Many parents seem to have concerns when their children begin to learn how to drive. Most of these apprehensions are based on fears about the teen driving too fast, getting distracted, having an accident, etc. Ford Motor Company is now planning to release a product that they believe will attempt to help calm some of these fears and draw the parents of new drivers to their vehicles.In 2010 Ford plans to release "MyKey" which will give parents more control over their child's driving habits. "MyKey" is a car key that has a small computer chip in it which can be given to young drivers. This key is programed so that when being used the vehicle cannot go over 80 mph. Parents also have the option of putting stereo volume limitations and seat belt reminders on the key.
This product could feasibly be viewed as good or bad PR for Ford. Ford has recognized that children's driving habits are a concern for many parents and are using that as the basis for this new product. Parents are likely to see the positive aspects of "MyKey," which is what Ford is counting on. Conversely, teen drivers are not likely to give their approval of this product. If parents give their children the freedom to choose their vehicle, the teen driver is likely to steer clear of the car that gives their parents the ability to have control over their driving. So, good PR move or bad? Does the chance that parents will choose the car for its added safety features outweigh the risk that these restrictive controls will turn off teen drivers?
1 comment:
Great questions, Lauren. We thought long and hard about this before launching MyKey. Intuitively, any new product or feature has to have some benefit to customers. In this case, parents obviously like the feature but teens... not so much.
However, the PR team pressed to find a teen benefit so we conducted further research. The findings were very helpful, and even surprising in some cases. Half of parents who would consider buying MyKey said they'd give their teen(s) more access to the family vehicle.
And teens – 67 percent of whom initially said they dislike the technology – responded much differently when learning they could get more seat time as the number dropped to 36 percent. More surprising, those who liked the feature jumped from three to 24 percent
We emphasized these points this week, and many media quizzed teens and reported similar balance in their stories. We'll learn more about if/how MyKey drives actual buying behavior as we begin launching the feature next year.
You also seem to raise a broader point about a PR team's role in an organization. Your insight is the type of perspective PR professionals need to bring to business leaders before decisions our made. If PR doesn't have a seat at the table – and that's not uncommon – these important questions may not get addressed and could turn a good news opportunity into a big risk.
P.S. – Check out http://jon8332.typepad.com/force_for_good for more topical PR issues from one of my early mentors at Ford who these days is a busy Chicago PR honcho but still finds time to write about provocative issues like the one you raised.
Thank you, sorry for the long response (aren't we the soundbite people?) and look forward to your further thoughts.
Wes Sherwood
Ford Safety Communications Manager
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