Following time spent at companies like Weber Shandwick – where he worked as global executive producer and the president of content creation and innovation – and PayPal as senior director of content and production, Ian Cohen joined Ford Motor Company in the newly-created role of head of creative and content for global communications back in December. Now, just a few weeks later, that move has apparently been made permanent, as FoMoCo looks to boost its creative marketing techniques moving forward.
According to PRWeek, Cohen’s new role consists of internal and external storytelling and content creation for The Blue Oval, a job in which he’ll report to Ford chief communications officer Mark Truby. Cohen will also oversee an entire integrated team that’s responsible not only for creative services and content, but also, the company’s newsroom. He should be ready for such tasks, given the fact that Cohen joined PayPal in 2018 and did much of the same sort of work in his years there, too. Back in April 2024, Ford named Megan Matthews as its new executive director, electric vehicles, software, design, and integrated services communications after she also left PayPal, where Matthews held the role of VP of global communications.
“As a storyteller, it is a dream opportunity to work on an iconic brand like Ford with so many transformative products and technologies,” Cohen said. Truby added that Ford has a “well-earned reputation” when it comes to storytelling, and noted that Cohen was brought on board to help the automaker grow in that particular area. “[Looking at] what we did around the F-150 Lightning, re-opening Michigan Central Station, the Drive podcast we started with our CEO, Jim Farley, and the documentaries we have done, we try to be creative and stretch the boundaries of how a company can tell stories about an exciting industry like the auto industry,” Truby said.
Farley’s Drive podcast launched back in 2022 and consisted of the CEO interviewing a host of celebrities and famous folks, and it was successful enough that it returned for a second season in 2024 with guests including CNN correspondent and son of the first Ford female engineer Dr. Sanjay Gupta, singer Kelly Clarkson, and late-night host Jimmy Fallon, among others.
Comments
As a freelance writer myself. I never realized the importance of story telling as a critical part of the writing craft until well into my writing adventure.
You know what’s more important? Delivering results. Ford consistently fails on that primary business function. They over promise and under deliver. Case in point, Ford promised us BlueCruise updates 2 years ago. Never delivered. And we paid 4 grand for these updates.