The design section includes behind-the-scenes videos with designers and asks children to draw, paint or sculpt “the next great vehicle design.” They’re then directed to take a picture of the design and share it to the portal’s community page, where they can explain the design and describe the people who would buy it.
The company assembled content from numerous sources.
“We couldn’t do a lot of new video footage,” Tolbert said. “We were able to take some of the existing materials that we had, videos and interviews of our designers, for example, [and] some of our vehicle safety information.”
In one video the company put on the portal from YouTube, FCA’s chief technical compliance officer, Mark Chernoby, has a vehicle safety discussion with kids.
The idea for the platform was embraced immediately by FCA’s upper ranks. Tolbert and design chief Ralph Gilles, as executive co-sponsors of the company’s working parents network, raised the idea during a meeting with Mark Stewart, FCA’s North America COO. He encouraged them to move forward.
Tolbert said Stewart didn’t want to just focus on the one day but look at ways the company could continue to deliver more content for students in the months ahead. She also wants to give those outside FCA a chance to dive into some of the content.
“It’s content that I think anyone would find interesting and useful,” Tolbert said. “It enables us to just continue to broaden the audience of how we can educate the kids about the automotive industry.”
