Chrysler Blog: On the Wrong Track
July 19, 2009
When there is talk of bankruptcy and conflict about a corporation, some might believe it’s important for those issues to be addressed. Acknowledging that the incident did occur is vital, especially if the corporation plans to rebuild its reputation. It seems even more pertinent particularly if others are discussing the topic, as is the case in this article. So when Chrysler’s blog showed no recognition of the company’s very public and well-known financial crisis, its readers were stunned.
Q: What kind of content does the blog and/or its post contain?
A: Many of the blog posts serve mostly as advertisements for future products. Videos of planned merchandise are included and often accompanied by the usual caption propaganda. Instead, the corporation should have approached the issue as this video did; addressing it’s past and future.
Viewers of the blog are astonished that the company jumped so quickly back in advertising mode, and righteously so. Many commented their opinions on the blogs most recent post. However, this is not the only flaw in Chrysler’s attempt at a blog. Opportunity for user interactivity is very limited. The blog lacks many of the applications most corporate blogs have grown accustomed to having. The blog shows no links to user friendly sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace. This, in itself, is very surprising.
Q: How is the blog structured? How does this effect user interactivity?
A: This is quite possibly, the most significant flaw of the site. The blog has a clear and evident lack of viewer consideration. The organization of it’s content shows no clear pattern making it difficult to find any certain section. Visually, it is unappealing and seemingly unprofessional. This, of course, does not help in the pursuit of building up the corporations credibility. As said in the answer above, the blog contains a very limited amount of applications to allow interactivity. Most corporate blogs utilize these sites and Chrysler’s decision to not implement them seems irrational. These sites allow seemingly unlimited amount of exposure and allows customer involvement. In order to stay competitive and relevant the corporation should reconsider their assessment. These aspects of the site will only discourage consumers from reading its content and prevent their return.
Great analysis Kirsten! It’s ridiculous that Chrysler’s blog doesn’t offer information or opportunity for consumers to participate. One of the biggest aspects of public relations and communication is knowing your audience. If your audience wants to talk about something, then you should offer a post about that subject instead of ignoring the topic. If they ignore what the consumer wants, the consumer will go somewhere else. Instead of trying to move on from the economic crises they should be patching up the issues they have with their consumer relationships, or else there can be no progress.