Ford Launches Consumer Idea Sharing Site

In the US, auto giant Ford has launched an interactive portal, which it claims 'goes beyond traditional consumer market research, studies and focus groups'.

Through the 'Your Ideas' section of its site www.thefordstory.com , consumers are invited to submit, share and suggest ideas and technologies.

President Mark Fields says that Ford is turning to the social web as an 'innovative way of generating new vehicle feature ideas customers really want and value'. He describes the portal as the firm's latest demonstration of collaborative efforts to engage 'automotive outsiders'.

The pilot of 'Your Ideas' enables consumers to participate in a community-based setting where they can review and rate posted ideas, and track what people think about their own suggestions.

Ideas that receive the most 'thumbs up' from viewers will be added to a most-popular idea list and reviewed by Ford's Advanced Product Marketing and Planning teams.

'Our philosophy about innovation has rapidly evolved,' states Gerhard Schmidt, Ford Chief Technical Officer and VP, Research and Advanced Engineering. 'We no longer believe that any one company or industry has a monopoly on good ideas; and embrace the fact that every good idea for our customers doesn't have to start with us.'