I am very curious about the potential for new / social media marketing applications, and more specifically the interaction it enables between people in companies and individual customers. This is new territory for us at Best Buy, and so we are trying lots of new things to learn and shape our point of view. To that end, Best Buy is one of 12 global brands involved in the MOFILM consumer-generated advertising competition (www.mofilm.com).
We’ve made creative assets such as our “True Stories” Blue Shirt videos available for people to use to create their own vision of how Best Buy can support people realizing their dreams through technology and entertainment. Deadline for entries is June 8, 2009. I’m excited about our participation and hope you’ll check it out on the MOFILM web site. On twitter you can search “MOFILM” for related posts.
I’m the Director of IT at Fitcorp in Boston, MA and I’m hoping to get in touch with someone from product development. I have an idea for a product line that has specific and general applications that I feel the Audio/Visual market is missing. I can’t seem to find an appropriate link or contact through the website so I’m hoping someone who reads this might be able to help. Thanks
Barry,
I think it is great that you are part of Mofilm.com. It is a tremendous way to engage your customers to provide UGC. I think there is an enormous opportunity for Best Buy to take advantage of social and emerging media. Your core base is moving rapidly from traditional to digital media. In fact I would recommend you consider reducing your TV buys as many of your tech savvy customers have already transitioned into social and gaming. I’m sure you’ve been considering this with your teams but have you seriously considered diving a little deeper into this ocean? My concern is if you don’t competitors will and it will leave you with a shrinking audience.
Barry – I’ve gotta give you props for continuing to embrace “social” as a transformative force vs. just another marketing or PR tactic. As a fellow CMO (of a much small company mind you) and an avid blogger, it’s helpful be able to point to folks like you as an example of someone who “gets it.” This post about tapping your customer base to help create BestBuy’s ads is just one more way you are demonstrating this sense of inclusiveness and social awareness.
For what it’s worth, BestBuy one of a growing list of brands that I will buy from, irrespective of price, because you are doing the right thing. Zappos, Allstate and Intuit are a few others.
Thank you for leading by example!
Aaron | @aaronstrout
Scott,
You can e-mail me at clint.perez@bestbuy.com regarding your product idea. I am the Director of Marketing for our Exclusive Brands. Thanks.
[...] a link to my original post on [...]
Where is MOFILM’s short list?
You moved from 33 to 41 on AdvertisingAge’s megabrands ranking. All that with a big MadAve agency. Wow!
Dear Barry Judge: I’m just a customer with some electronics skills and constructed a device that could be marketed to greatly enhance the versatility of your extremely popular Insignia NS-HD01 HD portable radio. Many enthusists have longed for a method of coupling an external antenna to the device while simultaneously listening to it though speakers or in the car. The problem as always been that the radio does not feature an external antenna input. A simple passive RF Directional coupler, would pass the audio and direct the antenna signal into the headphone port of the radio which would provide greater listening options for this otherwise superb portable. I am publishing a video on You tube that describes the crude yet workable model of this directional coupler. People LOVE this Insignia for its size, audio quality, and overall performance quality. They have yearned for a way to connect an external antenna to this device. A stand-alone RF directional coupler with audio pass-through is a WIN/WIN design possibility for an “off the shelf” solution for taking this portable radio into the “field tuner” domain. I’m so happy that I did a search and found your site for sharing this concept! Please feel free to email me and view the You Tube video. Thanks again for your time and attention.
Anthony Walker
Cuyahoga Falls OH