V/Speak

Getting feedback from your customers to improve your business is ALWAYS a good thing.  The problem – marketers often times think they know their customers better than customers know themselves.  Not true, and now that the tough economic times have hit, several prominent marketers (and even a publication like Business Week is not above getting story ideas from their readership) are understanding that consumer outreach is a necessary and relevant component of their business model. 

Two companies with vastly different products and demographics that are remarkably similar in their approach – Starbucks and Best Buy.  The tagline on the My Starbucks Idea blog is “Help shape the future of Starbucks – with your ideas“, while Best Buy’s Idea Xchange touts:

“We’re constantly looking for new ways to improve our business and are asking you to help us by sharing your own ideas, voting for ideas you like, and discussing them with the rest of the community.” 

These are great examples of two companies who understand that the very foundation of their business, the customer, is a valuable asset to them as they prepare new market offerings – both in product and services.  From my perspective, more marketers should be following their lead or face the danger of losing share to competitors that do.

David Veneski Social Media Best Buy, Community, Starbucks

I have a lot of respect for Barry Judge – the CMO of Best Buy.  Barry is not only good at marketing, but he is excellent with his understanding of his customer, how to reach them, and most importantly – how to please them and help them become brand champions for Best Buy.  We’re all trying to do that with our respective audiences.  The difference with Barry Judge is that he is an executive that puts himself in a position of complete openness – right down to the average customer shopping in one of his stores or researching online. 

He’s one of the few CMOs that I know of that is embracing the Social Web at all levels.  Through his blog, his Twitter account, and other one to many activations like the YouTube video below, he is very clear with his message: Be transparent, show people what’s good and not so good about you to build trust, and talk WITH your customer, not AT them.  Sage insight – all big brands would be exponentially more successful if they embraced that single tenant alone.  Mr. Judge has a quote from the video that is important for all brands, big and small, to embrace:

“You’re a part of the conversation, a part of what is being said about your brand.  You don’t get to tell customers what they get to think anymore”

A very simple, yet powerful statement.

David Veneski Digital Marketing, Social Media Best Buy, Digital, Transparency