Red Cross No. 16 Ford driven by Greg Biffle (Photo: Lars Ranger/E Group)

One of our newer clients is one of the older non-profits in our country. Founded in 1881, the American Red Cross is known for supporting communities through disaster relief, services that help the needy, support for military members and their families, educational programs that promote health and safety, international relief and development programs and the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products.

The Red Cross collects more than 40 percent of the country’s blood supply. Every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood so the need is constant. For the past four years, the Red Cross has asked NASCAR fans to help support their local communities by giving blood. The program, Red Cross Racing, features a generous donation from 3M as Greg Biffle drives the No. 16 Ford for the Red Cross.

This past weekend, Biffle drove the Red Cross car at the Brickyard 400 with a unique paint scheme highlighting the current critical need for blood. Hundreds of thousands of blood cells cascaded across the car, representing the more than 500,000 blood donors needed in August. Using the call to action of the hashtag #RefuelOurTank, which was displayed on the bumper, the Red Cross reminded NASCAR fans to give blood and help during this summer shortage.

Fast Horse worked with E Group, who is right around the corner from us, to promote Red Cross Racing. Among other things, we created an infographic highlighting the need for blood and tying it to the world’s biggest spectator sports facility — the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the race took place.  We also took quick videos of Greg Biffle asking racing fans to join him in giving blood and asked fans to share them with the hashtag #RefuelOurTank.

While the race is wrapped with Biffle finishing a promising seventh, the Red Cross continues its call for blood donations. Visit RedCrossBlood.org to find a donation center near you.

Before I finally settled, I spent countless hours reading online reviews and mauling through myriad specifications, like cargo space, wheel base, turning radius — all of which influenced my final decision. However, it was good old customer service and having a dealer I could trust that ultimately led my pen stroke to the dotted line.

I signed my lease at Sioux Falls Ford, where I spent the better part of high school cleaning up mangled automobiles once repaired in the auto body. My grandfather worked at the dealership for three decades and my uncle still runs the body shop. “Jeff’s nephew” means something around there. I signed my first lease at Sioux Falls Ford in 2008 and really felt taken care of. But, despite my deep loyalty, I looked around this time — online.

Online car sales are a very imperfect science, but I believe there’s a huge opportunity. Though I signed my lease nearly a month ago, I’m still receiving poorly written emails from Ford dealerships closer to Minneapolis, just checking in to see if I’m still interested in their inventory. When I expressed some confusion about car leases on Twitter, however, I received a response from Ford’s customer service account in a matter of hours. So while the Ford Motor Company has one of best social media strategies among Fortune 500 companies, its dealerships have major room for improvement. (I would recommend a centrally located database to ensure no dealership is contacting a customer who just leased a new Ford vehicle elsewhere.)

I could never purchase a vehicle online, but only because I trust my salesman at Sioux Falls Ford. I see the allure — avoid the upselling and the greasy-palmed salesmen who linger over your shoulder as you peruse the lot, championing the highest trim level for every vehicle you consider, no matter your budget. My salesman never asked what I wanted — he asked what I needed. That’s a personal touch that’s hard to establish online, and it’s doubly difficult when an online inquiry is thrown in the lead bucket. I believe something in the middle can exist — streamlined communication between customer and salesman whilst online.

One can only dream.

It’s a tricky balance to be sure — lessening the human interaction without losing the personal touch. How can auto dealerships leverage e-commerce? Quit thinking in terms of what the dealership want from the online environment — easy sales — and start asking costumers what they really need.

All too rare, an exceptionally well-written news release is something this writer truly appreciates. It’s not just enough for an inspired PR pro to have an idea that’ll take the piece he needs to write from “poo” to “powerful.” He needs to work that piece through his colleagues’ and supervisors’ revisions and contributions — not to mention their apprehensions and their own “wonderful” ideas. As if that weren’t enough, the legal department looms dangerously close to the end of most approval processes.

When Ford found its 2010 Fusion Hybrid on the receiving end of some rumors circulating via e-mail — specifically, that the car could be had for only $15,000 via a special program — creativity kicked in faster than full-on crisis communications. For the better, I believe.

Now surely, this news release isn’t the most free-spirited, humorous or irreverent we’ve seen, but it’s a great example of maintaining a very reasonable, very human tone in a less than ideal situation. This release certainly could have been a straight-laced, by-the-book chunk legalese. You know, play it safe and whatnot.

Instead, Ford took the opportunity to convey a hint of personality — and to drive home a few key messages, to boot. Well played.

Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company via Flickr

That is — sure, Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company’s in-house social media wizard, can handle most of the interacting and listening and sharing Ford needs right now, but what about the future? But what happens when, as Charlene Li predicts, social networking and digital sharing become nearly ubiquitous and the volume of blog posts and Twitter messages and Facebook groups and YouTube videos becomes far more than Scott Monty — or anyone like him — can handle?

Well, Jon’s right in that this is a big concern. Being a “socially active” company that’s overwhelmed and seemingly unresponsive is almost worse than being socially inactive. Here’s the important part, though: That’s not social media problem. That’s a resources problem.

Of course a single PR person or customer service or social media community manager can’t indefinitely manage every bit of a company’s communication needs. Jane Doe can’t, but Jane Doe’s employer can. It must. At least, it must if it’s committed to serving its customers. The same is true for media relations or product development or building security or custodial services: At a certain point, you need more arms and legs to keep up — especially if you’re finding success and growing.

Eventually, you need more Jane Does. More Scott Montys. Comcast, for example, has a small team fielding customer queries via Twitter. Yes, that’s expensive. Yes, this will create a large, sometimes cumbersonme, certainly imperfect operation (because, after all, people are imperfect), but if providing exceptional customer service is as important as providing an exceptional product or service — and I believe it is — then that’s the price of doing business. And to be clear, “customer service” could mean anything from a product team helping customers with troubleshooting to a PR team working closely with reporters and bloggers to a CFO handling investor relations.

So here’s the challenge: Do you really want to know what your customers think of your products? Do you value their feedback? Will you listen to them the way you want them to listen to you? Are you committed to constantly improving your business?

Then be prepared to invest in what it takes to get ‘er done. This “social media stuff” isn’t a hot topic because it’s easy. It’s a hot topic because it can be powerful. So let’s get to it.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Gessner via Flickr

Once viewed as a barbaric activity that took place at dingy old venues like the local armory, mixed martial arts (MMA) is far more regulated than in its early days and has gained serious momentum as a legitimate sport.  If you haven’t noticed, or are simply too squeamish to look, it has become quite popular, particularly with the important 18-49 male demographic.

The Target Center event is sold out locally and will be watched by thousands of fans around the country via pay-per-view at a cost of $45. I’ve been paying attention for a while, but even I’m blown away by the ticket prices – main floor seating is $600 (before Ticketmaster’s “convenience charges”) and most upper level seats are in the $250 range. 

So how did MMA make such a leap? 

Well, MMA bouts are perfect in an age of short attention spans – usually three, five-minute rounds of incredibly fast-paced action instead of 10 or 12 rounds in a boxing match – but the real magic has been solid marketing efforts, a ton of TV exposure and a growing sponsor base.

It’s hard to flip through the channels without seeing MMA on TV and ratings have been strong.  UFC fights on Spike TV are routinely among the most-watched programs on cable and CBS recently began broadcasting events from Elite XC (a rival organization of the UFC) during primetime on Saturday nights.  In addition, you can see fights on Versus, FOX Sports Net and Showtime, among others. 

And, “The Ultimate Fighter” has become a hit reality show – providing big ratings for Spike TV and huge exposure for the UFC as it enters its 8th season of searching for the best unsigned fighters.  Some of the sport’s top stars also have been showing up where you’d least expect them.  For example, Tito Ortiz had a lengthy stint on “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell starred in an episode of HBO’s “Entourage” and heavyweight Kimbo Slice became a phenomenon on YouTube before ever turning professional. Highlights of some title fights are even being covered by ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

As the fan base has grown, the sponsors have become bigger and more sophisticated.  It’s not just blood from some poor fighter’s head wound covering the mat, but logos for brands like Budweiser and Harley-Davidson.  MMA is never going to be a mainstream sport, but if you’re a marketer looking to reach young, blue collar guys, you ought to be paying attention and jump in while it’s still on the rise.

We’re always kicking around ideas, so we couldn’t help but take five minutes to have fun with a little brainstorming.  Thought we’d share a few:

1) Hershey’s Extra Dark “Shot in the Dark Match” – staged with the lights turned out in the arena and the fighters wearing glow-in-the dark gloves, trunks and body paint.

2) Ford Trucks “Built Ford Tough Mobile Matches” – fashion a makeshift cage in the back of a new extended cab pickup truck and create a guerilla marketing spectacle by traveling to high-traffic events with fighters brawling in the back.

3) Bud Light “Tough Guy Tap Out” – A lighthearted event featuring celebrities entering the cage with some of the world’s toughest MMA fighters and money going to charity for every second they last before “tapping out” from a submission hold.  Of course, plenty of free Bud Light would be on tap for spectators.

4) Lids.com “Search For America’s Ugliest Cauliflower Ear” – Cauliflower Ear is a badge of honor for some guys, while others just look at it and cringe.  I say let’s create an online contest judged by MMA fighter James Thompson, the man with the most outrageous ear I’ve ever seen. 

Which idea do you think would create the most buzz?