[photopress:IT_dellchina.jpg,full,alignright]In 2006 Dell had problems with its customers. Thinking laterally it started using a Chinese-language blog as part of its communication strategy — and notes that direct communication with (and monitoring of) China’s powerful netizens is increasingly important.
‘Joining the [online] 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.’
The expert company at this is Google which has a variety of blogs which reach out to customers and make them feel part of the process.
Dell has moved part of that way. It was previously the object of Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) centered ire via ‘Dell Hell’ in the US and ‘Processor Gate’ in China. These were not terms of approval or approbation.
Now Dell uses its blog to at least let its customers know what is happening.
When Dell ran into parts supply problems it was able to react quickly on its Direct2Dell Chinese blog.
No, it was not the answer to all the problems and there were still a lot of unhappy customers out there but at least users know what was going on. One post read: ‘Finally, an official response to explain the out of stock issue, I feel a bit more comfortable.’
With its blog, Dell offers a contradiction. A ‘non corporate’ sounding ‘corporate’ voice to communicate with customers. That it it is official and the word came from the horse’s mouth but it is done in such a way as to feel and read like a blog. There was, indeed, a human being at the other end.
Adapting communications to fit the audience seems like a sensible idea. Expect to see more corporate blogs in Chinese.
Source: China Business Services