Forward Podcast 33 :: Social Media in Action At Dell
In 2006 Dell had 78,700 global employees, revenue of close to $56 billion and Fortune magazine ranked it as the 25th largest company on its Fortune 500 list and 8th on the top 20 list of most admired companies in the USA. They’re kind of a big deal. So it is all the more noteable that they are having the culture of their organization changed by embracing social media.
In this interview Paull Young is joined by Laura Thomas, Lionel Menchaca, Caroline Dietz, Arlette Salcedo and Jacqui Zhou from Dell’s social media team as they talk in detail about their approach to social media. They discuss how they have used tools like their Direct2Dell blog, IdeaStorm, Studio Dell web videos and a Second Life presence to start a new relationship with their customers through two way communication. They also talk about what they have learned from the process that has seen a shift internally in their company’s culture which has been matched by a shift in online consumer sentiment from 50% negative to 23% negative in just one year.
The Dell team will be paying attention to this post, so please take some time to check out their work and leave a comment - it’s a case study worth learning from.
In other Forward related news - if you are anywhere near Athens, Georgia this coming weekend (October 19-20) be sure to come along to the CONNECT social media and PR conference at Grady College. Paull will be presenting a case study on Forward and also a couple of breakout sessions on Second Life and podcasting.
Also, if you enjoy the Amish portion of our Forward Podcast rambling you’ll be excited to hear that Luke has started up his own show with his employer BlogTalkRadio. It’s called The Rundown, it airs live every Tuesday at 1:30pm ET and I’m sure it will be an enjoyable and informative listen.
Finally, the weekend after next (October 26-27) Paull will be attend Podcamp Boston where he’ll be presenting on a panel about Reputation Management for Digital Natives. The event looks like it is going to be an amazing learning opportunity and I hope our panel will be particularly useful for Forward Podcast listeners - be sure to say g’day if you’ll be there.
Technorati Tags: dell, social media, direct2dell, Ideastorm, Studio Dell, online engagement, online community, online monitoring, conversational marketing, online relationships, crowdsourcing, blogging, corporate blogs, corporate blogging
Forward Podcast 33 :: Social Media in Action at Dell [42:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1295)
[…] http://www.forward-moving.com/blog/2007/10/15/forward-podcast-33-social-media-in-action-at-dell/ […]
Pingback by Forward Blog - Social Media in Action at DELL « Static Eclectricity — October 20, 2007 @ 4:46 am
Paull will undoubtedly, based on his year or three of experience, be able to provide many nuggets of practical wisdom on reputation management that provides real value.
Comment by Mike Blume — October 20, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Hmm. Well, yes, Mike. At least Paull has the courage and generosity to get out there and share what he does know. If folks in the audience/group don’t agree with him, I’m sure they’ll let him know and a discussion will ensue. But at least he’s out there advancing the conversation.
Comment by Erin Caldwell — October 22, 2007 @ 9:24 pm
[…] UPDATE: Also check out this podcast: Forward Podcast 33 :: Social Media in Action At Dell, by our friend Paull Young. It is a 40 minute long interview with five members of Dell’s social media/digital communications team about their approach to social media. […]
Pingback by Dell’s Hell - Looking back with Jeff Jarvis « BlogCampaigning — October 25, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
[…] I know that Joseph features a case study written by some of the Dell team in this book, but this recent interview I conducted with some of Dell’s social media team may be of interest. Laura Thomas, Lionel Menchaca, Caroline Dietz, Arlette Salcedo and Jacqui Zhou describe their work as part of the team working at the coalface building Dell’s community around properties like their Direct2Dell blog, IdeaStorm, Studio Dell web videos and Second Life presence. […]
Pingback by Join the Conversation! - Podcast :: Social Media in Action at Dell — October 27, 2007 @ 10:15 am
I have been a long time contributor to the IdeaStorm community and taken great interest in items such as this podcast to spark off a new idea. Recently I had posted an idea for Dell to provide links to Video interviews of their employees posted on 3rd party sites. While Dell is afraid of seeming too self-promoting by doing so I feel it can only bring more conversations to the site that hosts the information. This comment itself is evidence of that as the only way I found this was through a link provided by Lionel in the comments of my idea. I would love to hear your thoughts on Dell providing links to other blogs when they post interviews of Dell employees. Feel free to comment here and I will link to it in my idea or come over to IdeaStorm and join the debate. Here is a link to the idea.
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/74790
Comment by jervis961 from IdeaStorm — November 8, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
[…] First, I gave the example of Dell Hell; Jeff Jarvis was effectively telling the company what had been pushing sales down—unsatisfactory customer service. Realizing users can provide feedback and interact with the company has made Dell a leader in the space. […]
Pingback by CPRS Brownbag Lunch: Finding and Following Convos « Young Blood PR — March 16, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
[…] And that’s not even counting the boost in loyalty, advocacy and consumer sentiment gained from actively listening to, responding to, and acting on their customer concerns. Dell reported that sentiment moved from 50% negative to 23% negative just one year into their social media strategy. […]
Pingback by My Starbucks Idea and the furrowed global brow » didn’t see that coming — June 18, 2008 @ 4:53 pm