Dell Inc.: Leveraging on Social Media Experience

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"We've made mistakes, learned from our mistakes and come out the other side in that new conversation. The journey has taught us that you don't have to be perfect. People support you and respect you when you make a genuine effort to communicate." ¹

-Richard Binhammer, Strategic Corporate Communications, Social Media and Corporate Reputation Management, Dell, 2008-09.

"At Dell, we have a longer perspective on the social media conundrum than most. We've been an active leader in the space since 2006, with a depth and breadth to our social media presence that has earned top billing among brands using social media to engage stakeholders." ²

-Manish Mehta, Senior Vice President for Social Media and Community,Dell, in December, 2009.

"Today, we look to social to help us be a better company and deliver better products and solutions. Social media is far more than a tool - it's an extension of our brand, which is all about enabling people everywhere to use technology to grow and thrive." ³

-Karen H. Quintos, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer,Dell, in September, 2012.

It was the first week of December 2012 when Dell Inc. (Dell) launched a new line of services - 'Social Media Services' - for all types of organizations across different industries. According to experts, getting into the Social Media Services business made sense for the company which was losing out to rivals Hewlett-Packard Company4 (HP) and Lenovo Group Limited5 (Lenovo) in the PC business. Raman Sapra, Executive Director & Head of Strategy, Technology Themes & Consulting at Dell Services, said, "As a practitioner in the social media space for several years, we are in a unique position to help enterprises develop and manage their social media initiatives with our innovative solutions for specific business needs. Our offers have foundational relevance for all industries and our experience allows us to tailor them to various vertical needs."6

Back in 2005, Dell was not active on social media space. The words 'Dell Sucks'⁷ and 'Dell Hell'⁸ were commonly used in the blogosphere, the internet, as well as in the mainstream media to describe Dell. These phrases were first used by Jeff Jarvis (Jarvis), an author, blogger, journalist, and a dissatisfied customer of Dell's products and services. Upset by Dell's poor products and bad customer service, Jarvis wrote eight posts on his blog cum website where he used words like, 'Dell Sucks' and 'Dell Hell'. Very soon, other dissatisfied customers joined Jarvis. They either commented negatively about Dell on Jarvis's blog or linked Jarvis's post to their blogs. Over a period of time, 'Dell Hell' came to be used in mainstream publications. A white paper published in December 2005 concluded that the online negative publicity had had a long-term negative impact on Dell's reputation.

Introduction Contd... - Next Page>>

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1] "Social Media: Setting Your Baseline and Determining Goals," www.marketwire.com.
2] Manish Mehta, "Isn't the Value of Social Media What Business is All About?," http://www.huffingtonpost.com, December 8, 2009.
3] Jennifer Rooney, "In Dell Social-Media Journey, Lessons for Marketers about the Power of Listening," www.forbes.com, September 25, 2012.
4] Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is a US-based multinational company which makes desktops, laptops, printers etc.
5] Lenovo Group Limited (Lenovo) is China-based multinational company. The company deals in desktops, laptops, mobile phones, etc.
6] "Dell Launches Social Media Services, Empowering Organizations to Improve Customer Loyalty, Brand Awareness and Business Results," www.dell.com, December 5, 2012.
7] Jeff Jarvis, "Dell Lies. Dell Sucks." http://buzzmachine.com, June 21, 2005.
8] Jeff Jarvis, "Dell Hell: Seller Beware," http://buzzmachine.com, July 1, 2005.

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