EMC is among the corporate leaders in social media, recently listed as the 16th most “social media savvy” corporation in the US (Microsoft came in at #1). They rose to fame initially through the personal visibility of Dan Schwabel “Personal Branding Expert, Bestselling Author, Speaker, Consultant, Columnist, Publisher and Blogger” who says on his site:
EMC had no idea what I had been doing outside of work, and I didn’t feel that they needed to because I considered it a hobby. EMC public relations had caught wind of the article after receiving a Google Alert notice and sent it directly to a Vice President who was starting a team to manage EMC’s social media program. I received an email the next morning from the VP, and we met. I then met with the head of Public Relations and was ready to interview with him, and I even brought a press kit. I created the first ever social media position at EMC, and at a Fortune 500 company, without ever applying. Instead of pledging to the company like a fraternity, they were coming after me for my talent, thus I was able to make money doing what I loved. I knew at this time that I was onto something big!
In fact Schwabel resigned from EMC in January 2010 to pursue his own fame. Len Devanna is Director of Social Strategy at EMC and recently listed a range of the company’s communities. The EMC communities are all under the umbrella of the EMC Community Network which has nearly 100,000 members, and include:
- Developers Network;
- EMC Labs;
- Connect Community, for user groups; and,
- EMC Partner Community.
Nothing unusual for an IT firm to have these communities, but @EMCcorp is very active and also these are only one part of a wider EMC social media strategy (see Len’s 2-Year Retro, and below).
See the EMC YouTube channel and also for example one of their active and very public technologists
Stuart Miniman @stu and Polly Pearson, VP Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement on Slideshare.
You’ll find a good list of EMCers at Listorious.
What Can Social Media Be For EMC?
IN 2008, Jamie Pappas, Manager, Social Media Strategy @ EMC, wrote:
- Platform for collaboration, communication, and culture
- Employee collaboration on a global scale
- Improved productivity and communication between Geo’s and BU’s
- Influencer of purchasing decisions in all markets
- User generated content is most trusted source of information for purchasing
- Think support forums, discussion forums, recommendations, ratings
- Early warning system for negative and positive opportunities
- Who’s saying what about EMC and how do we join the conversation?
- Barrier to entry from competitive threats
- Converts customers to loyal recommenders of EMC products
- Demonstration of EMC brand in action
- EMC Thought Leadership demonstrated
- EMC bloggers
Benefits realized:
- Stronger connections and awareness of expertise among employees
- Virtualization of employee skills and knowledge
- Empower employees to contribute and innovate
- Knowledge retention and re-use – A corporate memory
- Ability to dynamically create and sustain productive, virtual teams
- Increased employee satisfaction
- Reduced employee support costs – employees support each other
- Coordinated planning and execution against strategic initiatives