Ford is taking openness to the next level in the innovative campaign. The company hired an award-winning documentary film crew and gave them unprecedented access to the behind-the-scenes world of Ford as the automaker struggles to reinvent itself. A new short video will be posted every week.

This certainly is a step toward transparency in a market that needs to reinvent itself. Among the quotes from Ford executives in the first episode:

“Maybe we didn’t care for as we should have.”
“We’re in trouble because we lost touch with the consumer. “
“It’s very easy in our own little offices to create our own idea about what it means to be competitive.”
“The auto industry is in a stage of major crisis…this is a company that really could go down.”
“Our pricing is irrational.”

These are Ford executives talking.

The video also features prominent headlines about auto industry losses and clips of its competitors’ cars and logos.

The home page is adorned with a headline ticker that this morning includes this: “Ford Motor’s June U.S. Auto Sales Decline 6.9% to 269,404.”

As advertising goes, this campaign certainly breaks the mold. It is startlingly honest. Ford deserves a lot of credit for trying it. The company reportedly is spending $50 million on the Bold Moves initiative.

Not that the site is perfect. The point-counterpoint columns on today’s home page aren’t really as controversial as they could be. And, as BL Ochman points out in an excellent post, the site’s commenting policies and disclaimers are excessive. The registration confirmation message also contains this strange line: “If you no longer wish to receive any email communications from Ford Division call 1-888-829-8149.” Huh?

But given how difficult it must be for a company to take a chance with a campaign like this, the product is remarkable. I’ll look forward to future weekly episodes.

Categories: viral marketing, corporateblogging