My post was too succint, huh? 
That wasn't a post, Jeremy. That was a headline.
Yeah, there's definitely some serious hypocrisy going on. And this hypocrisy concerns me more than what Dell is actually doing or not (yet) doing. However, because expectations are different for corporate blogs than for personality/individual-driven ones (we can discuss the merits of this another time), criticism is going to be harsher. I'm not saying that's a good thing, just not surprising.
Jeremy:
I didn't see your post until much later ... but I loved the headline.
Andrea, you bring up a good point. It's much easier to criticize a corporate group blog than it is to criticize an individual.
Still, I think that's unfair. It's also much easier to blog as an individual -- and be engaging, etc. -- than it is to blog as a corporate group. So these folks should cut the corporate guys some slack.
Personally, I think Dell is to commended for getting involved in the fray, especially after everything that's happened.
Jeremy's tags were longer than his post. But his headline was solid.
I can’t help wondering if the primary raison d’ętre of Dell’s new blog is “blogger appeasement.” Quite frankly, if I was a (non-blogging) customer or potential customer, I wouldn’t contribute to it. Why put YOUR comments under the microscope of so many critics?
Recently I was having a discussion with someone about how far were the implications of “Dell Hell” and the company’s corporate image. My contention was that despite a fair amount of speculation, I had yet to see quantitative evidence published anywhere that “declining sales” were directly linked to this saga. (This is not to say that poor customer service doesn’t affect sales; rather I’d argue that something like a Dell Hell would only hasten the end results of a company experiencing systemic problems, rather than be the sole cause of it firing its CEO, restructuring, bankruptcy, etc.)
So how widespread is knowledge of Dell Hell (i.e., critical mass)? This morning I asked five (local) comms/PR colleagues whose opinions I value. They are senior-level employees in five different areas: manufacturing, services (technology), a PR agency, government and a sole practitioner (and former professor in PR and MBA programs). To the best of my knowledge none are bloggers. Below are the compiled results.
Question:
Without doing any research (i.e., Googling it, etc.) how familiar are you with the “Dell Hell” story?
Answers:
[0] Yes, I’ve heard (or read) about this saga.
[1] Sounds vaguely familiar, but details aren’t coming to mind.
Additional comment:
- Went to a blogging seminar [CMA presentation, featuring Mitch Joel] and I think that's where I heard the phrase.
[4] No, doesn’t ring a bell.
Additional comments:
- No idea.
- G'day there. Can't help you on this one. Is it related to "farmer in the dell" or Michael Dell or Dell Computers?? Ha ha.
--Never heard of the “Dell Hell” story…now can I Google it?
I wonder if other people would receive similar responses.
Hello all:
Although the general PR community may not be aware of the "Dell Hell" incident, there is some evidence that it had an impact on Dell's reputation.
About a year ago Market Sentinel, Onalytica and immediate future PR released a white paper taking a close look at the Dell Hell saga and it's impact on the company. In their study, they assumed that people looking for information on Dell products would conduct an on-line search for information about the company. This is because poor online reviews of technology products translate into lower sales as customers seek out and value others' opinions of Dell's products and services.
The study is quite interesting and worth a look. You can find it by clicking here.
Commenting by HaloScan
