Business Blog Wire

Continuing my series on Fortune 500 corporate blogs, I’ll now look at Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), #5 on the Fortune 500 list.

Ford doesn’t seem to have any blogs.  Well, there are two possible exceptions that I found.  Ford has no current blogs at Blogs.Ford.com - the only one I could find, the 2005 Ford Mustang Weblog, clearly died of exhaustion more than two years ago.

The other site we might call a Ford corporate blog is one Robert Scoble initially wanted to hate: the new Ford Bold Moves website.  Scoble changed his mind because of the site’s (his words) candor and transparency. It’s basically a video series of interviews with Ford employees, talks with Ford opponents, explanations of the company’s history and plans, etc. So, a corporate video blog.

And I guess you could also call the Bold Moves Community Buzz page a business blog - but on second thought, it’s really an aggregator of sorts, of what people around the Web are saying about Ford.

Before I forget - Ford Bold Moves has a nice subscription page and FeedBurner feed (bling! nice).

Now then.  Duncan Riley loves Ford Bold Moves, and after my initial reaction, I’m inclined to agree with him.  Duncan calls this video blog "bloody amazing … candid, it’s frank, and it’s honest."

I love the About page:

Ford Bold Moves is a video documentary series that takes you inside Ford Motor Company as it attempts one of the largest corporate turnarounds in history. [It has] candid interviews from Ford executives, employees, industry experts and even Ford detractors.

Bold Moves also involves you in the actual corporate decision-making process—allowing you to engage, debate and discuss what you think is relevant. Register with the site and you’ll be able to join the Bold Moves community, post comments, rate content and even download videos to post on your blog.

Bravo!  Encore.

But while the About page has a wonderful explanation of the site, the Terms and Conditions page includes an equally awful provision.  I almost jumped out of my chair when I read this:

"No hyperlinks to this Site are permitted without Ford’s prior written consent."

Boo!  Garbage.

I haven’t delved into the actual videos at Bold Moves much, but I can tell that the site is well done and appears genuine.  This is one of the most important attributes a corporate blog can possess: a genuine voice.

Your thoughts?  Is Ford making the right move with Bold Moves?

Tags: No Comments