Got Controversy? Why Your Brand Needs One Today
Nov 18, 2008
Here are a few reasons why having a brand controversy may be your company's best hope to reinvent itself and start to embrace social media tools that initially seem new and scary.
Tag: Dell
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At Issue } essential reading
'Chief Listeners' Use Technology to Track, Sort Company Mentions
Aug 30, 2010
The role of a "chief listener" evokes images of fuzzy sweaters, chamomile tea and sitting around with a patient ear. Instead, try sifting through unstructured data and building complex queries.
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Big Tech Hunts for Profits in Data Mountains
Aug 24, 2010
The second move in about a year for a little-known data storage company highlights how big technology companies are scrambling to help their larger customers do more with the massive amounts of information they are collecting.
HP Brand Was Slipping Before Hurd Ouster
Aug 18, 2010
Mark Hurd served as the CEO of HP since 2005. He was known on Wall Street as a cost-cutter. Cost cutters tend to be loved for their short-term financial gains, but there is a flaw to their management style in that they typically find it difficult to build the long-term value of their corporate brand. I have no comment on Hurd's conduct that caused him to be fired but I do find it interesting that the board voted 6-4 to fire him based on the advice of a public relations consultant. Was the Board concerned about the corporate reputation of HP? Or, as Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle, said, "the HP Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago."
Vice, a Media Company, Shows Big Brands How to Reach the Hip Crowd
Aug 5, 2010
Vice is happy to be known as a hipster media company. From its headquarters in a former warehouse in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, the company oversees magazines covering youth culture in 23 editions distributed in 26 countries, an online television network and a record label. Vice’s identity — and skill at content creation — is precisely what makes its current partnerships with Dell and Intel both possible and surprising. The deals call for Vice to create sites filled with images, videos and text that evoke a cool-kid image those companies want to connect with, although not necessarily with specific products.
Why Founders Make Brilliant Brand Leaders
Jul 1, 2010
I've been thinking about the power of a particular kind of brand leader: founders. Many of the companies I admire are still run by their founders, or the founders at least still play an active role. Often the founders have come back after the company ran into trouble, showing just how important a role they play: Shultz at Starbucks, Dell at Dell, Jobs at Apple, Chuck Schwab at Schwab.
Dell Aims To Beef Up Consumer Business
Jun 25, 2010
Dell Inc. vowed on Thursday to fix the profit problems of the business segment the company started with selling desktop and notebook computers to consumers. The computer maker laid out plans to shift to more cost-competitive computer designs, cut manufacturing costs, line up longer-term sales deals with retailers and save money by shipping more products in ships rather than by air freight.
Apple, Microsoft Now On Nearly Equal Footing
May 26, 2010
Apple has long been the little guy in the Mac vs. PC debate, but that's no longer the case. As of trading on Tuesday, Microsoft and Apple both have roughly equal market capitalizations of around $230 billion. By another measure--adding in debt and other factors--Cupertino has actually surpassed Redmond in total value. The fact that Apple has reached this level of valuation represents a remarkable turn of events in the history of computing.
The Land of Lost Brands
May 13, 2010
Though I often like to riff on smart or silly marketing decisions, I'm more interested in the business strategy behind brands. In considering Dell and Starbucks, I'd have to say that both companies are utterly and somewhat similarly lost.
Top Customer Tip From Dell Global Chief Marketing Officer: Talk to Your Customers
May 12, 2010
“I listen to a customer call every day. Every single day.” Dell Global Chief Marketing Officer- Paul-Henri Ferrand. I am impressed: I have met hundreds of heads of marketing and never has any of them told me they devote this much time to actual customer contact. Most marketing directors I meet speak of their customers as an abstract quantity, or perhaps an undiscovered exotic species. This probably explains why most heads of marketing are have a disproportionate reckoning of the importance of their brand in their customer’s life. Not Paul-Henri from Dell. He seems different. He is French and charismatic (which helps) but more than that- he talks with conviction and ambition about the the transition towards a ‘new Dell.’
The New Normal: Your Customer Is In The Driver's Seat
Apr 28, 2010
Today's consumers are more diverse, more inter-connected and more demanding than ever. Their expectations are rising while their propensity to be loyal to companies is declining, so (let's face it) they are in the driver's seat. The questions for companies today are then: Are companies orchestrating where consumers go, and are they making the trip pleasant?
It's Only the Beginning
Apr 13, 2010
The business of marketing is in the midst of a massive cultural shift. While buzzwords like co-creation, mass-collaboration and crowdsourcing are all the rage, there’s actually a much bigger and deeper change going on with the way work gets done. Three disruptive forces: the expectation of transparency, the further digitization of the workforce and the rise of the curator class, all coupled with the current macro-economic conditions, have changed the world of marketing forever. Like it or not, from professional creatives to consumers, people want to be involved with your brand.
Fill in the Holes in the Consumer's Mind
Apr 2, 2010
There's the key and the lock. The bolt and the nut. The button and the button hole. So, too, there's the position and the hole in the mind the position is trying to fill. Except, of course, many marketers seem to have forgotten about those holes in the mind. Which is strange. If there is one constant in the communications chatter about the marketing function it's this one: The consumer owns the brand. True enough. But where in the world is the consumer going to put the brand except in his or her mind?
Dell's Tech Center as Marketing Asset
Mar 9, 2010
Dell Computer's Enterprise Technology Center was never meant to be a marketing vehicle, so the staff was pleasantly surprised last year to learn that the community site had touched millions of dollars' worth of new business for Dell. “Customers have come into the briefing center and asked to meet DellServerGeek or SANPenguin,” said Administrator Scott Hanson, referring to Twitter handles used by two of the site's four full-time administrators. “The relationships we're building [with enterprise IT professionals] feel like they're going to last a lifetime.”
Windows 7 Fails to Boost Profits of PC Makers
Feb 1, 2010
Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 7 operating system has fattened the company's earnings and boosted personal-computer sales at retailers like Best Buy Co. But it hasn't increased the profits of PC giants Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and others. While consumers purchased more than 90 million new PCs during the holiday quarter, when Microsoft released Windows 7, up 22% from a year earlier, PC revenue grew at just a single-digit rate, analysts say.
With Sun, Oracle Aims At Giants
Jan 27, 2010
Oracle, having spent the last nine months fighting rivals and regulators in order to own Sun Microsystems, has pushed itself into the middle of the scrum of technology heavyweights all jostling for the same corporate customers. The $7.4 billion deal, which gives Oracle a vast hardware business for the first time, pits it against Hewlett-Packard, I.B.M., Dell and Cisco Systems, all of which have made a flurry of acquisitions and alliances. Many of these moves broadened the companies’ products and services from their traditional specialties, like databases, computers or networking equipment. Each company wants to be able to claim to prospective customers that it, and it alone, has more of the parts to be an end-to-end service provider.
The Principles of Marketing Can Be Summarized in One Word
Jan 6, 2010
What's the No. 1 principle of marketing, at least as far as we're concerned? It's the principle of focus. You narrow the focus in order to own a word in the mind of the consumer. Without a focus, it's very difficult to build a strong brand. And without a strong brand, any company's future is in doubt. While focus should be the key ingredient in any marketing campaign, it's not the whole story. So we developed an acronym called FOCVS that does sum up our key thoughts. "FOCVS," a word using the original alphabet of the Roman Empire, consists of five key elements.
Better Customer Service Through Transparency, Tribes, and Talent
Dec 22, 2009
Today, technology is enabling new capabilities and I see three trends which are recreating customer service in a new, more responsive, and economically efficient manner: transparency, tribes, and talent. Transparency is best exemplified by Federal Express's efforts over the years. They were among the first companies to "expose" their internal systems so that not only could the customer schedule pick-ups, print labels, and manage his account, but he could also see the same level of detail the firm had about the location of his shipment. Many firms could benefit by letting customers see where their product or service truly is. BMW allows people who have configured and ordered a Mini Cooper to check the status of the order, and see it location on the high seas as it is shipped across the Atlantic. So what? Well, just think about how the dynamic with your cable company would change if you could actually see if the service truck was on its way to your house. It certainly would change the attitude between the customer and the company. Heck, even the government enables you to track tagged polar bears!
I’m a Vivienne Tam
Dec 21, 2009
I’m fascinated by the recent flurry of activity of designer PCs. Having worked at Sony during the early years of VAIO (perhaps the first fashionable PC line, launched with its distinctive violet color and sleek features and all), it’s pretty amazing to me to see how the category has developed. Both HP and Dell have introduced lines of designer PCs in the last couple of years. HP’s launch of the Vivienne Tam Mini in early 2008 was the product of the PC maker’s partnership with the popular clothing designer and its success spawned a series of other limited editions. In December of last year Dell launched Design Studio, a customization program in which customers pick from custom colors and pieces of artwork from artists. A study of the two companies’ entries makes for some interesting comparisons.
Brand Focus Leads to Power and Profits
Dec 21, 2009
Building a brand and building a profitable brand are two different things. Take Sony, for example. If you did a survey, you would probably find that Sony is the world’s most admired electronics brand. Way ahead of whoever might be in second place. Terrific for owners of Sony products. But how about the owners of Sony stock? Does the company make any money? The sad fact is no. Net profits after taxes of Sony Corporation are small. Very small.
Mass Customisation
Oct 23, 2009
Mass customisation is a production process that combines elements of mass production with those of bespoke tailoring. Products are adapted to meet a customer’s individual needs, so no two items are the same. Mass customisation uses some of the techniques of mass production; for example, its output is based on a small number of platforms, core components that underlie the product. In the case of a watch, the internal mechanism is a platform to which can be added a wide variety of personalised options at later stages of production. Thus the purchaser of a Swatch has thousands of different options in terms of colour, straps, fascia, and so on. Yet all are based on only a few time-keeping mechanisms. The same is increasingly true of cars. Even a traditional mass production manufacturer like BMW now boasts that no two of its new cars are identical.
Dell’s ‘Reshaping’ of PC Maker Means Chasing Services
Oct 15, 2009
When Salesforce.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff wanted ideas about how to run his business during the technology recession of 2001, he turned to his friend Michael Dell. Dell’s advice: “Economic difficulties are a time when companies can reassess where they are in the market and rebuild themselves rapidly,” says Benioff, who has known Dell Inc.’s founder and CEO for 20 years. Now Dell is trying to follow his own advice.
Dell Coins Expression
Oct 12, 2009
"You can have it Steve Jobs' way or you can have it your way," said Dell's Ed Boyd, vp of consumer experience design at the world's No. 2 PC maker. Apple products may be well known for their design attributes, but Boyd and his team are on a mission to turn Dell's products into devices renowned for artistic self-expression. Wearing a T-shirt that read Design Will Change the World, Boyd was in New York last week to promote the third, and latest, iteration of Dell's Design Studio, a customization program that allows customers to personalize purchases online with artwork commissioned from talent around the globe. The 44-year-old joined Dell a little over two years ago after an 11-year run at Nike. His team's quest, he said, is to deliver the most personalized products in the world.
In These Ads, Customers Are The Celebrities
Sep 3, 2009
Megan Duckett started Sew What, a company that makes curtains for big-stage theatres and performers, in 1992. This year the Compton, Calif., company will pull in about $5 million in revenue. Duckett believes she found her calling in draperies. Dell hopes she has another talent: inspiring other entrepreneurs to use its business products and services. In Dell's new "Take Your Own Path" advertising campaign, Duckett is featured as one of several small business owners whose personal tales are supposed to inspire potential customers to use Dell. Print and Web ads prominently display Duckett and other entrepreneurs, including Lonely Planet guidebook founder Tony Wheeler.
Building a Brand vs. Building a Business
Aug 10, 2009
Are you building a business? Or are you building a brand? Silly questions, you might be thinking. Naturally, you are trying to do both. But that might be a mistake. What's good for the business is not necessarily good for the brand. And vice versa.
How to Build Social Capital: Innovate Early and Often
Jul 27, 2009
Last week the Altimeter Group, run by former Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li, and online marketing firm Wetpaint released a study that analyzed the 100 most valuable brands (according to BusinessWeek/Interbrand) and how they engage across 11 different online social-media venues, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The study was billed as creating an "engagement database" and ranked Starbucks No. 1, followed by Dell and eBay, based on their breadth and depth of social engagement. Google, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, Nike, Amazon, SAP and Yahoo/Intel (a tie) round out the top 10. What was eye-popping was the correlation they made between social engagement and financial performance.
Dell Makes $3 Million From Twitter-Related Sales
Jun 13, 2009
Dell (Dell) says it has surpassed $3 million in sales attributed to Twitter, and the online social network, which has yet to make a profit, is watching closely.
Social Media Can Boost Trust
May 27, 2009
Skip from stream to stream on Twitter and you'll see a trend among the brands and retailers posting there: most have something valuable to say. They may not be solving the world's problems, but they are answering questions, sharing tips, and putting forth advice as it relates to their area of expertise: their market segment.
Dell Designs New Site for Women
May 14, 2009
It seems lately that Dell is everywhere you look, trying to get you the consumer to pay attention to them. From their successful “I’m a PC” ad campaign, which over took Union Square in NYC earlier this year, to some interesting artist collaborations with a Blitzkrieg of PR, it seems that Dell is angling to move out of the shadows of their cooler big brother Mac, and get people excited about their computers. Dell’s most recent move has been creating a sub-brand Della which will be catering to female PC users.
Word Of Mouth Goes Far Beyond Social Media
May 7, 2009
Social media conversation is not only a subset of total word of mouth (WOM); it also differs substantially in content, according to research conducted by WOM research and consulting firm Keller Fay Group.
Corporate Tweets and the SEC: Sometimes It’s Better To Keep Your Mouth Shut
May 4, 2009
Last year, I covered the landmark SEC decision to recognize corporate blogs and potentially other forms of Social Media as a recognized form of meeting public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) – in some cases. It was a significant validation of a widely recognized medium for sharing information between publicly-traded companies and stakeholders. Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun, among many others, successfully lobbied over the years for official recognition of blogs and the SEC finally took notice. The real question is, did other public companies and their communications and Investor Relations teams take notice?
How Acer Is Burning Its PC Rivals
Apr 8, 2009
Under CEO Gianfranco Lanci, the Taiwan company is using cutthroat pricing to gain on Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Do You Need a Social Media Marketer?
Apr 5, 2009
Do you like to go on Facebook and Twitter all day? Do you excel at making online friends and writing pithy tweets and status updates? If so, there may be a job out there for you! If more companies follow the lead of Pepsi, Ford, Dell and Toyota, then social media marketer will become a growing occupation as more companies hire full-timers to interact with consumers on their behalf via Facebook and Twitter. But the lack of ROI around social media, and the belief that such duties should be spread around rather than concentrated in one unit, may limit that growth.
Dell Introduces New Generation of Data Center Products
Mar 25, 2009
Dell Inc.'s plans to launch a new generation of enterprise products today will move it deeper into the battle for customers who want to improve data center performance without spending much in a recession.
Dell Pulls Off Green IT Without Sacrifice
Mar 25, 2009
The phrase "going green" conjures up images of short showers, small houses, tiny cars--basically, minimal consumption. But according to Albert Esser, Vice President of Power and Data Center Infrastructure Solutions at Dell, green IT is a different story.
Dell is the Greenest Brand Says IT Pros
Mar 20, 2009
Samsung and Toshiba may be the most sustainable brands for consumer laptop and PC buyers, but Dell wins out with the IT crowd according to a new study from Green Factor. Marketing intelligence firm Strategic Oxygen surveyed over 3,500 CIOs, IT managers, and CXOs in 11 countries to find out what they consider the greenest IT brand out of 26 possible choices.
Dell's Adamo Revealed
Mar 17, 2009
After all the fuss, Dell's finally revealed the first machine in its Adamo line of notebook PCs. As expected, it's pretty high on the luxury scale and correspondingly high in price. And surprisingly not so high in terms of specs.
How Facebook Is Taking Over Our Lives
Feb 19, 2009
President Obama used it to get elected. Dell will recruit new hires with it. Microsoft's new operating system borrows from it. No question, Facebook has friends in high places. Can CEO Mark Zuckerberg make those connections pay off?
Some PC Makers Don't Know What to Do With Netbooks
Jan 20, 2009
Netbooks, those pint-size laptops that unexpectedly sold like hot cakes last year, are making life stressful for Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft.
Dell Plans Its Own Smartphone, Analysts Say
Jan 14, 2009
The new Palm Pre may be the most-anticipated new phone since the iPhone 3G, but there's yet another new player on the way: PC maker Dell may be readying its own smartphone, to arrive as early as next month.
Dell's New Notebooks Take Design Seriously
Jan 12, 2009
The stodgy PC maker from Round Rock, Texas has been known for years for its workhorse PCs and notebooks -- functional, economical, generally reliable, and butt-ugly. But in the last year, the company has been working hard to change that perception.
CMO Jarvis Leaving Dell
Jan 1, 2009
Computer giant Dell today said its chief marketing officer, Mark Jarvis, would exit this fiscal quarter, to be succeeded by Erin Nelson, who has been vp of marketing for Dell's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Dell Offers Call Center Service Based In North America -- For A Price
Dec 16, 2008
If you prefer a customer service agent who speaks "American," then computer maker Dell has a deal for you. Catering to consumers put off by the accents of Bangalore, Manila and other call-center hubs around the globe, Dell will guarantee — for a price — that the person who picks up the phone on a support call will be, as company ads mention in bold text, "based in North America."
'Green' Perception Is No Match For Reality
Dec 2, 2008
When it comes to "green" consumer electronic brands, consumer perception does not match reality, according to GreenFactor, a joint study from research firm Strategic Oxygen and PR agency Cohn & Wolfe.
Dell, eBay, Sephora Offer Virtual Gifts on Facebook
Nov 26, 2008
Virtual gifts -- tiny icons displayed on user profiles, pioneered by Facebook as the intangible present of choice -- are being employed by several major companies this season.
Web Sites Wage Holiday Price Wars
Nov 20, 2008
Internet retailers, trying to navigate what is shaping up to be the first truly dreary holiday shopping season ever on the Web, are engaging in price-cutting and discounting so aggressive that it threatens their profit margins and, in some cases, their very survival.
Tech Firms Turn to Social Media To Reach Consumers
Nov 19, 2008
Recognizing the limits of traditional advertising, established technology companies are diving headlong into the sometimes chaotic landscape of social media to promote their products.
