In a nutshell Dyson engaged very quickly and I was quickly impressed with this engagement - thinking 'wow, Dyson get it'.

Although I'd used quite (jokingly) harsh language in the post - they fed back some well argued points and presented their case well.

So - big thumbs up to Dyson then?

Yes, for a few days.

This all changed when Mitsubishi (maker of the similar Jet Towel product) came back (thx to @FastlecRob for the nudge) with some good counter arguements.

Great - a healthy discussion?

Here is a quote from what Dyson came back with

We entered this conversation looking to locate a faulty machine and clarifying what we felt were factually misleading statements. We feel that the direction that this thread is going in will go nowhere (apart from some interesting fodder for you, Nick) and we're not willing to play, I'm afraid.

oh dear.

This attitude was fine in the 20th century when big corporations controlled the message. It's a shame Dyson is a bit late.

"we're not willing to play, I'm afraid."
Everybody else is playing without you Dyson, sorry.

Companies - we are talking about you whether you like it or not. You can be involved in the conversation - constructively as Dyson seemingly was to begin with (although it now just looks like they were using me to find their dirty machine) - or people can say anything they want about you - right or wrong - and you can bury your head in the sand.

I also think Dyson is wrong - the conversation wasn't going nowhere - quite the reverse. Mitsubishi made some key points against them about noise levels & drying time. It just looks like Dyson threw their toys out of the pram and went crying home to mummy.

There's another lesson here. You can't be half in & half out of this. You have to fully commit to engagement - and stay committed - stay involved in the message - and for God's sake stay civil. Why the hostility Dyson? We're not individuals you can abuse anymore - we all have a voice and we're using it!

You have to be on form ALL THE TIME now. If you drop the ball ONCE the democratized voice of the internet can use it against you forever. But not playing is also not an option - your competitors are or will be using social channels to build an adoring customer base, spread their message, correct inaccuracies and have fun! (all hail @zappos).

Your only defence is sticking to strong core principles such as openness, honesty, civility and genuinely caring about your customers.

The world has fundamentally changed. Those who keep up will win.

Updated 25 May 2010 ********************************

What's the point of PR & Social Media Engagement? Something like:

1. Listening to feedback / fixing problems.
2. Fostering good will with customers & users.
3. Building relationships & rapport.
4. Having a smile - being positive, open, likeable, honest - trying to help.
5. Having some fun!

Wading into a comment thread, engaging a bit - then 'not playing' and bluntly stating you're only trying to find your faulty machine - I don't think that fulfils the above do you?

It lowered my good will towards them so much I wrote a blog post about it!

I spoke to Dyson who gave the following 2 reasons for the final comment.

1. Can't talk about competitors for 'legal reasons'

This is a policy Dyson have decided to follow internally. I think that's a mistake.

If you're passionate & proud of your product - you should be willing to swing from the rafters shouting about it. To say to your competition 'bring it'! To embrace social media, to rouse your cheer leaders and state your case.

Sure you need legal cover - but thats all doable if the will is there. This is a cop out.

Mitsubishi managed it - why can't Dyson?

2. Felt we were going round in circles

They could end it at any time. It need not 'go in circles' - but they can end more gracefully than they did. There were also good points on noise they seemed reluctant to acknowledge.

Why Dyson's Comment is Bad

It's not about 'getting into a slanging match' with a competitor. It's about stating their case - and their tone & intent.

Hi all,

We entered this conversation looking to locate a faulty machine and clarifying what we felt were factually misleading statements.

subtext: We aren't interested in engaging, just using you to find our machine.

We feel that the direction that this thread is going in will go nowhere

They feel threatened when a competitor mentions a relative weakness of their device - so no longer wish to engage.

(apart from some interesting fodder for you, Nick) and we're not willing to play, I'm afraid.

play - this trivialises social media - and specifically my blog. Yeah my blog probably is trivial but come on - telling a blogger that is never going to go down well ;)

This presupposes that Dyson's customers can get no value from this conversation - I disagree.

It's also arrogant & undermines all the good work they already did. I sense frustration here - hostility - a PR person pulling back, going back to mass media ways because they aren't getting their way. A momentary lapse.

Even if you think this way (which you shouldn't) - you can phrase it much better!

Mitubishielectric - we are open to have conversations about dry times and other standards for the hand dryer market.

Hold on - no you're not?! You just pulled out - that's what we're trying to do here. Are you suggesting you want to have a private conversation with a competitor?!?!

Why?! It's media but not very social.

This post simply reinforces the fact that in a decidedly unregulated market it's very hard for people to differentiate between truth and false-hoods.

We'd encourage you to get in touch.

Best wishes,
Dyson

You'll notice they don't even mention any legal restrictions. They do make a follow up comment which is a little better - but the post above really is a huge slip and its out there forever.

Alternate response 1
(Sticking to 'legal restriction' of not talking about competition)

Hi all

We are reading all the posts here with interest & love to see such a lively debate in a previously rather un-exciting space (hand dryers).

We feel passionately that our product is the best out there - not least because of the combination of dry time, hygiene, noise & technology. We have all our figures & reports online here.

Unfortunately we are unable to keep talking about this - our legal department says we can't - but we have taken on board all your opinions - we never stop listening to our customers and work tirelessly to give you all better products every day.

We will be incorporating improvements to the Airblade design soon.

Good luck with the blog Nick - look forward to more posts soon; and hopefully more positive ones about Dyson ;)

 

Thanks
Dyson

This achieves all the same goals for Dyson - they pull out - but do so politely, appear humble - and this blog post is never written. This is basic stuff.

It also links to data on drying times that they keep mentioning - but can't be seen anywhere.

Alternate response 2
(No self imposed 'legal restriction')

Hi all

We are reading all the posts here with interest & love to see such a lively debate in a previously rather un-exciting space (hand dryers).

We feel passionately that our product is the best out there - not least because of the combination of dry time, hygiene, noise & technology. We have all our figures & reports online here.

Whilst we respect Mitsubishi, our product is the only product with a HEPA filter and we believe tests show our machine is more power efficient and faster. The XLerator is also 100dB - ouch. We also use revolutionary technology to scrape water from the hands - we believe our machine is by far the best overall design.

We hear you on the noise - it's something we're working hard to improve in future models. Watch this space for an even better Airblade really soon!

Good luck with the blog Nick - look forward to more posts soon; and hopefully more positive ones about Dyson ;)

 

Thanks
Dyson

It's humble, it rises above everything, it ends the exchange but leaves a nice taste in the mouth. It states why they believe they have the best machine - but acknowledges its not perfect (people already know this - companies that are big enough to acknowledge their shortcomings are respected).

But perhaps more importantly - it shows respect to everyone who commented & the blogger. It shows positive intention and no hostility.

Surely the point in social media engagement & PR generally is to foster good will with customers. The above comment achieves that. Theirs did the opposite.

There are other interesting points to make here beyond the scope of this blog - such as the independence of the NSF testing (Dyson is involved apparently). The Jet Towel was launched 1993 & Airblade in 2006. Dyson's willingness to sue people that copy its vacuum cleaner designs.

Suffice to say - this has been an interesting case study for everyone.

Was I Too Harsh? What Could I Have Done Better?

UsabilityHell.com - being harsh is what it does - it's partly humourous and I don't apologise.

The title of this post is a double meaning - partially referring to Dyson's aborted engagement. Perhaps it can come across a bit OTT?

In fairness to Dyson they are probably way ahead of most companies on Social Media.

I should re-state that I think they did a lot right at first - many companies wouldn't engage at all. The problem is they didn't stay on message throughout - they slipped - and that can be worse than not engaging. Companies need to be Insanely Great right?

While I had some doubts at first - I now think I was fully justified.

I should have kept the comments on UH a bit more light hearted in keeping with the blog's style - it got quite serious and geeky.

My take away from this is that we're all still figuring it out, every situation like this is fascinating and a useful learning experience for us all.

http://twitter.com/nickdonnelly