Corporate Brand and PR

GM has enough thoughts and connotations associated with it's brand that aren't very positive in my opinion. However, I think that GM's PR division is doing a good job at moving the new company full steam ahead with a new, more improved brand image.

GM just announced today that they have repaid their government load in full, with interest, fives years ahead of the scheduled date. They posted a new video announcing this news on their website. From my perspective, something like that and a video like that really instills a great deal of trust and sense of accomplishment for the company. Just from doing this blog, my own opinion of GM has changed, just from opening my eyes and seeing all of the new changes they were making to the company.

The PR campaigns that are in place to enhance GM's brand image would be their "reinvention" campaign that is helping to steer opinion and trust back into the hands of GM for Americans. They are doing a great job at restoring and reinventing the company into a publicly aware, open-minded, company. They no longer are trying to get every bang for their buck but rather trying to make fewer, environmentally friendly, well-made vehicles. The PR team has used almost every kind of initiative to elevate the company's status in the public's mind. They have created youtube videos, blogs, twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and have pounced on opportunities from other company's downfalls. GM is now offering special offers for Toyota and Lexus dealers, which is a great lesson in learning to pay attention and have media responses ready when any company in your line of business goes through a crisis.

I think GM has taken all the necessary steps to turn its image around. They are working very hard and have addressed every difficult issue head on. They have become a NEW company with a NEW mission and NEW ways of doing business. And in my mind, I think they are doing a great job so far.

Corporate Crisis

Gm has had it's fair share of crises over the years. The economy, bankruptcy, bailouts, the environment, gas guzzling SUV's, and recalls are all reasons for crises within the GM community.

Most recently, GM has been dealing with their bankruptcy and government bailouts last summer. After that, GM went through a large re-invention phase, working on gaining back the trust of the American people. I think the PR people behind GM did a really great job with re-inventing the company and re-establishing the company's mission and goals for the long run.

"This is not about going out of business. This is about getting into business." GM Reinvention Commercial

This commercial was very successful for GM. Although it was advertising, even just the name of the new campaign makes you feel better about the company. Reinvention covers everything that GM is working to do these days. They say in the commercial how they are downsizing, working with fewer, yet stronger manufacturers and car models. There is a feeling that the big heads at GM are getting down to business, getting their hands dirty, and doing everything in their power to stay above water.

Investor Relations

In July 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy which undoubtedly lead to many turbulent changes in the company. The "old GM", or "General Motors Corporation" was bailed out by the government and is now considered the "new GM" or the "General Motors Company." Because of this, GM is no longer a publicly traded company. Under the "Investor Information" page on their website, GM has this webpage of FAQ's about the status of the company right now. The company does however post their annual SEC 10-K filings on their website, but considering it is no longer traded, there are no shareholders and therefore, no letter to the shareholders.

Instead of discussing how GM deals with their investors, I am going to look at how GM handled the bankruptcy of their company and what they did to overcome it. Analysts first thought that it would take GM at least 90 days to recover from bankruptcy, but in reality it only took 40 days. This was partially due to GM's PR people's very well executed "Reinvention" campaign.

The "reinvention" campaign launched a new website that incorporated all forms of social media with links, youtube videos, and blogs. The campaign spoke openly and honestly about the bankruptcy, which I personally think lead to it's success. People will always respect a company much more when they are able to fess up to their wrongdoings and speak candidly about what occurred. A good example of this is the 1986 Tylenol Johnson and Johnson incident. The company took complete blame for what happened, and they were able to recover much quickly than a company like Toyota who did not come forth as soon as bad news broke.

The "reinvention" campaign produced commercials and blog posts that pulled on consumers heartstrings about the hardworking individuals and the longstanding history of the company. Overall, the PR team at GM did the right thing is creating a campaign to change the face of GM and gain back customers trust and faith.

Community Relations

GM, and just about every other car company lately, is mostly focused on the environment and creating "green" cars that are good to the planet. To begin with, GM is one of the biggest culprits of the gas-guzzling SUV's and trucks with models such as Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, and Chevy trucks. It would only make sense for GM's main focus to be on the environment and creating earth-friendly cars.

GM has their "Environmental Commitment" which is all about creating greener, more economically friendly vehicles. I think this is an important idea since GM just celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Suburban, the first SUV ever made. Even though they made have started the SUV fad, they are now doing their part to take a few steps backwards and improve Mother Earth.

Green Materials and Vehicle Recycling is one of their programs. They have begun to design new vehicles that are 85% recyclable, which can go a long way in helping our planet. They also have a an Educational program in place, they say "We think it’s important to pass on the lessons and knowledge we’ve learned from working on these issues to the communities where we live and work and to young students today who will be tomorrow’s leaders and problem solvers." This idea of educating children about the environment and sustainable energy is pretty great. As a future teacher myself, I know the importance of educating children about tomorrow's problems so that it is in the forefront of their minds and almost becomes habit for them. There are even activities and lesson plans on the website for teachers to utilize and build into their classroom.

This idea of education and sustainable energy and greener vehicles plays into GM's mission directly. GM lists seven different points in their mission statement: Reinvention, fuel economy and alternative fuels, safety, warranty and quality, technology, auto shows and special events, and education.

I think the educational program and the environmental responsibility are good points for the Public Relations of GM because it shows that GM not only cares about the people driving the cars and how they effect the environment, but also the new wave of future drivers and children who are able to apply their knowledge of global warming in order to support a company that is environmentally responsible such as GM.

I think other things that GM could be doing to help the environment would be to do something like for every x amount of cars sold, GM will plant x amount of trees in the communities surrounding their manufacturing plants.

There is so much information on the GM website about the environment and what they are doing to make the earth a little bit better. I think overall they are doing a really good job and I think that anyone who buys a GM would probably feel like they are doing their part in purchasing a "greener" car.

Chevy Suburban turns 75

Two weeks ago, the Chevy Suburban turned 75 years old, making it the oldest continuously manufactured car in history. To commemorate this historic event, GM posted a few different articles and photo galleries on their media website. Chevy Suburban Photo Gallery.

In terms of the public relations aspect of this announcement, I did not see much in the media. I only saw the twitter announcements about this event, so unfortunately I do not think GM utilized their social media as well as they should have in this respect. Considering the Suburban is the oldest car that is still being manufactured today, I would have held some sort of "Birthday Party" with a giant Suburban-shaped cake or ran promotions online and through media outlets about the infamous car, and how it has been a landmark in history by highlighting famous movies that the car has been in or celebrities who drive the car. Another idea I have is maybe doing a news piece about how the Suburban has been a part of peoples families through various events throughout history. For example, maybe telling the story of how a Suburban traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to march for Civil Rights... something along those lines.

I don't think GM did a good job at publicizing this, which is unfortunate because I think it could have made for a really fun event or story for the company.

GM's New Media

So, GM does utilize new media, but I had a hell of a time finding any of their media outlets. GM has an entire website dedicated to Media, but I have no idea how to get to it from the main page, and only came across it by googling "GM new media."

The website is actually pretty cool. There is a section that shows all news releases, current and archived, and my favorite feature is on the side where there is a little box with tabs to each social media outlet: facebook, twitter, blogs, and flickr.

This was the only way that I was able to find GM on Facebook. I think that GM definitely does a good job with their social media. On their facebook, they have a lot of short, yet attention-grabbing videos about new cars, GM in the news, Consumer Reports, and new innovations within the company.

The twitter account is good too, there are a few different accounts actually, but I just focused on the US News twitter. It had some good links to news stories and quick, short taglines that tell the reader what's going on with the company.

There are a bunch of different blogs too and I also think they do a really good job at their blogs. There are news features, charity work about giving GMC trucks to help out in Haiti, and another cool widget like the social media one that keep you up to day in all different categories such as" Auto Shows, Bob Lutz, Business, Cars and Trucks, Concept Cars, etc. It's really neat.

If I worked for GM, by first suggestion as a PR person would be to make the new media more accessible. When I type in General Motors or GM in Facebook, the page should automatically show up. Same goes for the Twitter accounts. When I first typed in General Motors, nothing showed up but then when I just typed GM, twitter accounts appeared. The social media needs to be user-friendly, because that is what social media is all about- the USER!

Introduction

So here goes my first attempt at a blog... bear with me. For this little experiment, I'm going to be talking all about General Motors... the good, the bad, and everything in between.

For starters- I should probably say that I am not a GM driver. I drive a pretty snazzy Subaru Outback, clad in all sorts of identifying music band stickers. She does have a name, Suby, and even though she is a soccer mom car, I love her. (Thanks to M&D for funding the gas). My family has never owned an American car, which I guess makes this whole GM blog a bit more interesting, at least from my perspective. We used to be a strictly German car family, Audi's and BMW's, but then the economy and blah blah blah so now we are a Toyota/Nissan/Subaru clan, and we are pretty content.

So GM... they make Chevys, Cadillacs, GMCs, and Buicks. They have come under some heat in recent years after the economy failed and nobody was buying American cars anymore, but I haven't heard too many complaints about them in general. One thing I noticed is when I first signed on to the GM website was their mission. In big bold letters I read "re-invention." Even though I am not in the market for a car anytime soon (considering I am a very broke college student,) I was still drawn to this idea of re-invention.

Re-invention is an important aspect of reputation management when your product has not been flying off the shelf... or out of the parking lots. When I think of GM, i unfortunately associate it with gas-guzzling trucks and SUV's, but their website is giving me a new opinion. ALl part of their re-invention program is focusing on better gas mileage and making more reliable cars. They are definitely working on highlighting the better points of their company, rather than compensating for the negatives.