility, not entertainment
In 2009 marketers must focus on social media programs that are rooted in utility, rather than entertainment.  The next year should be devoid of hokey microsites that ask fans to vote on catchphrases or house quirky viral videos. A 2009 social media program should focus on providing on-the-fence auto buyers with the exact information they need to make a purchase. Bolstering community forums and vehicle ratings and reviews would be two ways to accomplish this.  Josh Bernoff of Forrester concurs with this strategy, recently noting in a report that social applications work “better than advertising at helping people in the consideration phase.”

Brands like Comcast and HR Block are currently focusing on utility-heavy initiatives by actively monitoring and responding to mentions of their products on Twitter.  For examp

Notes from the Facebook generation: Focus on the driver, not the carNovember 13 2008

For the recently released FEED: The Razorfish Consumer Experience Report, we conducted an online panel survey of more than 1,000 tech-aware consumers to understand how they used the social, mobile and increasingly dispersed Web. The research showed us that social technologies had caught on big time, across more varied users and uses than imagined.

Throughout the report we referenced this “Connected Consumer” research in articles such as Mad Widgetry, Twitterific, Advertising as a Service, and my own contribution, Designing experiences for the Facebook generation, which covers the lessons the Facebook Generation has to offer the general business community. In this post, I pick up from that last point, taking a special look at the lessons the Facebook generation has for the automotive industry and its digital experiences. The main theme running through it all: put your customers at the center of your digital experiences, not your products. The following are several ways

Customer service is the new marketingNovember 2 2008

Your brand is made up of millions of little experiences.

There’s a lot of buzz these days about the value of customer experiences. The gist of it is that your brand is not what you tell consumers it is. Your brand is made up of all the millions of micro-experiences customers have with your brand. The implication is that companies not only need to attract new customers and make sales, they have to be aware of what existing customers are saying to them or about them, and be able to respond quickly, in a personalized manner. This has the potential for creating positive experiences, which contribute to brand health. One effective way companies are doing this is by providing great customer service.

There is no end to the stories about angry, unhappy, dissatisfied customers (that blog about it) distressed about not receiving the support they need from customer service. And there’s nothing like bad service to damage a company’s brand. However, companies that