A `Bold' step to fix Ford's image

At first glance, it looks like a fund - raising pitch from an environmental group: ``With one of the worst fuel efficiency records of any car company, Ford is trying to `go green,' " said the Internet ad, which featured a photo of an oil-well pump. ``As another oil crisis looms on the horizon, can they turn talk into action?"

But when you click it, the Web browser opens a stark Internet site created by Ford Motor Co. itself.

It's the company's Bold Moves site, an unusual effort to reshape the image of a crippled industrial titan. Created with the help of advertising agency JWT Co., Bold Moves imitates the straight-talking, freewheeling style of popular Internet hangouts like MySpace. The goal is to present Ford as a company coming to its senses, open to new ideas, and ready to learn from its mistakes.

``When the news is bad, we're going to cover the bad news," said JWT chief creative officer Ty Montague. ``When the news is good . . . we're going to cover the good news."

There's been plenty of bad news at Ford lately -- massive financial losses and falling sales of its key truck lines due to high fuel prices. On Tuesday, William Clay Ford, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, resigned as chief executive and handed the top job to Alan Mulally, an aeronautical engineer who led the successful turnaround of Boeing Co.'s commercial aircraft business. Ford will stay on as board chairman.

Besides the obligatory press release, the Bold Moves site, at fordboldmoves.com, features links to news media stories about the management shift.

Other segments feature officials of major environmental groups denouncing Ford for building gas-swilling sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks. The most recent video offers financial analysts and reporters reacting to news that Ford lost $123 million in the second quarter of 2006. ``I've mentioned to you many times that the clock is ticking," says Ford executive vice president Mark Fields to an audience of his co-workers. ``Well, I want to be very blunt with you. Time is up. Time is up. We have got to fix the business, and we've got to fix it now."

Bold Moves also presents critical articles by freelance business journalists. One recent piece describes US heavy equipment makers Deere & Co. and Caterpillar Inc. The article asks why these two firms remain world leaders while American car companies have lost their way. Author Jeff Heilman points to Caterpillar's success in imposing lower wages and benefits on its unionized workforce, and warns that a similar fate may lie ahead for Ford workers.

On the positive side, the site hosts a series of short documentary videos that offer behind-the-scenes views of the company. Several recent videos feature the legendary automotive designer Carroll Shelby and his collaboration with Ford on a new version of his classic Shelby Cobra Mustang. Another depicts a Ford dealer who's opened a service station selling 85 percent ethanol fuel for use in Ford ``flex-fuel" cars, which can run on ethanol or gasoline.

Bold Moves encourages visitors to post responses to the videos and articles. It's so far attracted hundreds of postings ranging from cynical sniping to sympathetic notes from customers and employees who hope the giant automaker can stage a comeback. Ford spokeswoman Whitney Drake said that the site has attracted about 400,000 visitors since it was launched in June. It's been promoted mainly through ads posted on popular blog sites.

At least one expert thinks Ford is wasting its time. ``Ford doesn't have a PR problem," said Seth Godin, author of several books on Internet marketing. ``Ford has a `we were dependent on gas guzzling SUVs until people learned the truth' problem. Ford has a `we don't reward great designers' problem. Ford has a dealer problem." Unless the company gets its cars right, Godin said, no amount of Internet marketing will help.

Other analysts are more impressed. ``I like that they're a bit edgy, and I like that they're trying to be honest," said David Meerman Scott, author of the Internet marketing book ``Cashing In With Content." But with its professional videos and polished articles, Scott said Bold Moves ``still does feel to me like the old command-and-control model of delivering a message," instead of a grass - roots site where customers and employees take the lead in providing content.

Mary Lou Quesnell, who directs Ford's product branding efforts, said that the company plans major upgrades to the Bold Moves site. One possibility -- hosting a multitude of blogs written by Ford executives and employees who'd be allowed to speak candidly about company activities. A number of technology companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc., allow their workers to publish such blogs. But Quesnell said that Ford was concerned about releasing confidential information about new product development. In addition, she said that federal law requires automakers to keep records of communications with customers, so Ford would have to devise a system for archiving online conversations.

Chris Charron, vice president of Forrester Research in Cambridge, thinks this kind of open interaction between companies and customers will eventually become routine. ``Consumers will be doing this anyway" at web sites like MySpace and YouTube, said Charron. ``It's more important for brands to be part of the dialog rather than try to ignore it or shield themselves from it."

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.