Negative commenters and "mistruths" might soon be getting 'corrected'

It’s not quite Big Brother, but Holden might soon be paying a lot more attention to the comments you write about it on websites like carsales.com.au.

Having decided it no longer wanted to simply be a punching bag for social media invective and mistruths, the company started correcting its critics on its own social media channels in the last six months.

And it’s been buoyed by the response, claiming a reduction in overall negativity and a more positive standard of conversation overall.

Now, if it becomes aware of anti-Holden commentary not being reigned in on independent automotive (and other) websites, it says it will step in and defend itself.

If it does go ahead with this plan it will be almost unique in doing so Down Under – at least in the ‘open’. But then, no automotive story causes more debate and angst as one about Holden.

The strategy was revealed by Holden marketing chief Kristian Aquilina during last week’s media briefing intended to focus on the brand 2019 SUV campaign, but also included a lot of focus on the speculation about the company’s future.

“We are at this point where mistruths are allowed to carry forward,” said Aquilina.

“We don’t want to do it on trivial stuff – we are not that precious – but when there is crap being spoken and the editors of those publications don’t jump in and correct the record, then I think there is an obligation to do that.

“We have a brand to protect and I’d like to get into that if it comes to a point where it starts to undermine the work we are doing here to try and restore this brand.”

Aquilina said Holden would notify publications if its people were going into a comments section to correct the record. He also made it clear anyone who did that would identify themselves plainly on-site as Holden representatives.

Carsales.com.au director of content and editor-in-chief Mike Sinclair, said he welcomed Holden’s decision.

“Carsales’ forums are moderated but the same can’t be said for all other outlets. We’ve encouraged manufacturers and distributors to engage with our readers via Disqus [carsales commenting platform] but very few have done so – at least in the ‘clear’.

“The challenge we all face is that much of what is written is opinion. Holden may not like consumer’s opinions and we mightn’t agree with them but that doesn’t always make them wrong,” Sinclair said.

Aquilina said Holden’s replies would be couched in good humour and a positive tone. He also confirmed the resources simply did not exist for Holden to sweep across the entire web looking for issues.

“But we have a big family who do alert us to things,” he added.

“Often they say ‘you should be aware of this. It’s crap and it’s gathering momentum’.”

Asked how soon Holden input might start popping up on automotive websites, Aquilina said: “We still have a mission to get across our own stuff. There is a bit of volume out there.

“But the sentiment is turning. We measure that stuff and it’s codifying subjective comments, but there is some rigour to it and we’ve seen a 35 per cent decrease in negative sentiment and a slight increase in positive sentiment.

“It’s [positive sentiment] always been there, it’s just been drowned out,” he said.

Holden has a social media manager overseeing content and presence and has commissioned an agency to pro-actively comment on its sites, including what Aquilina calls the “fightback”.

“Part of it is just coming up with some scripts and ideas for not only those guys but our customer care team as well,” he said.

“I don’t know of many brands that generate that level of passion,” he said.

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