The Buzz Bin

Today’s Buzz Bin interview features Rick Clancy, senior vice president of corporate communications at Sony Electronics. Rick and his team are keeping Sony involved with social media, and launched the company’s first corporate blog in July 2007.

Rick is responsible for all of the communications and public relations activities for the company’s U.S. electronics business, including a wide variety of corporate issues, new product launches, marketing support, technology developments, third-party relationships, manufacturing activities in the United States and Mexico, crisis communications, media relations and employee communications.

BB: It’s been four months since you launched the Sony Electronics Blog.  What are your initial impressions of this social media form?

RC: While it was definitely an exciting new and in some ways daunting endeavor, I believe it has been very well received by people who are interested in Sony and are spending a lot of time on the blogosphere, as well as internally among Sony employees.  It’s a great forum to speak directly in an unfiltered manner about our products, new technologies, industry issues and even some personal events.  In addition, the feedback from consumers has been invaluable.

BB: Is the PlayStation blog a completely separate effort?

RC: The PlayStation blog is an effort by Sony Online Entertainment American, which markets consoles and video games in the U.S.  It was launched just prior to the Sony Electronics blog. We’re in constant communications with each other, sharing ideas and thoughts on blogging and other social media avenues. Our global Chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer has praised both initiatives for their impact on opening a true dialogue with end-users, not only in the U.S. but around the world.

BB: How does having such a large range of products affect your ability to focus on specific topics?

RC: That’s part of the fun. It’s part of what makes Sony such a special company, unlike virtually all of our competitors.   I like to vary the topics among our large range of products and technologies, along with other issues of interest like product recycling.  In some cases where we know that certain products have a larger dedicated online following, we have begun catering to their needs by providing more insights into particular product categories from expert guest bloggers.

Perhaps the best example of this are DSLR camera enthusiasts who have been very vocal with their suggestions with feedback has been extremely valuable to our teams in the U.S. and Japan.

BB: It’s early in Sony’s social media life.  What do you hope social media can do for the company?

RC: The initial goal for the blog was to create a direct dialogue between Sony Electronics and consumers. We also hoped to strengthen our brand by providing insight on innovative products and new technologies, clarifying misperceptions where necessary, and talking about important industry trends and issues.  I believe we have been making good progress in this direction since starting the blog less than four months ago.

Internally, we have also started a President’s blog for our 17,000 or so employees in the U.S. and Mexico.  Also bear in mind that my external corporate blog is just one facet of a multi-strategy effort toward engaging with consumers through social media. In addition to the company blog, we have been much more proactive reaching out to other external blogs with updates, comments and responses related to all things Sony.  And these efforts span various groups within the company.

For example, our marketing group has tapped into social media for various efforts including a viral campaign for our mylo personal communicator aimed at college-aged consumers.  Meanwhile, our customer service group is using social media to reach out to consumers who need product support; and our corporate marketing team is using it to tap into early adopters and gather first hand research data.

BB: How do you think social media fits in within the larger marketing communications mix?

RC: We see social media as another facet of marketing communications. At Sony we have been treating certain blogs like traditional media for years now by inviting them to press events, pitching stories and sometimes giving them exclusives or information under embargo. It would be a mistake to ignore social media outlets given that the Sony consumer is highly tapped in to social media.

BB: Will the company engage in other forms of social media?

RC: Yes. Our ultimate goal to expand into many areas of social media, ranging from pod casting and vlogs to expanding the corporate blog into sub-blogs focused on specific product categories and other topics.

Q: Inevitably you’ll be compared to Dell’s efforts.  What did you think of their turnaround from Jarvis’ Dell Hell to being lauded  by Jarvis in BusinessWeek for using social media to change their ways?

BB: Dell is a great example of how a company used its blog to communicate with customers and turn a negative situation into a positive. We can all learn from Dell’s experience. And while I am taking a distinct approach to Sony’s blog, the Dell blog was among several that we reviewed before launching the Sony blog.  Others included H-P, General Motors and Toyota, to name a few.