Toyota may have had a slight issue with safety but they have always been a future looking company. They have now teamed up with Salesforce.com to create a social network for just Toyota owners. After all what is one more social network in the grand scheme of things. The network will be called Toyota Friend.
This is a smart move as it will keep the lines of communication open between Toyota and its owners if any issues come up. Owners will also be able to connect with their cars and dealerships. Like any good social network you will be able to connect while being social with the real world. Toyota Friend can be reached via any computer, smartphone or tablet.
Like the Toyota PM above, you and I will not be able to use Toyota Friend. Although it users of the private network will be able to share the Toyota love via the kings of Social, Facebook and Twitter.
This network will not be cheap to set up nor is this going to be a overnight venture. This a partner ship between Salesforce, Toyota and even Microsoft. Salesforce.com will invest $2.7 million, Toyota $5.4 million and Microsoft will add $4.3 million in the platform. The first cars that will be able to use social networking capabilities will be Toyota’s electric vehicles and hybrid cars. Both of which will not hit the market till next year.
One would think that Kia would have came up with this first since they do a lot of out of the box marketing. Come to think of it Ford as well should have done this already since they are very tech heavy with their car line ups.
Awesome!