Its know its been a little while since I last posted but I am starting to feel it again so here goes. As I have stated in the past, the intent of our communication messaging is to convey three important ideas. One, you can trust us to always have your best interests in mind. Two, we have a unique take on how technology and entertainment can make your life better and finally, you can always expect to find great prices. Ultimately our expectation is that, you walk out of the store happier, than when you came in.
In November, we began our “True Stories” TV campaign. This campaign uses real stories from real employees to communicate why you should choose Best Buy. Yesterday, we launched a web experience, http://bestbuytruestories.com, that compliments the TV messaging. Our intent with this work is for you to get to know us a little better including what we know, what we don’t know, our sense of humor, what we care about, what you would like to know about us… you get the idea. We have a lot of ideas for this place but we are calling this iteration our “straw house” as we know we are very much in beta right now and we have a lot of work to go in putting up the “brick house.” In that spirit, I would appreciate any comments you might have.
I think this series is terrific. I think what you’re trying to do is show your employees as real, human beings who can relate to your customers. You’ve succeeded with the commercials and web videos! I love that you’ve chosen employees who look real, too, and not just a bunch of model types. One idea… How about connecting these employees to web viewers via Twitter or other social media tools? This takes the “real” experience a step further and let’s your customers/web viewers really connect, if they want to.
It’s a great idea. One of the advantages you have as a bricks & mortar retailer is that you have real people to meet and interact with instead of a web page. Letting them tell stories is a way to humanize the brand and remind people what it’s like to shop in a Best Buy, if they haven’t been there in a while.
But you knew that, I think. I’d ask you the following: are you also asking employees to share the bad stories? The stories about risks to the business, latent dissatisfaction that customers evince, the issues with the supply chain and reverse logistics?
It’s not advertising material. It can be unpleasant and scary. But finding patterns in those kind of front-line stories provide a crucial window for Best Buy executives to inform their strategy and tactics.
I do that kind of work with companies, and it’s always enlightening and surprising.
regards, John
I really like the idea and the execution. Technology can often seem intimidating, lack emotion and not feel human. I think this campaign does a really great job of illustrating how Best Buy connects the dots between technology and its ability to enrich people’s lives.
Nice work! Keep it up!
The guys and gals you’re selecting are very likable and seem very genuine. Nice job keeping them authentic. The disconnect/risk is: can you/should you really expect to get so much help in a Best Buy store today? Although everyone is generally very nice, it’s harder and harder to find someone that is available to help you and often times when you do get someone, they need to seek someone out that knows more. (Which often turns into a much longer wait).
I just wonder where the campaign goes from here – yes the people are nice, yes you have lots of great products, and so. . . ? ? ?
kudos, barry and the bby team! this effort resonates with me:
- as a consumer — it reinforces the brand’s core tenets you’ve outlined above and it prompts me to trust the brand more because it’s authentic
- as a consulting partner who works with clients on internal brand alignment and engagement — it’s connects your employees directly with your brand (which produces value for your customers as well as your employees)
Barry – as an employee, I LOVE the “these are true stories video”!!! I’ve definitely had a ton of customers tell me they enjoy our commercials but they “know” those are just actors! I try to explain to them that no, these people really work with us, and these are really their “true stories”, and they are just blown away. They think it’s totally cool!
any chance we are going to ever run that, or some (maybe shorter) version of that on tv, or will that one be just for the online community?
also, I really enjoyed the true stories +….i thought they rocked….in fact i think i’m going to watch them tomorrow at chalk talk! GREAT JOB
i think we should look at running these kind of videos internally as well either to get new programs across or even “advertise” the strength of different internal programs to our employees. keep up the great work…..
Barry, you’re a smart guy. You have to be, you worked at P&G. But somehow, the process of being in marketing makes people start to drink their own Kool-Aid, believe their own press. I think this is happening to you and judging from these posts, you’re getting people to tell you not what you should hear but what they think you’d like to hear. Even though I like your advertising, your store experience is really lacking and that’s the problem…you’re relying on ADVERTISING. You’re aware of the recent Gallup poll that showed only 20% of consumers have trust in big companies and a Nielson Online BuzzMetics survey from November that showed the term consumers most associate with advertising is: “FALSE”. You know this, right? Because advertising will not solve your marketing problems. If these stories that you have in your ads were coming from consumers on YouTube instead of BBDO, we’d all believe them. But, because they’ve been filtered and vetted, they lack credibility. Come on dude, you can do better than this.
Quick thought on the videos – if I do like one enough to want to point someone else to it, I can’t. No direct links to the videos – p’raps a “brick house” feature?
Another thought: have your Blue Shirts produce the videos themselves with gear off the store shelves. Show your customers that BB really does sell the gear they need. Maybe the TV commercials should be pro but web video – at least “extras” – should be consumer grade.
Barry,
I think the series with real Best Buy employees is fabulous. I have worked at Best Buy for three years and Power’s commercial is one of my favorites of all that I have seen since I started working. Showing employees great interactions lets customers know all about the plus of coming to Best Buy – OUR EMPLOYEES! I just want to tell you how great I think they are. Thanks again.
-Whitney Addington
Scott:
I hear you on the value of advertising vs the value of the actual experience. The actual experience being great is clearly what people value. In the communication, our intent is to suggest that we can help (as these are really true stories) as well as put out a promise that all of us within Best Buy try to live up to. We think our experience is getting better but we know we have to keep working to get better.
I like your thought on hearing consumer generated stories. A toe in the water on this thought is entering our Brand (with 10 other brands) into a consumer generated advertising contest called Mofilm (more info at http://www.mofilm.com). The contest runs from now until June 8th with winners being announced at the Cannes Advertising Awards Show at the end of June. I also think future iterations of http://www.bestbuytruestories.com provide a platform for consumer generated and employee generated content to live as well as other places in and outside of the Best Buy ecosystem.
Appreciate your critical thinking. By the way, i never worked at P&G and we did the ads you are commenting internally, not with BBDO. Our lead agency is Crispin, Porter, Bogusky.
Hey Barry,
Josh here from recruiting at corporate. (@joshuakahn)
I’ve been saying for years that the biggest selling point for Best Buy is the stories we all have to tell. So from that standpoint, good on you for getting this stuff out there. Great start.
However, my thought was “cool, now what?”. If I’m a customer, or interested in having that work experience, there weren’t any ways to interact or get to the next place to engage with Best Buy for products or jobs.
Also, I’d push it more, a couple ideas to get the gears going, and scare legal.
1. Customer generated videos: put a booth up in some stores. Invite customers to share their experience, then publish it to the web. No editing. Save for vulgarity. Thats the voice of the customer, let them tell the stories. We all know there’ll be some gripers, and there will be some great stories like those that are the other side of “true stories”. But let me tell you, you’d get people talking. I bet people would come into the store just to record one of those things. That is the voice of the customer.
Too risky? Not enough control? Its too late for that already, i think its safe to say that the perception about big box retail customer experience is already decided for better or worse in the minds of most. And many are already talking about it; we’re just not participating, or benefitting from it. The customer service experience in the stores is the elephant in the room. That distrust of ads will be there until the ad copy comes from the people having the experience – our customers.
So if we’re going to be open, lets be open.
2. A twist on above. You know how people can rate blog posts and such? Why not have a simple mechanism that allows customers to quickly, easily, and anonymously rate their experience as they’re having it, or as they’re checking out. Then, take that data and post a running rating in the store for employees and customers alike to see. Imagine how interesting that simple piece of information would be for employees to know collectively, in real time, how they’re doing. It would be like taking a measure of the overall vibe in the store. You could even allow them to rate department and overall experience. Customers benefit because they’d have an avenue whereby they can express their feelings in that moment- in a way thats displayed publicly no less!
You could map those dollars to store performance and get real gangster with your analytics. I imagine there would be some creative ways to parlay that into ad copy/campaigns as well.
In both of these cases they would be viral even if you did either of them for just a week in a select few markets, then did videos on the experiment.
Hi Barry,
I looked at the site http://bestbuytruestories.com and it looks great. I have seen the ads on TV and find them very personable. They make you connect with the brand and hit upon the two relevancy attributes you mention – a) you can trust BBY to have the customer’s best interests in mind by understanding the outcome they want to achieve and b) BBY has a unique take on technology and entertainment to make the customers life better.
I will give my feedback in two pieces. First is tactical as it relates directly to the site. The site does a great job in cleanly presenting the TV ads however I wish it had the following:
a) Use the space to the right of the ad to put text relevant to the ad. It should provide a summary of the customer problem with a concise summary of the solution. Provide listing of products used and a link to the site for more information. For example the ad Geocaching intrigued me but kept me guessing about the final product/solution. Another point that a doctor friend (not tech savvy) of mine shared is that she thought Best Buy talked about Nike shoes with iPod in the Nike Plus ad. If you are directing people to the site from the TV ad, the site doesn’t give me any new information.
b) Think about making these ads shareable. What if like the concept, i.e. BBY’s unique take on a certain technology and I want to share it with my friends? Another example could be that a mom wants to share the ad with someone to give them a hint on what will make a great gift for Mother’s day. I find the interactivity missing from the site.
Now to my strategic feedback. I am personally interested in the unique take on technology not just from the brand but also from real customers. I would love a site that shows how Best Buy customers used x, y and z from Best Buy to create an interesting entertaining solution. I think you should invite customers to share their unique take and put customer rankings on ideas. Ideas that hit a certain threshold should get a page on your site as ‘you designed it’ (making it up, your creative team can come up with better words). Just my 2 cents on how you may want to create more engagement with the brand.
Hope this is helpful.
Gurmeet
I love these ideas, especially the last two posts. Some them we have thought of ourselves (so your feedback give us confidence), some them are new so that makes us better. Keep them coming and thanks to all for taking the time to share thinking.
I am sorry, but I have to disagree. Well, I agree but disagree. Yes, personal stories are a great way to communicate to consumers the personal touch Best Buy seeks to put on the in-store experience. However, as a long time Best Buy customer and a marketing professional, I find the method of communicating these stories to be, for a lack of a better word, lame. These stories come across as childish, simple-minded. Its as if you are marketing to a class room of 3rd graders. And instead of having the customer tell their own story, you have the sales associate telling the story. So this has a sort of “heroic” or “prideful” air to it.
As a male in his late 20’s, I like to think I fall into a large demographic for Best Buy. And when I have spoken to my coworkers about this new ad campaign, I think we all agree that it degrades the idea we have about Best Buy. I see BB as a place to come and experience the best in electronics. Its my play ground. If I want, I can spend hours trying stuff out, looking at the newest technologies, and getting ideas for my house. But, it is also a place where I can have quick and easy access to knowledgeable associates that will help me make the best decision for my needs.
So, ultimately, it boils down to technology and expertise. Best Buy has the best and has the people who know the most. Your new ad campaign does not communicate this to me. In fact, as a way of preserving my opinion of Best Buy, I have to mute your commercials when they come on TV or Hulu. Or else I fear I will stop shopping at BB.
If you want to tell these stories, I submit that maybe online would be the best medium for it. Maybe create a microsite where these stories can be shared and comments made. But I think it works poorly as a national, multi channel, ad campaign. Never forget your roots.
I felt compelled to share my True Story after seeing the TV ad about a guy calling Best Buy from Walmart for assistance on a product.
Yesterday I was at the Best Buy in Mayfield, Ohio looking for a stereo for my Dad for Father’s Day. All associates were busy in the Home Theater section. I waited for about 10 minutes before asking a worker walking buy if he could help. He said he would send someone to the stereo section to assit me.
I waited about 10 more minutes and happen to see the same person and he said he called for assistance and someone would be there soon.
I waited another 5 minutes and asked another associate, who was working with a customer, who was obviously irritated that I asked him to send someone over to assit me. He said someone would be there when they are available (not in a nice way by the way).
I waited a few more minutes then went accross the street and bought a stereo at Walmart for $200. Not a huge purchase but a purchase none the less.
Hopefully you have not cut staff so much that you can’t service customers as the economy rebounds. Which based on the number of peope in the store, it is coming back.
Just thought you should know.
I walked into bestbuy in McAllen, TX the other day to buy a flip video camera. I asked one employee walking by for help and he told me to wait for the person in the dept. to come available. I walked out and bought it at Target in 5 minutes. Even when you know what you want and are ready to buy it’s hard at Bestbuy.