PDF-Volvo Audit

Auditing Perception: Volvo Cars and the Automotive Journalist Community Background Volvo Cars has established the goal of being among the top three PR organizations in the automotive industry. To this end, Volvo has undertaken a variety of self-study initiatives over the past few years designed to help evaluate their practices and identify areas for improvement. One such program, a comprehensive, integrated benchmarking study, is described in a detailed case study elsewhere on this site (LINK TO BENCHMARK ARTICLE). As another part of this ongoing quest for industry leadership, Volvo commissioned the Gronstedt Group in early 2002 to conduct a broad study of automotive reporters and editors. This research was intended to assess Volvo’s performance, vis-a-vis its competition, along several key criteria, and also to gauge journalists’ opinions of the state of automotive PR generally, with an eye toward establishing a definitive industry-wide annual benchmarking survey. According to Roger Ormisher, head of Volvo's North American PR efforts, "Our goals were two-fold. We wanted to assess the status of recent initiatives and changes, as well as establish solid, reliable benchmarks against which we could measure future progress. The Gronstedt Group knows our business and had produced high-quality work for us in the past, so they seemed like a natural for this project." Challenges Potentially the ...