Last week, CIC launched a notebook IWOM white paper. I wanted to share some more of my thoughts about some of the implications.

COMPANIES FINDING AN ONLINE VOICE

Recently in CIC we have been talking a lot about companies "finding their voice" on line. This has shown up in my recent writing. For example, in the white paper, we put the challenge in this way:

CIC’s study found 1,204,117 messages written by 160,926 unique posters talking ABOUT brands; however, the brands themselves are not part of this massive and passionate discussion.

In my recent article for iMediaConnection Asia, I continue the thought:

"Joining the conversation" does not mean pure promotional blogs or BBS, which are set up for a quick campaign with frivolous posts or unsubstantial content that are later abandoned. Instead, these are rather long-lasting platforms that will succeed because they are the voice of the brand. This is a "non-corporate" voice that reflects the brand and resonates with the consumer conversations at the same time.

Our white paper brings out a nice example of a company finding its voice online via its blog.

Dell was previously the object of Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) centered ire via "Dell Hell" in the US and "Processor Gate" in China. Now, its blogging efforts in China closely follow those in the US which are receiving praises.

DELL'S COLORFUL INSPIRON CREATES BUZZ

Digging deeper into the white paper, we can see clearly what they are doing. In August of 2007, Dell launched the Inspiron Dell 1420 with the unique colorful backs. You can see in the screen shot below that there was a spike in buzz around the launch.

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Also, from a key word frequency analysis, you can see that terms related to color were prominent compared to "regular" color Dell notebooks. Clearly, color created buzz.


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DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY, DELL SPEAKS VIA ITS BLOG

Unfortunately, Dell could not keep up with demand and had to delay shipment. Smartly, Dell very quickly responded on their Direct2Dell Chinese blog. You can get a sense of how they did this and the reaction from the screen shot below.

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Certainly, the blog did not resolve all of the anger and frustration from netizens, but having a voice certainly appeased some of them:

“Finally, an official response to explain the out of stock issue, I feel a bit more comfortable.”

With its blog, Dell offered a "non corporate" sounding "corporate," or official voice to communicate with netizens. Prior to having a blog, they had no way to "join the conversations" happening online. Dell couldn't release a press release in such a case, because that would only draw more attention by raising the profile of the issue with the media, who is not the ultimate "target audience" anyway. In the end, powerful communication via a blog or other IWOM platform can address unchecked, brewing issues before they become full fledged problems such as Processor Gate.

Dell blogging in China puts a nice Chinese bookend to the “Dell Hell” phenomena that started in the US in 2005 and spread to China in 2006.

"LISTEN, KNOW, PARTICIPATE" CHINA STYLE

Dell demonstrates that in the Web 2.0 world, having an authentic voice is more important than crafting and disseminating a message. Other brands which have blogs in the US like Lenovo and HP, might do well to follow suit and extend their efforts to China.

Of course, a blog is not the only platform to “express” a voice within IWOM. Just as companies in the US are experimenting with Facebook, companies in China are experimenting. In fact, it is this “participation” element which led us to revise our definition to include companies as “netizens.”

Text and multimedia content related to companies, products or services shared by netizens, including brands and consumers, via online community platforms such as BBS (online message boards), blogs and video sites.

As examples, Meizu has a BBS, KFC is partnering with Baidu Zhidao, Pepsi worked closely with 51.com and Zhanzuo in recent campaigns. Even in the white paper, we see that Toshiba reaches out to notebook communities through “grab the floor” activities. In the end, consumers will continue to talk online and brands should be in position to listen, know and participate in netizens’ world no matter the platform.

Related Posts:
Internet Word of Mouth Trends in 2008
IWOM Defined
IWOM Watch Nov 1-15: Netizen campaigns use "Grab the floor" on BBS to get attention
IWOM Watch Aug 16-31: KFC on Baidu Zhidao