There are plenty of Facebook fans, but few like the car.
The marketing team at Honda Motor Co. provided a great case study (albeit, unintentionally) in why it is important to have a plan when you launch yourself into the social media sphere.
Last week Honda unveiled images of the new Accord Crosstour on a Facebook fan page that was set up a couple of months ago. While not a mind-reader, Honda execs probably thought the car had tested well with focus groups. So why not launch a social media campaign that would go viral? Only it went viral the other way. People HATED the car.
Honda didn’t launch this site to get input on the car. They weren’t looking for feedback or design cues. They were looking for love and got exactly the opposite. Maybe they should have thought twice. Maybe they should have avoided going out on Facebook. Regardless, that bell cannot be “un-rung.”
To Honda’s credit, it left the negative comments up on the car’s fan page. The company also posted its own message explaining the design and how it “may not be for everyone.”
Honda has some extremely loyal customers and they now have the opportunity to improve that loyalty and strengthen those bonds. It may not win them over to the Crosstour, but the opportunity exists to continue that customer interaction and move forward. That is part of the beauty of social media.
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I agree. Part of the plan should have been positioning the communication so that it was clear Honda was not looking for input; that the photos represented the final design and that the FB viewers were among the first to view the new model. Sometimes, communicators forget about the art of positioning the desired response in the mind of the viewer. We sometimes think that the audience is in tune with us–and I think it’s more problematic with larger firms, like Honda who can take their audience for granted. Consumers need to be constantly reminded about brands.