Spooky Not Creepy

Why Social Media Alone Will Not Get You a Job

If you want the abridged version of my use of social media to reach Robert Stephens, Founder of the Geek Squad, please read my article on TalentZoo.

My conversation with Robert Stephens

I recently had the opportunity to speak with the Founder and "Chief Inspector" of the Geek Squad, Robert Stephens. In the posts below, I've outlined how I prepared, what I proposed, the important lessons I took away, his specific advice to me, and a couple ideas I've had for the Geek Squad.

Although I learned firsthand about the power of Twitter and a brand that is using it effectively, that is not the complete story. I invite you to dig a little deeper, learn more about the brilliant storytelling of the Geek Squad, and hopefully, avoid the missteps I made after making a connection with someone that has radically changed an industry.

My preparation

I read Best Buy's most recent annual report and listened to a conference call with investors. My goal was to understand the financial contribution of the Geek Squad to Best Buy's bottom line.

Because the Geek Squad is largely service based, I assumed the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) attributed to them would be low.

Also, after backing out warranty revenues from the "Services" category, the Geek Squad provides 1 to 2 billion dollars in revenue to Best Buy. Again with the Geek Squads' low COGS, that means more of those dollars contribute to Best Buy's operating income.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn if the profit generated by a Geek Squad employee is higher on average than a Blue Shirt.

Through secondary research, I learned that one analyst believes the Geek Squad station will be moved to the center of future store layouts.

It's important to realize additional revenue is generated by Agents' advice and the legitimacy it provides cannot easily be calculated. The Geek Squad could be the hub of the potential "digital playground" that Best Buy is considering.

I also learned a lot about Robert Stephens' branding efforts.

He's really built the Geek Squad brand through storytelling by blending operations and marketing. From the clip on ties to the packaging, there is a distinct narrative.

Robert has a documented interest in Joseph Campbell's archetypal work that really inspired the Star Wars movies.

He also has in interest in further developing the Geek Squad's narrative much like how movies or comic books do. He doesn't think about "brand strategy." He thinks if this was a movie what would happen next.

Finally, I learned about the Geek Squad's unique position within Best Buy. It spends more time in customer homes and deals with people's urgent problems when they're frustrated.

Put simply, the Geek Squad has a deeper emotional connection with customers, and their advice is valued.

My pitch

I sought to leverage my recent experience by proposing to conduct in-home and in-store contextual interviews and observation of customers and Geek Squad Agents.

Keeping true to the brand, I said I wanted to be an "Investigative Officer of Technological Crime."

Finally, I hoped to utilize my background in branding and interest in storytelling.

Important lessons from my conversation

Robert Stephens was quick to say he was tactical. "What's the problem you'll solve?" Implied in that is how would I specifically make or save the Geek Squad and Best Buy money.

The value proposition I presented of performing ethnography or in-context research within customers' homes or within stores was not compelling.

His response was that Best Buy had more than enough "data", and that Apple doesn't do consumer research. Even if I'm kind and could say that "data" is actually valuable insights, I think that would be difficult to stack up to the problems he faces everyday of "creating solutions" and "implementing change" within a corporate structure.

I need to take my own advice. Below, I argue against brands using what I call a "message push" strategy on twitter and other social media.

Best Buy's Twelpforce is a good example of solving people's problems. It's not enough to be relevant and get noticed. Specifically, what problems could I solve? Adding value to the process is not enough.

I should have spoken to others within Best Buy corporate before reaching out to Robert. Knowing that the Geek Squad does not have the budget nor the structure to perform research would have been valuable.

Instead of spending so much time dissecting Best Buy's financial statements to understand the Geek Squad's contribution, I should have visited more Best Buys and interacted with Geek Squad Agents.

Finally, admiring the Geek Squad's storytelling and branding efforts through my advertising background does not answer what is the next scene in the Geek Squad's unfolding narrative or screenplay. 

Robert Stephens' Advice to Me

Robert said one of the best quotes he had heard recently was "Leading is second best to owning."

In other words, have a point of view that you actively disseminate. One way he tries to guide the Geek Squad's direction is by publishing, speaking, and his on-line presence.

He also said a couple employees have actually created positions by carving out a niche for themselves and having distinct points of view.

Finally, he suggested I learn as much as I could about Best Buy's Consumer Insights team headed up by Bill Hoffman as that may be a better fit for my skills and experience.

Couple Ideas for the Geek Squad

I read a quote somewhere that said the Geek Squad was still in its infancy with all the opportunities that the mobile computing environment provides. How will the Geek Squad move meaningfully into this space?

With 24,000 agents, there may be an opportunity to use this tech savvy employee resource as a testing platform for mobile app development and to provide legitimacy to new apps.

What if a "Geek Squad approved" app collection was created for Android for example? Agent inspired, inspected, tweaked, and deployed.

Maybe the Geek Squad could also develop an ARG (alternate reality game) to deepen involvement in the unfolding narrative of the brand. 

Robert Stephens understands the value of play, and what better way to wrap customers into the investigative motif of the Agents' culture.

One word of caution though, the target demographic for ARG's is younger, tech savvy, and possibly sophisticated gamers. As Audi learned, the ARG they developed with McKinney a while back was popular with a group of people who really couldn't afford buying an Audi.

I don't have insider knowledge of the Geek Squad's target demographic, but I'm skeptical of the technical know how of their current customer base. However, an ARG may be a way to pull in another group in a cost effective and fun way.

A Smackdown

Using Twitter as a Service to Customers

When I began this process, I didn't realize it would be such a testament to the power of Twitter, and more importantly, the effective use of Twitter by corporations, particularly Best Buy. This really shouldn't be about me. I believe it's truly a case study about connecting effectively with customers and solving problems.

There is a very nice article posted on Fast Company by Drew Neisser of Renegade about Twelpforce:  "How Best Buy Turned Twitter into a Customer-Satisfying, Employee-Motivating, and PR-Generating Machine." Drew makes some very important points that I'd like to dig into a little more.

It's particularly interesting that Best Buy began by building an application, spy.appspot.com, to help them monitor conversations in social media. I'd be interested to learn more about how they might mine this resource and engage with customer issues when they arise.

 

If you dig a little deeper and visit Spy developer Ben Hedrington's blog, there's an interesting piece on how Spy helped stranded travelers in Europe after the recent volcanic eruption who used the hash tag #getmehome. This points to one of the reasons Twelpforce is so effective. Just like the stranded travelers, people are using social media tools to seek solutions to specific problems they have. It might not sound like rocket science, but it is a dramatic departure from common forms of Twitter usage by brands.

Take for instance, General Mills recent brand extension, Wheaties Fuel. Although I really admire their celebrity "cocreation" process in developing the cereal, take a look at their utilization of Twitter: 

 

Unfortunately, I believe this is a common use of Twitter by brands. I'll call it the "message push" strategy. Similar to other forms of advertising, the brand is trying to raise product consideration and awareness. Maybe, a more effective use of Twitter by General Mills is by Betty Crocker. It includes another common Twitter marketing tactic, which is to monitor and comment on customers talking about or engaging with your brand:

What's wrong with these methods? They are still "message push" strategies. Although the Betty Crocker brand can recommend recipes that include its products, are they opening their deep expertise up to customers who have questions and need creative solutions? 

On the other hand, Best Buy's Twelpforce, employs what Drew Neisser calls "Marketing as Service". It is not a "message push" strategy. It is providing a service by offering solutions through their unique expertise. Drew also mentioned this will help Best Buy trounce Wal-Mart's electronics offerings. Some may argue certain brands cannot use Twitter as a service to customers. Maybe, those brands haven't thought creatively enough about how to use the social media tools at their disposal to the benefit of their customers. Maybe, Wal-Mart can't help customers with questions about multimedia equipment, but could they provide more than just promotions or discounts on-line? 

Finally, I wanted to highlight something else in the Fast Company post. Still in its "infancy", bbyfeed.com, allows customers to search for answers to questions that have already been answered. Not only does this allow Best Buy to avoid reinventing the wheel each time a customer has a question, it allows them to track how many questions they have about certain products or customer challenges plus utilize other data mining techniques.

My favorite part of this journey so far has been a quote from @agent3012, "When you need us, Tweet us."

Google is Cheap but Twitter is Free

"The Google Job Experiment" has gone mainstream. "Guy gets job with $6 in Google ads" on CNN: http://bit.ly/9nkpqB

Just wanted to point out that Twitter is free and seems to have some effectiveness too. Real people. Real connections. Real fast.

From a branding perspective, @twelpforce is an impressive way to build relationships by solving problems for customers. It provides credibility and a greater level of intimacy with customers.