FROM PRODUCTS TO CONVERSATIONS

A Case Study of Best Buy | Aaron M. Miller

Brand love

Frustration

Employees

It keeps growing

Participate orIgnore?

We must evolve

Brad Anderson, former Best Buy CEO, October 2008

From products to relationships

But this ain’t easy.

How to structure?

!

How to manage employees?

Effect on managers?

Effect on managers?

When is it too much?

How to scale globally?

Best Buy tells us that...

Dedicated social media teams are important

The best approaches foster two-way symmetrical communications

Policies are important to implement, but culture is more important

The future?

!

Characteristics of Crowd-driven Brand Management 1) Requires social media engagement. 2) Relies on many interactions initiated

by many brand advocates, such as employees.

3) Most interactions are between one advocate and one consumer, but viewable by the public.

4) All interactions are archived for future searching.

5) The mass volume of interactions minimizes the occasional negative brand representation.

6) Experiments and mistakes are OK; transparency is key.

7) Requires a strong organizational culture to train employees to “do the right thing” on their own.