In my excitement to get the Holiday rough cut spots out for feedback, I overlooked as to whether we had all the necessary music and visual rights completed. We have another few days of work to go on these. So, as a result, much to my chagrin, I had to take the rough cuts down.
They will be back up in a few days. The initial response was fantastic so I will get them up as soon as possible.
I know you’re looking for some social interaction but this is a bad idea on many levels. First and foremost we all have to know your brand identity for any critique to hold water. What does Best Buy want to mean to us? Then you have to be sure that your brand image is aligned with that.
Best Buy should focus on internal branding through your corporate culture. Every Best Buy I’ve been in has provided very poor service. Maybe Best Buy should focus on delivering on whatever brand promise you have and focus less on what types of ads you’ll make. Just a thought as a branding guy.
I have to say, the whole experience of going out to California for this project was awesome, even if they don’t use a single frame of what I filmed.
It was obvious that there’s some definite excitement in the team behind this about going in a more people-oriented direction for this year’s ads, so I’m excited just to have had the experience.
Although I’m absolutely going to miss the California weather they were having, now that fall is in full force in Ohio!
“Know thyself.” ( some old Greek guy)
Big Kahuna has some interesting thoughts. It seems like BBY is more intent on telling us about itself (“enough about me, what do you think about me?”) than really effecting change where the rubber meets the road … more intent on the glitz of “creating” something that can ride the coattails of award-winning directorial talent (and did I mention, telling us about it?), and be packaged and distributed via mass media or social networking, rather than having an inherent, core truth that resides in the company’s DNA, and that is clear to its employees and has meaning to its customers. Your store experience is catch-as-catch can – but tends toward mediocre. This from an outsider, not a quaffer of Kool-Aid. You are a large, number-crunching corporate entity known for blue polo shirts and khakis (how individual or unique is that?) fraught with inefficiencies. You have identity crises. And yet, over the years, you have succeeded almost despite yourselves, and bested the competition. So, yes, that’s a good problem to have.
Starbucks recreated the most basic thing (a 50-cent cup of coffee) into something completely different – an experience at $3 a cup. Apple reinvented itself, based on what it always was. Years ago, Saturn made a game attempt at recreating what it was like to buy and own a car. What is Best Buy? Are your messages coming from something real, or something merely concocted for (insert the latest social networking application) value?
El machino, big kahuna,
Seems like you’re applying a larger, more inside baseball perspective to what I think is intended to be a small, personal story. I don’t believe consumers think “large, number-crunching corporate entity” when they see the tag or the blue shirts. If a customer walks in with a negative perception, he/she is much more likely to be thinking “that kid won’t be able to help me,” or “she’s going to try to sell me something I don’t need.”
That, to me, is the heart of the campaign: real blueshirts, telling real stories of how they were able to help customers solve their problems and leave the store happier than when they entered. It’s a series of one customer, one employee, one solution stories intended to create an emotional connection, not an attempt to test a brand identity.
As for the use of social networking tools to generate conversations about the brand and its ads, remember that this blog, Barry’s Twitter feed, etc., are still very, very far from the mainstream. He’s not running TV spots asking for input. It’s a relatively select audience of early adopters with an interest in Best Buy, branding, or both. I seriously doubt he’s thinking about increasing traffic, sales or brand perception through these activities.
Finally, you say “identity crises,” Best Buy says “survival.” The list of companies, especially in the retail space, that have been able to thrive over several decades without strategically reinventing themselves at key moments, is not a long one.
That’s my two cents.
Jpwest very aptly captures the intent of my blog. The audience for my musings is primarily intended for those with an acute interest in Best Buy and inner goings on in Marketing. That said, my initial goal with this effort was to initiate conversations with fellow employees. Marketing is a very public profession with lots of opinions from almost anyone on how to do it effectively. I thought a blog and Twitter would be a great platform to enable more context for a company wide dialogue on Best Buy Marketing. In the process of doing so, I hoped to build new relationships, identify people who were passionate about the Brand and improve what we were doing. So far, so good on the employee engagement front. Employees don’t agree with everything we are doing but what’s important to me is that the conversations are better and the wok has been impacted by it. What has surprised me is the interest in what we are doing with the external audience which I take a very healthy signal about Best Buy in general.
Survival in Retail = Change. A thriving retailer has to adapt to changing consumer expectations and has to stay ahead of the copy cat camp. Retail is an open book with little proprietary technology. Stay pat in Retail and your dead. Its as simple as that.
El Machino:
This blog is for conversation about Best Buy and marketing in general. At least that is the audience that seems interested in what I am saying. This is on my own in my spare time. If your not interested in what is being said or you think what I saying does not ring true, call it out as you have. That is the point of why I am spending time on social technology. To hear from people like you. The only downside for me is to hear the cynicism in your voice. But, I will take your comments as input. I think a spirited debate is much more interesting anyway.
Well, I am/was interested in what you are saying. And that’s just what it is … input. And I presumed you’d want it from all corners, rather than an echo chamber, otherwise, why bother? I think a lot of people are interested in Best Buy, for many reasons, hence, you’d hopefully get varied opinions.
El Machino
You know in rereading what you wrote, my comments were intended for big Kahuna not in response to yours. Your feedback reinforces the requirement for us to be more consistent. I get it. Sorry about that.
This situation is already frustrating, after all the things I already explain to you in my first email, my computer have not been repair.
How you already know the computer I take my computer back to the store the 10-14-08. The geek squad agent tell me that, the problem in the computer was because the forgot to reinstall the Windows, becuase they change the motherboard and after that they have to reinstall the operating system and they give me back the computer without make that, he apologize and tell me that if i return the next day my computer will be ready. How I already explain to you I return the next day and they tell me that the agent that was working on the computer understand that the computer have a hardware problem becuase of some weird sounds that came from the speakers, and that they send the computer back for inspection.
How you sugest in the email you send me, I track the progress of the reparation of my laptop, in the service information web site, and its take them just one minute in assign the laptop to a Geek Squad Agent or a certified technician and to repair it, just one minute I really dont know what kind of test they do in one minute, but Im not the expert.
Anyway I wait, until the laptop came back to the store and I went to pick up the laptop the 10-28-08 (thats two months since I left the laptop as best buy for this odyssey). Went the geek squad agent give me back the laptop he explain that they find out that the problem the computer have a software problem and that was no cover on my warantee. And that if I want that they repair my laptop this will cost me extra money.
So, he tell me first that no one in Best Buy know what is the problem with my laptop, becuase the agents in the store said that the laptop have a hardware problem and the agents in the other place said that the laptop have a software problem. Second, he is telling me that I have to paid them becuase they first change some parts of my laptop and that change required the operating system of the laptop to be reinstall and that I have to pay for that. Is this the service that Best Buy give??
Anyway he suggest me that I should do the reinstallation on my own because it was really easy just put on the CD that come with the laptop and follow the instruction. (It was so easy that they could not do it for me, even when they have the computer ofr two months, thats the worst service I have ever had) Anyway I get home, I reinstall the operating system it was really easy how they said, but after that the computer still freezing, and guess what, after two days of the computer been charging the battery is not charged at all. The battery is dead, they take my computer another two weeks, to give it to someone that just look it for one minute.
This is disrespetful, the worst service ever.
In resume I left my laptop as best buy because, initially it have problems charging the battery after replace the charger the computer still having problems, and its looks like it was because it was not receiving electricity and doesn’t turn on. And after TWO MONTHS my computer still having battery problems and now have another kind of problems who knows why.
Im really tired and upset with all this situation and I can’t keep losing my time going to best buy for the rest of the year until the geek squad agents want to stop playing with my laptop. I dont think that take my computer one more time to best buy is going to change the things. Becuase they are going to send the computer to someone that is going to look at it for one minute and send it back to the store, where the agents have not been able to do anything to the laptop.
Please tell me what I should do, I apreciate your apologize, I apreciate that you return the money for the back up, but what I need is that Best Buy give me the service for that I paid almost $300. And please dont tell me that I should go back to the store and leave my laptop there for two more weeks becuase I dont have two more weeks to loss in vain. I already wait two months, and I will wait if the computer will be repair but I will not wait two more weeks for someone take my laptop I look at it one minute and dont do anything to it.
Seriously, I dont know if you think this hole situation is funny but its not. I will be even happy if Best Buy returns the money I paid for the warantee of my laptop and I not have to go to Best Buy never again in my life.
I loved every minute that I was on this journey with Best Buy and with all the really cool blueshirts I met on the way….Thank you for picking me and for believeing in myself and the others that have pride for this company….and thanks for beging a company that whats to give back to its employees and their communities.
Barry, I’m a brand identity guy. I’m not being cynical, just honest. Your messages are all over the place and your brand identity (here’s what I mean by brand identity: http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress/2008/11/what-is-brand-identity-really/) is confusing as the reality of service versus your advertising has a big gap to me.
Saying you’ll be a great service company and doing it are two very different things. Consumers are smart. If you’re telling them they’ll receive great service and they consistently don’t…well then you now have a brand image problem.
Just my 2 cents.
[...] Best Buy hadn’t fully secure all the “music and visual rights” needed to do so. See his post about it here. Open, honest and candid. Nice [...]
[...] Best Buy hadn’t fully secured all the “music and visual rights” needed to do so. See his post about it here. Open, honest and candid. Nice [...]