The end, when it came, was sudden. Just when it looked like the Saturn car company had been rescued by the Penske Group, the deal fell through and now, despite a loyal customer following, Saturn is no more.

As faithful Loyalty Truth readers know, I have blogged about Saturn in the past, noting its social media miscues and also about the course correction the brand took to try and make things right. No matter what your take on the company is, for many the loss of Saturn is the loss of a beloved brand.

As David Aaker, author of Building Stronger Brands, put it “it was the only organization in the US that really had a quality culture to it…the loss of Saturn is a blow to a loyalty group attracted to the company’s no pressure sales approach and solid customer service.”

Some put the blame squarely on parent company GM. Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, MI, (angrily) said: “It’s criminal negligence. They got attacked internally, constantly, until today they were finally destroyed. How do you take something that was such a good idea and wreck it deliberately?”

As I write this, the Saturn Web site hums along, oblivious to the brand’s demise. It’s animated home page still buzzing with moving cars and people. I can still go thought the motions of ordering a new Saturn Aura that, alas, will never come.

The brand loyalist site Saturn Fans continues to provide news updates from around the Web, all related to the brand’s final days. They read like obituaries really, with headlines such as and “The Ride’s Over for Saturn Lovers” and “Farewell to Saturn’s Utopian Dream”.

Over at the company’s ImSaturn social network site the news was broken via a posted press release on the brand’s pink slip day, September 30. About 50 people have written in to what may be the site’s final post, with many customers either “heartbroken” over the “sad news” or bitter at GM vowing they “will NEVER get my business again.”

One more passionate fan wrote: “I hope someone can come along and bring the brand back as a proud American automobile company but that’s a dream and the way things have gone, in so many ways lately, dreams don’t stand much of a chance. Good luck to us, the true American dreamers…and believers.”

RIP Saturn, you have left a void in the hearts of a lot of American car buyers, another good idea put on the junk heap due to a lack of funding and foresight and commitment. For many, there appears to be no car company out there who can take your place.

Tom Rapsas is an independent Creative Director/Writer/Strategist. He can be reached at tomrapsas@gmail.com and via Twitter @tomrapsas.

Back in late-April, on these very Web pages, I called out the Saturn car company for its failure to engage with its customers.  As rumors circulated about the company’s potential sale—or imminent demise—I pointed out there was a glaring lack of information coming from the company’s ImSaturn social network site, a place where many true brand fans would go to first for breaking news.

In my story, I cited a crucial two-week period in April when there was just a single posting on the ImSaturn site, compared to 20 entries at a site called Saturnfans. This fan blog was reporting all the news and rumors it could get its hands on while urging loyalists to “Save Saturn”. As I said in my post, it looked like “the brand fans are more passionate about saving the company than the brand employees.”

Well in the past couple of months, coinciding with Saturn’s sale to the Penske Automotive Group, I’m happy to report that things have changed. Since returning from its near death experience, Saturn has made a couple of moves that deserve to be applauded.

Good Move #1: They showed they were listening

After the initial blog post, a Saturn executive in Detroit took the time to write in a comment to Loyalty Truth. He seemed genuinely concerned as he said: “We will take your observations to heart and examine if we can improve the information flow on the site. We were the first auto brand to have this type of site, and it has been a learning process.”

This comment showed that the folks at Saturn had their ears to the ground and were listening—and just as importantly, responding. And while talking to Loyalty Truth, apparently our Saturn exec also had a few words with the folks manning the ImSaturn site, because another change became apparent.

Good Move #2: They started talking again

As a current Saturn owner, once the sale was announced I received a letter in the mail updating me on the news and “this new chapter in the Saturn story.” Upbeat and personal, it gave me a sense of promise and enthusiasm that was missing from the press reports.

This sent me to the ImSaturn site to see what was happening there and I came away impressed. The “Saturn team” who posts entries on the blog had picked up their output considerably, including updates on the sale and its aftermath. They also added a pleasing mix of comments from Saturn fans who were genuinely excited about the brand’s second life.

The Net: While Saturn still has an uphill climb, at least they’re back in the game and engaging with their customers again. Hopefully, they can maintain this new found passion and commitment as they move forward.

It just goes to show you that in social media, as in life, it’s never too late to make things right.

Tom Rapsas is an independent Creative Director, Writer and Strategist. He can be reached at tomrapsas@gmail.com

For most companies, starting a social Web site is a great idea. There’s no better way to strengthen a customer relationship than with an open and honest dialogue. But there’s a flip side to the coin. Once the lines of communication are open, it also means engaging when times are tough and the news is bad.

Which brings us to the Saturn division of General Motors.

Just over a year ago, Saturn launched ImSaturn, a social network site for Saturn “drivers, employees, fans and enthusiasts.” Early posts talked of snazzy new models and featured entries from happy Saturn customers. It was a feel good place.

But everything changed on February 17, 2009—when, if you’re at the controls of the ImSaturn site, a crisis kicks in. That’s the day parent company GM announces publicly that the Saturn brand is being discontinued after the 2010 model year.

Now if you’re a true blue ImSaturn follower, this raises some serious issues. Like: Is Saturn really going out of business forever? And: Why should I ever buy a Saturn again?

Cut to the ImSaturn Web site. Where it gradually becomes apparent that the Saturn company bloggers—who have been put in a difficult if not impossible spot—just don’t have the answers to the pertinent questions they need to address.

A February 18 post announces GM will investigate the “spin off of an independent Saturn”. A March 2 post says the same thing.  On March 31, they continue to look at “the spin off of Saturn as an independent company.” Then, from April 1 to April 15, except for a blurb on a new TV commercial, the ImSaturn site has no posts at all.

What makes this is odd is that during the same April 1-15 period, on a brand fan site appropriately named SaturnFans, 20 posts appear. Twenty. Including several stories on potential Saturn buyout partners and an entry on a public rally to save the company. There’s even an online petition to “SAVE SATURN”.

It’s enough to give you a disconcerting impression: the brand fans are more passionate about saving the company than the brand employees.

Meanwhile, if Saturn wants to monitor negative chatter on the Web, it need not go far. It’s happening in a public posting area right on the ImSaturn site, where positive feedback is offset by entries like “I will never buy another Saturn!!!!” and “You built crap and America never forgives!” Posts that have so far gone unchallenged.

The takeaway is that while there’s a vast upside to social Web sites, the Saturn experience shows there is also a small but real potential downside. Bad things can happen. They can begin to spiral faster than you can react to them. And even your best intentions can come up as empty as a gas tank on E.

Tom Rapsas is an independent Creative Director, Writer and Creative Strategist. He can be reached at tomrapsas@gmail.com