BEST BUY | TWELPFORCE | 2010
The Day Customer Service Became an Ad / BEST BUY "TWELPFORCE"
This is the story of the day something that wasn't an advertisement won the Grand Prix at Cannes. I watched the moment customer service turned into advertising.
The problem
In 2009, Best Buy was getting squeezed by online retailers on price. Its real strength was the knowledge of its in-store staff, the "Blue Shirts" — but that knowledge only existed inside the store. Meanwhile, both employees and customers had already started talking on Twitter.
The insight
It was a bet that service itself could become marketing. Could the knowledge locked up on the sales floor be brought out beyond the store counter? CMO Barry Judge spoke up himself and created a culture inside the company where people felt free to experiment. The hypothesis: build trust without spending ad dollars.
The idea
Twelpforce was a Twitter help desk that any Best Buy employee could join. Over 2,600 people signed up, answering customer questions on the spot from the account @twelpforce. The only rules were three lines: "Be smart. Be respectful. Be human." Beyond that, the company trusted them and let them run with it. They announced the account in TV commercials and spread the word in stores too.
What happened
It won the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2010. Online complaints dropped by 20% in the first year.
Afterthought
It wasn't creative work that won the Grand Prix — it was the design of trust. The courage to trust 2,600 people and let them speak freely in public. This was the first real blow that started dissolving the line between customer service and marketing.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2010
