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Best Buy Uses TiVo, Twitter to Take on Walmart
Partnership allows Best Buy to promote directly on special TiVo DVRs; plans to use Twitter to seek out customers.
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Best Buy is taking its battle with Walmart outside the store, using Twitter and in-home advertising.
July 09, 2009 | by Tom LeBlanc

If you’re keeping score of the ongoing battle between Best Buy and Walmart for electronics retail supremacy, award Best Buy a few points.

Best Buy is announcing a partnership with TiVo today, by which a special version of TiVo’s DVR will be heavily promoted in Best Buy’s 1,100 U.S. stores, according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, Best Buy will be promoted directly on customers’ TVs through that special TiVo DVR.

Also, Best Buy is about to launch a campaign aimed at garnering customers through Twitter.

Meanwhile, a recent Best Buy TV commercial doesn’t pull any punches, directly attacking Walmart.

Best Buy and TiVo
The TiVo partnership seems like a win-win for Best Buy. Its efforts to move TiVo products are doubly rewarded with custom advertising for other Best Buy products. 

Financial details of the multi-year commitment to promote TiVo devices haven’t been disclosed, according to the New York Times. The companies do say that Best Buy will finance an effort to bring TiVo’s software and search tools to other Best Buy products, like its Insignia HDTVs.

Best Buy and TiVo also plan to leverage Napster’s music subscription service, which Best Buy recently acquired. TiVo plans to make the service available to TiVo subscribers on TVs, according to the New York Times.

The big-box retailer’s efforts appear at least partially fueled by Walmart’s recent efforts to gain more of an electronics market share. When Circuit City closed its doors in March, its hoards of customers became up for grabs.

Walmart kicked up its merchandising (and advertising) by emphasizing 1080p and Blu-ray products. It also rolled out “larger,” “more interactive” and “roomier” electronics displays for all its U.S. stores.

Best Buy responded by announcing plans to open 13 stores, each with “updated layouts” and “interactive displays.”

Best Buy and Twitter
The TiVo alliance, however, reflects Best Buy’s efforts to take the battle outside of the actual stores and into customers’ devices — in this case, their home TVs.

Best Buy is also taking its messages to customers mobile devices and computers. The company is launching a Twitter campaign, called Twelpforce, according to Bloomberg.com.

Twelpforce is a customer service team dedicated to using Twitter to answer product questions and stimulate sales. Twelpforce will search Twitter posts to find people looking for information about electronics.

The report has Best Buy chief marketing officer Barry Judge explaining:

“The old paradigm is you open your doors and hope someone comes in. In the new world, you can go out and find people that are talking about technology and what they’re interested in buying, and be generous with your knowledge. And hopefully if you’re generous and knowledgeable, people will come and buy.”

Best Buy and TV Ads
Clearly, Best Buy sees product knowledge as a differentiator between Walmart and itself. A recent TV commercial directly takes on Walmart while positioning Best Buy as having more knowledgeable salespeople.

Your move, Walmart.

Check out the Best Buy commercial taking on Walmart here:



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Comments (3) Most recent displayed first.
Posted by offshore bank accounts  on  07/29/09  at  03:36 PM

Best Buy is announcing a partnership with TiVo today, by which a special version of TiVo’s DVR will be heavily promoted in Best
offshore bank accounts

Posted by Joseph Massimino  on  07/10/09  at  02:05 PM

First off, Wall Mart does not sell Tivo the last time I checked. I am a long time multi-Tivo owner. I currently have 6 and have service to 4 of them. The biggest Tivo complaint I have is with HD. My HD unit stutters and stops for a minute or two at times. The cure could be as drastic as formatting the Tivo, or sending it back for an exchange, both will make me lose all my recorded content, so I’m enduring it for now.
It’s not the advertising of Tivo that keeps people away. Every Tivo user, including myself, shows off Tivo every chance they get. Its sticker shock for the cost of service for one Tivo that scares people away. I can’t give my extra Tivo to anyone I know because once they found out how much it will cost to turn it on they run screaming. Add the fact that HD Tivo cost a bunch of money, and the service cost a bunch more, there are lots of people who simply couldn’t afford it.
Now that Tivo has won its law suit with Dish, and others who stole Tivo technology, maybe the playing field will get leveled. Tivo put a lot of money and time into perfecting itself. That made them cost more. Now that Dish will have to either increase the cost of DVR service, or pay Tivo for the use of their technology, the price of Non-Tivo DVR’s will start to come in line with Tivo service. Not to mention all the millions that Echo Star has to pay Tivo for patent infringement. That will hurt Echo Star in a big way, that’s why they are holding off paying until they run out of every option. Trust me, they don’t have any options, only the option where they pay, pay, pay..

Posted by Kenneth Lawson  on  07/10/09  at  01:17 PM

Even if this was a option I could use, I wouldn’t even consider it.
I live a rural area, very rural,  It took us 20 years to get dsl. We only got in the last few years, The chances of a cable company coming out here are slim and none.
I have a Dish Network and have been very happy with that. The idea of getting a Best Buy co branded tivo dose not appeal to me. 
I get enough ads on my regular tv, with out havening BB send ads to my DVR .
Tivo would be better off offer different products at more price points and working to incorporate more types of web feeds and subscriptions, not that I’m crazy about them either.
Best Buy can bring up its level of sales personal knowledge, and customer service, Also offering services Wall Mart can’t giving consumers a good reason to go to them instead of Wall mart.
Better store displays and having tv set up porperaly so one can see the difference between them.  Having in store displays telling customers how the display tv are set up and that they will get better results by tweaking the settings, and making sure store personal know at least generally how to get into the menus.
  In other words, better customer service that will bring people in and bring them back.
Not what is essentially a gimmick and a way to sneak ,more advisements into the home , will in the long run drive them away…

Ken Lawson
http://kennethlawson.blogspot.com/



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