Everyday I have the pleasure of reading blogs and learning from customers, well-informed business observers and critics, arm-chair quarterbacks and media. Most often it's thoughtful and considered, usually rooted in "real-world" experience and/or substantiated.
I have seen "the wisdom of the crowd" in action; I have had the pleasure to engage in some powerful and wonderful conversations. I have made friends, who I still have not met. I have had the chance to be part of "real conversations" where even though we might have different points of view, we had a meaningful exchange of ideas. I have been wrong. I have corrected others.
Based on my experiences in the "blogosphere" to date, I do not see what there is much to fear about "citizen journalism." In fact, the opportunity to engage and converse, listen, learn and share perspectives is refreshing and rewarding work.
But here is where I do fear: main stream journalists who say they are blogging, in order to provide commentary rather than news, even offering a place for comments....but the comments go to moderation and may or may not appear in print or in the blog. That is not a conversation. Im not sure it is a blog (....i know that last comment raises a whole bunch of other questions....but for now allow me that assumption).
While I have experienced this elsewhere with media outlets, the past is the past for now. This week it happened with Ad Age....so far. Yesterday, Ad Age's blogger Bob Garfield reviewed the new Dell Inspiron advertisements (first entry at this blog) suggesting "color alone would not change Dell's future." DUH!!!!!!! No one said it would.
Then he suggests that color is 1/2 of the Dell turnaround strategy...the other half is Wal Mart. Oh come on, Mr. Garfield. Do your research. Find Michael Dell's leaked memo on the web and in main stream media back issues. Review main stream media coverage from discussions with Michael Dell in New York just a week or so ago, like this one: "Dell Sees `Lot of Work' Left on Turnaround Effort (Update4) July . Back up your opinion with some facts.
Instead of having a conversation about the merits or not of the Dell "yours is here" ad campaign, which could have been joined by others, I felt compelled to correct the inaccuracies and innuendo about the transformation of our company. The latter being worked on hard by a lot of people , who don't treat it as frivolously as the author appears to consider it.
Since Ad Age hasn't posted my comments in the "comment section" after 24 hours I have posted my corrections for Ad Age here. By posting here, Im trying to extend the comment period, allowing Ad Age to prove their seriousness about blogs and conversations (based on technorati data that suggest a blog and comments are most viable within the first 24 hours).
If Ad Age had posted comments and done its homework as "professional journalists" offering an opinion, then we could have had a meaningful discussion about Dell and its move from "speeds and feeds" to lifestyle advertisements. We could have chatted about whether the ads are about the "colors" or are they about the programs overall theme: "yours is here" and personalization -- something that differentiates the Dell brand.
Unfortunately, for now we have to leave the discussion at clarifying what Dell's business transformation is about, ensuring Ad Age understands we have a few more balls in the air than color and selling computers at Wal-Mart. Oh well.
RichardatDell's unposted comment at Ad Age:
Mr. Garfield,
How you draw the conclusion that moving from gray to various colors of computers is half our turnaround strategy, and the other half is Wal Mart, is beyond me.
How you draw the conclusion that moving from gray to various colors of computers is half our turnaround strategy, and the other half is Wal Mart, is beyond me.
Just a couple week’s ago in New York Michael Dell said we still had ``a lot of work to do” to complete the business’ turnaround, and responded to a question if we were half way there: ``It is a much lower number. I would say in the single digits.''
Perhaps your focus on Wal Mart aisles and Color blinded you to the rest of the Dell story. As Michael has pointed out on numerous occasions we are investing for the long term, not quick short term fixes because we want to simplify information technology for customers and be first in service and support. And after that, we want to be No. 1 in profitability.
First, lets clarify the Wal Mart part of this equation. Wal Mart is only the first in a global strategy to expand how people can buy Dell, making Dell technologies more available to more people around the world.
Closely related to the retail strategy for consumers is expanding the availability of Dell technologies through Value Added Resellers in the business market, as well as a new product and service line focused and designed to meet the specific needs of small business.
We are undertaking systematic changes to restore competitiveness to the core business, re-ignite growth, and build solutions critical to our customer needs, including expanding into new areas. Our strategic intent is to simplify information technology for our customers by removing cost and complexity. We believe we have a competitive advantage in terms of unlocking value for our customers – giving them the ability implement simpler and smarter technology solutions.
Therefore, some of the additional steps in this transformation have included:
1. Restructured the senior leadership team to enhance accountability, bring clarity to the company’s transformation strategy and move decision-making closer to the customer. In addition to restructuring the leadership team, other aspects of the business are being simplified and better aligned with the current business environment and strategic growth opportunities.
2. Increased investment in technical support resources like Dell Support Center and DellConnect to improve customer satisfaction. These investments have helped the company achieve a 66 percent decrease in the number of times customers are transferred before their issue or question is resolved.
3. Extend our global business and renew growth in established and emerging regions through innovative products tailored to specific customer needs such as the EC280 system introduced for China.
Another initiative focusing on customer needs is the new product and services for small business, called Vostro that includes PCs and printers designed for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees and no dedicated technical staff.
4. Build out a global services business around a strategy of embedding supportability and serviceability into hardware, simplifying and standardizing service options and delivery, and enhancing remote monitoring and resolution capability to minimize IT infrastructure costs for customers. Just last week we made acquisition in this field…with more to come.
5. Dell is putting more emphasis on product design. Here is where the colors fits in, and just one part of more innovative solutions and design for customers including new options like built in web cams, mobile broadband options, the latest in Hi-Def LED display which is thin, bright and designed to be energy-efficient.
Other initiatives that also deserve mentioning include the XPS M1330, the thinnest 13.1 inch notebook in the industy, with biometrics and embedded anti-theft tracking – also available in various colors by the way.
Dell is among the first to introduce flash-based, solid state drives (SSD) to its portfolio as an alternative to hard disk drives on corporate notebooks. SSDs, which have no moving parts, bring a new level of reliability, performance and noise reduction to customers seeking the best in mobility performance.
We are also the first major computer supplier to offer Linux preinstalled on a range of desktops and lap tops, all part of our refocus, listening and learning from customers. By the way, more new consumer products are planned for later this year
I hope that gives you a better feel for some of the business changes and the fact that our strategy includes more components than Wal Mart and colors. Whether you are “inspiron-ed” or not, by the colors or anything else, we would simply request that you at least give fair consideration to the bigger business picture.
