Dell and Disney on Social Marketing

Michael Dell’s interview with Shel Israel provides a great glimpse inside his company’s strategic approach to social media – a term you almost feel the Dell CEO doesn’t like when you read between the lines of his interview. It’s easy to see why the tech giant has gone from the poster child for not getting the blogging community to among the best in the world at it in just a few short years.

To Michael Dell, it’s all just an extension of his company’s longstanding policy to listen and learn from its customers and detractors. The only difference is it’s now through this new channel on the Web. Rather than steal Shel’s thunder, its better you hop on over to his site for the full interview. My favorite Dell quote from the piece though is, “We don’t own our reputation, we just own our actions.”

And while Dell continues to get a lion’s share of credit for its social media accomplishments, dozens of other brands are doing just as well operating somewhat under the radar and outside the media spotlight. One of those companies is Disney. Even though its been up and running for several months, very few people have noticed or written about the wildly successful Disney Moms Panel of experts who advise people about visiting Disney Parks and Resorts.

I was fortunate in a previous job to work with the PR machine at Disneyland on several major campaigns. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Disney struggled for years with its Web strategy and wasn’t the first to jump into social media. However, a lot has changed over the past year and the Moms Panel is proof positive that change is underway in the land of Mickey. Yes, Disney hand-picked the moms and trained them, but they exercise no editorial control over responses.

The fact that more than 10,000 people volunteered to be one on the panel tells you how powerful social media can be for Disney in the years ahead. It’s hard to imagine a brand that doesn’t have more to gain - or lose - based on how it addresses the new challenges of communicating with its customers online. Keep in mind, this is a brand that has a history dating back to Walt himself of controlling every single item of what has been published about its global company and image, so getting used to giving up some of that message control is definitely a bit scary. Look for more good things from the folks at Disney this year.

Mike Spataro