An Open Letter To Sony Regarding Social Media.
Dear Sony,
First, I wanted to make sure everything is good with you. I know its been a while since we have chatted. Actually, we have really never chatted. Though you did have Technorati reach out to me in early March 2009. It was just before SXSW 2009. You probably don’t remember, I know your a really busy company. Well with E3, your Samsung LCD venture, and of course that exciting announcement that Sade has an album coming out for the first time in like 9 years No offense but waiting 30 years for that album would of been better.(I’m just saying.)
So what I wanted to share with you is an update on the partnership you did with Technorati just before the SXSW 2009. I know with everything going on you don’t remember it. Let me try to jog your memory.
You were kind enough to send myself and 9 other bloggers these really kick ass Webbie HD video cameras. All you asked is when we use it at the conference was to tag photos and pics with the hashtag #webbiesxsw. How could any of us say no? (Look we both know Julia Roy sure wouldn’t! I think she tried to steal mine, so she could have two.) So with my trusty Webbie HD I mad amazing, educational, social media videos like this:
Pretty great huh? Fine, I suck at video taping. I get it. Okay, so Sony you may wonder, “why is this guy writing this letter to us almost 4 months after the fact? We aren’t sending you another free camera and you cant have a free PS3 either, so move along.” Do not worry. I do not want any free stuff, though if I were to hit you up for something it would be the PS3 Slim.
So back to my point of this letter. It must of taking some good faith in Social Media for a big company like you to the Webbie SXSW/blogger promotion. Not being able to directly measure the ROI for this campaign. Not knowing if it helped sell these devices. No doubt you could see the chatter on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and the other thousands of social networking sites. Yet, it is hard to measure if that chatter turned into sales.
Well, I have some good news for you. Social Media works. What you did worked. Let me give you some examples. I will do it in list form. People like lists!
-In the past 30 days 5. Yes, 5 families have bought the Webbie because they have seen me using at my kids school. Scary part is they all got the same color as me. So, now I have to put my initials on the bottom of it.
-At least 8 people have emailed me directly in the last 90 days to ask me about what video camera I use. Of that I know of 4 people who have bought the camera.
-Facebook..where do I start. When I upload a video it has that HD logo in the corner. The number of people who have commented on the quality of the video and sound is crazy. I can not say I know exactly how many people have bought the Webbie. I do know that there have been a lot of comments and questions about it on my profile page and fanpage.(yes, I have a facebook fanpage stop laughing at me.) Done laughing? Here is a Facebook video example that got the parents fired up about the Webbie:
So, there you go. I can confirm at least 14 sales of the webbie as well as several more potential sales coming your way!! That is not a bad ROI for sending a blogger a $200.00 video camera. We do not even know how many sales the other 9 bloggers generated. This is what I would call a success story, as well as a great case study showing that Social Media and Word of Mouth marketing do work.
Oh in case anyone at Sony sees this or who knows, maybe even reads my blog. No, I was not paid to do this. Yes, I got a free Webbie from Sony. There is your full disclosure at work!
Sincerely,
Dave Peck
Social Media Strategist
I'm on the fence about this. You say yes. Jolie says no (low-lighting issues, picks up TONS of ambient noise). I'm not in a rush. Great outreach, but even though word of mouth references are important a high quality useful product that I'm truly happy with is more important. When I'm ready I'll be doing my full research. Word of Mouth from trusted sources is only one factor ESPECIALLY when it comes to technology.
Your right about the lighting issues. Does not work well in dark places, nor does it have a flash. That being said, its about the outreach. They used a different marketing strategy for outreach. I think it worked. Right now companies want to measure ROI more then ever. My goal with this post is not to rave about the Webbie. Its the fact that using these new channels allowed them to increase sales. (though small in this example)
Lighting issues aside, great post – well written, to the point, with just the right amount of sarcasm. From one strategist to the other, hopefully Sony is reading.
Why thank you John. Sarcasm is my bread and butter. Glad I made my point!
Great post Dave. You are right on many points. (including you probably need lessons in making great videos
. Keep buttering that bread, I like the way you slice it
rofl thanks
Love the letter. Little sarcasm really works. And I do believe Sony did receive a great ROI on at least one of you all!
thanks
I'm curious what the follow up with you was Dave. Was there anything that happened between you and the group at Sony that gave you the webbie after you got and used the camera? The tone of your blog post say, NO! But that seems like such a giant oversight to me.
No follow up that I recall. I did reach out to them for some tech help regarding the webbie. They replied quickly.
Word of mouth has always worked, and will do so as long as the trust is there at a certain level. Trusting someone to provide me with good news is one thing, trusting someone to be honest about a purchase is another…as is expecting a blogger to be honest about something they got for free from a company whom they might like to get more free stuff from. Just saying…
Great post, though. It is indeed difficult sometimes to measure the ROI from any social media marketing. I, too, am curious about whether or not Sony has been in touch with you. More importantly, I'm wondering whether or not you actually emailed or snail-mailed (gasp, I still do that once in a while) Sony?
What I'm still even more interested in, is learning whether or not their marketing department has anyone who will actually see your letter, pass it along to the right person or group and ensure that something useful/meaningful gets done as a result of it. How disheartening it would be for a company their size and with corresponding resources to engage in some social marketing and not actually ASK you to do what you did–offer feedback down the road that goes beyond "did you like it and blog about it?" I think many people/organizations look at something and see only a single opportunity when opportunities actually have their own version of a long tail.
Why just give you the cam to try out? Why not give it to you on condition you blog about it and pass it along to another blogger who is obligated to do the same…with an offer to send you another…or that for every blogger who tests it, blogs about it, and passes it along, they will donate money to some noble cause whether the review is positive or negative?
Now, if your results were typical…heck, let's say only half your results were…and the cam had been passed along to 9 other bloggers–that's a lot of valuable feedback, sales, and social goodwill…which is more fuel for the company's PR department. Not to mention it might stir up new relationships with other bloggers and extend reach many levels deeper than their efforts did.
Maybe Sony has found that Holy Grail of marketing, discovered a way to embed GPS tracking in videos shot with the Webbie HD?
Seriously though, it would be neat if they could somehow use a tiny watermark (unique to each camera) to imprint all videos shot with just a handful of special promotional cameras that would encourage someone else to buy one at a first tier discount (say 35-45% off or even more) that also watermarks videos with another unique watermark…and so on. If someone wanted to buy a version without a watermark, they would only get, say, 20% off? Would be a way to track sales directly.
Just thinking out loud here. Great post. Now, I need more coffee…
Sean.. wow. Love your perspective and comments. Great idea about the watermark. They did ask us to use a hastag for videos, tweets etc. Though that is still hard to track.
The hashtag tells me someone was INTENDING to track what happened next, in some regard. The lack of communication with you is disheartening. Seems like a last minute idea from a random marketing meeting, and no real plan put together–it happens. Have you tried to follow the hashtags to see what your fellow freebie recievers have done with theirs?
Hi Dave,
This is Jennifer from Sony Electronics.
First and foremost I'd like to say thank you for your participation at SxSW with the Webbie and Technorati. Your videos, tweets, and subsequent blog posts have all been great. Secondly, your excitement for the product and the excitement that you've shared with others has been well received at Sony. Thank you so much. We'll keep you posted on upcoming opportunities we think you'll like. Until then…
Btw, great photo on the NYT!
Jennifer Martin
Sony Electronics
Social Media Specialist
@ Sean, Thanks for your feedback about the cameras. We’ll be sure to share your comments with the proper teams.