Corporate America Learning To Evolve Under Tweeter-In-Chief
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) -- President-elect Donald Trump pledges to continue his infamous use of Twitter while in office to call out people, organizations and businesses with which he has a beef.
Now companies are making plans on what to do and how to defend themselves if they're called out by the Tweeter-in-Chief. Already, Mr. Trump has shown his unprecedented power to influence stock prices with a single tweet -- Boeing, Ford, Toyota and Macy's all felt the power of the President-elect's tweet.
"I've been quite active, I guess you could say, in an economic way for the country," President-elect Trump said.
Earlier this month, Trump targeted General Motors on Twitter for the Mexican-made Chevy Cruze, threatening that they "Make in USA or pay big border tax."
GM's stock dropped 1 percent.
The company said most Cruze models are made in Ohio.
Lockheed Martin's shares also plummeted nearly 3 percent when Trump tweeted that the defense company's F-35 program costs were "out of control."
Lockheed's CEO personally vowed to lower costs.
"We are going to get costs way down, and the plane is going to be even better," Trump pronounced confidently.
Hits to both company's stock prices were temporary.
"Presidents and brands have always intersected in years, but this is an entirely new level of engagement," said Abbey Klaasen, a Chief Marketing Officer at ad agency 360i.
Because Trump's Twitter feed can instantly hurt or help a company, she said brands need to be ready for anything.
"It's about thinking through the motions of, 'Ok how do we respond if Trump tweets something positive about us, if he tweets something negative about us,'" Klaasen explained.
A financial app called Trigger has even created an alert to notify users if Trump tweets about a company they have investments in.
"Since he got elected, he's tweeting about specific companies, calling them out on Twitter and it's having massive effects in the stock market," said Trigger CEO Rachel Mayer.
The company's app tracks major financial news and events, or triggers, to help investors. The latest Trump alert quickly became their most popular feature.
"One single tweet we've seen can eradicate cap market losses in the billions," Mayer added. "One single tweet can adjust the strategy of a large fortune 500 company."
While the majority of the companies featured in Trump's Twitter feed took hits, a few companies have seen boosts, including Fiat Chrysler, which saw an uptick in stocks after Trump tweeted at them favorably.