Talking to the groundswell
A second method of engagement is talking. There are three major ways of talking: posting a viral video, engaging in social networks, or joining the blogosphere.
Blendtec, a manufacturer of high-power and expensive blenders, is a great example of the success of viral videos. Blendtec produced videos in which their blender works on all sorts of unblendable objects, such as perhaps most famously an iPhone. The series called “Will it blend” started with 5 videos costing $50 to produce, was uploaded on YouTube and spread virally from there. You can check one out for yourself. Sales are up 20% since the series started appearing on sites.
Ernst and Young has chosen to talk to prospective employees via the social networking site Facebook. Their Facebook site which had over 8,000 members in 2007 allows students to talk about Ernst and Young and also Ernst and Young employees to dialogue with graduating students. The American director of campus recruiting reads the site regularly and answers questions on it periodically. Other companies with brand enthusiasts, such as Victoria’s Secret and Adidas have benefited by meeting their customers at social networking sites.
A third way of talking to one’s customers is blogging. HP is a company that has put blogging to powerful use. It has nearly fifty executive blogs on all sorts of technical topics. HP builds customer goodwill through these blogs. For example, when Vista was released, laser jet printer owners experienced interface problems. The vice president in charge of laser jet printers posted a solution on his blog. The explanation proved so useful that it rose to the top result on Google in a search for “HP Vista printer problems”.
