Last year, I was in Melbourne, Australia delivering a Social Media Masterclass and participating in a few Tweetups. I met James Duthie and we got to talking about Automaker websites around the world and how most of them are just big TV-like advertising sites.
James contacted me to say that Mazda Australia has re-vamped their approach.
We like what we see!
Right on the homepage is a big community section. Live tweets appear – on the homepage! – and there are links to community forums and blogs.
What's fascinating is that many of the links go outside of Mazda to owners club sites, commercial reviews, information from places like Hemmings, and independent blogs.
In my experience, very few companies have the guts to Lose Control of their Marketing. Marketers are trained to keep everything close and to only deliver the company line.
Good on you, Mazda Australia. Let me know the reaction to your exciting initiative.