You’ve heard me say this before: We’re all in the media business today. All of us with media properties, a.k.a. branded Web sites, that is.
Craig Daitch of Hipstr thinks Ford could soon be in the media business too, but not because of its advanced understanding of the Web, rather due to its vision of car as mobile media center.
Writing in Ad Age, Daitch argues:
We spend an inordinate amount of time in our vehicles. By today’s standards, some experts believe that number exceeds three hours per day. So as provoking as a thought this may be, is it difficult to imagine a time when the auto manufacturers subsidize in-vehicle technology through advertising? What brand wouldn’t want to be pervasively integrated into a vehicle’s GPS unit?
Naturally, this isn’t a popular view. People sounding off in Ad Age’s comments cite safety concerns and the sanctity of one’s car as reasons not to turn it into one more hyper-connected media center.
Scott Monty of Ford then chimes in to say, “Our first priority is safety. What we’ve done is to simplify the driver interface and keep hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”
Monty also points readers to the following video from CES featuring Ford CEO Alan Mulally:
Ford’s SYNC is standard on all 2010 Lincoln models and available on select 2010 Ford and Mercury models.
