Originally Posted by
WASP
Alot of that noise and confusion can be mitigated if Ford really up its communication not only with customers with the public at large.
They can humanize themselves and the situation through the CEO is instead of the typical PR spoken person. What typically happens with a large corporation is the CEO disappears from the public eye and the company spokespeople understated the extent of problems as perceived by the customer and public. It comes across as disingenuous and a lack of planning and empathy, rather than a genuine mistake that the company is fully committed to making good on and work hard to restore the faith.
A slow PR response by Ford, followed by backlash can be damaging and costly, eroding trust and respect. Alternately they can get on top of this fast by offering things that their consumers value such as extended warranties and Ford Performance branded accessories, reassuring their customers about their product capabilities, trustworthiness and put funding into advertising and marketing to communicate these efforts.