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« Sue First, Ask Questions Later: A Classic Lesson in Social Media and Public Relations | Main | Microhoo -- Yahoo Goes Bing! » Best Buy, Twelpforce, and Crowdsourcing a BrandPosted by Rich Goldsmith on July 29, 2009 at July 29, 2009 9:52 AMOnce upon a time, branding was all about control. Companies engaged in one way communications strategies and tactics in an attempt to dictate how consumers viewed their brands. Well, no longer - now brands are being defined (and redefined) by their employees and customers and how the company interacts with them. The latest example of this phenomenon is Best Buy's "Twelpforce," which leverages the legions of "Blue Shirts" to address customer questions and service issues via Twitter. There are two layers of genius to this program. The first, and most obvious, is that it not only helps differentiate the company from its biggest competitors by providing instant high-quality customer service, but it leverages the collective tech-savvy of its employees to provide a service to customers that no small group of hand-selected Tweeters possibly could. The second, and perhaps most important, element of the program is that rather than carefully controlling brand messaging and funneling it through a select group of spokespeople, Best Buy is trusting its employees in a very public and on the record way to help the company define the brand. This crowdsourcing of Best Buy's brand identity has its roots with people like Robert Scoble and other corporate tech bloggers who gave an insider's view of operations at their companies back when blogging was shiny and new. In the beginning, this made corporations extremely nervous. However, now that employees and consumers are so eager to engage, converse and make the brands their own, companies realize that they can no longer afford to control their brands so tightly. In fact, they're realizing just how much value they can derive it -- making companies more likely to take a second look at how they can engage their own employees and consumers in defining their brand. In Best Buy's case, the Twelpforce program is likely to spur increased sales as the Blue Shirts establish deeper relationships with customers and recommend products carried by Best Buy. But the benefits to this approach are likely to be felt far beyond the sales floor. Greater employee satisfaction, loyalty and engagement are a definite side effect. Equally likely is increased consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty through this increased interaction. And as these results become more evident, it'll be interesting to see what major brand will be next to put the reins in the hands of their employees and customers.
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