Comments on: Ford Fiesta‘s smart social media campaign backfires in the Middle East

By: Ford upsets bloggers more; no sign of an apology in the horizon! « Thoughtpick Blog

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:04:06 +0000

[...] to replicate their successful Ford

By: Fadi

Fadi — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Amer, actually it depends on the blogger. Some bloggers in the Middle East have a really huge readers base. There is a big number of bloggers in the region that can’t be ignored.

Beirut, that is an interesting question. “Are bloggers always true in what they say?” I would say, ofcourse not, bloggers are not one person, they all have different opinions, backgrounds, and interests. But when someone ignore the entire blog community in a region, he would sure get some people angry! :)

By: Beirut

Beirut — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Dear Fadi...

I think you have said it all! Great power comes with great responsibility and the great power we get from social media tools and networks should not be taken lightly since you are addressing millions of different people from different backgrounds, education levels, open mindedness and so on!

Nevertheless, I have to ask you something: Are bloggers always true in what they say, think or post? Or can they be affected by an evil plan crafted by, hmm, let's say Ford's competitors' here in this scenario?

That's something to think about :)

Great post Fadi... Thanks for sharing this valuable info :)

By: Amer

Amer — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:03:00 +0000

I agree with you, Fadi. Social media campaigns over the Web must be carefully crafted. In the end, all parties participating in making the brand look better are free to change their minds and say a different - maybe non-supportive - opinion.
The statement Ford made obviously did the opposite effect in the Middle East.

I'm wondering, how many visitors do Middle Eastern blogs actually get? Do they really get thousands and hundreds of thousands of readers a month?

Keep up the great work...