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Apartment Marketing: Invite the Thirty and Learn the Dirty…

I love what Mack Collier had to say a couple days ago in his post titled: The next evolution of social media for business is…

The following quote from his post struck me most…

Here’s the twist that makes this event so interesting to me; The 15 customers Dell will meet on the 15th are customers that have issues with Dell, and want to voice those issues to the company.  The 15 customers Dell will meet on the 17th are evangelists of the company.  So over the course of 2 days, Dell will be meeting with 30 of its most passionate customers, from both ends of the spectrum.  I think this event is also an example of the next evolution of social media for companies.

Invite thirty and learn the dirty

The dirty little chatter that could work to make the your apartment living experience [read: offering] one that escapes the hand-cuffs of commodity. More times that not we as operators gather our troops in our conference rooms across this great land and decide on the next best thing for employees, prospects and residents alike. Imagine if we brought the thirty in like Dell is doing? That is once we have taken the time to understand who they really are.

Being a part of something bigger than yourself

Play along with me on this for a second – remember the last time you felt compelled – really compelled as a result of something you participated in something bigger than you? Remember how you felt leading up to, during and after the event? Do you still talk about it to this day? Did it shape your view of the world? Do you feel compelled to share not only the event but the organizer or organization that put on the event?

There is, innate in all of us, an underlying need to belong, to feel appreciate, to feel heard, wanted and important. As marketers – it’s not our job to exploit that but rather harness it and use it for a greater good.

Is it possible in our business? You bet it is. The questions is – are we willing to get those people in a room where there is no monitor to hide behind – where canned corporate speak is left to improv at the risk of authenticity and transparency? The second half of the thirty could be fun – it’s the first half I would be anxious about.

We have done our fair share of surveys and focus groups over the years but never did we go after the downside hardliners. Mack and Dell have me thinking hard about the obvious value of doing so…what do you think?

0 Responses

  6. Hey Mike, thanks for the mention! I really think this is a move we'll start to see more progressive companies make, as there's much to be learned from listening directly to your most passionate customers. That feedback can then be taken and incorporated back into marketing and communication efforts, in order to make them more efficient.

    Exciting times, will be interesting to see what marketing looks like in a few years if initiatives such as this are the rule, rather than the exception!

    1. Mack

      You are welcome – really enjoy your blog –

      I could not agree more to your comment. I like to think of it as not a consumer driven market place but rather a partnership driven market place.

      Hope your week is a compelling week –

  12. Mike, there is so much to be excited about as we prepare to meet our thirty and get the dirty (My vote for BEST TITLE OF THE MONTH so far). I'm closing in on my 10 year chip here at Dell, and I believe that we have always had a flat out need to communicate with our customers – and employees for that matter. Have we always fed that need the way we should've? probably not, but it's always been at our core. As such, we are completely pumped about these meetings. (I personally am really psyched that Mack C is going to be here in person to moderate and share his Social Media wisdom – as long as he doesn't mention that Alabama over Texas in the Nat'l Championship game too many times, of course)
    Some have questioned the size of the group, is it too small. I think it is perfect. These are folks that we know have strong opinions and are eager to share. I cannot imagine a scenario in which the conversation and dialogue will not provide insights, learnings, ideas and, most importantly, a sense of community among the participants and the Dell team.
    I would eagerly encourage you and anyone else who really is interested in getting better, to bring in that “first half” of folks who may not be too pleased with you. The best teachers and coaches in my life were the ones who kept hammering on me and never let me get away without putting out maximum effort each and every day. Anxious is an appropriate word, but we are also quite excited about the possibilities.
    Great post!
    Regards, Vance Morton, Dell Corporate Responsibility & Relations and Social Media Evangelist

    1. Vance

      Thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment. And, thank you for the shout out on the title – it seemed like a fun eye-catcher –

      At the risk of marring your opinion – I might be the biggest anti-Texas fan out there. My premise being my attendance at Texas Tech University. : )

      I think the group sounds like an appropriate size – I would liken it to attending a concert with a solo artist in an intimate setting vs. in an arena and or a stadium for that matter. It just feels better. The sharing of both the artist [Dell in this case] and the audience [Both sets of users in this case] is much more full of impact and thus resulting experiences. All that to suggest that I concur with the size.

      Good luck to you and we look forward to keeping track of the outcomes and subsequent idea generation and execution.

      Take care and thank you again for taking the time to pen some thoughts here.

      M

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