Dell and Kryptonite: Who’s Road to Recovery was Tougher?

Saw a note from Jeremiah about Dell’s Ideastorm blog and finally checked it out.

The blog’s been around for a few months. It’s an interesting example of how brands can weave customers into the product development process through simple voting capabilities. It will be interesting to see over time the impact Ideastorm has on the Dell product line. Hopefully Dell has enough safeguards in place that its customers don’t create The Homer of computers.

Dell’s come a long way. Jeff Jarvis even made nice with Dell over drinks.

Dell’s full-circle story, experiencing both sides of social media, reminded me of Kryptonite. Donna Tocci personally dealt with the slings and arrows of bikers, bloggers and media after Engadget posted the bic pen video nearly three years ago.

Kryptonite’s Unbreakable Bonds blog also shows how much companies can learn from their mistakes.

So riddle me this. Which brand had a tougher road to recovery from their mistakes? In hindsight, who do you think is doing the best job moving past their infamous blogosphere communications crisis? Weigh in with the handy dandy poll below.

tags | public relations | PR | Dell | Kryptonite | social media

Comments

[Donna Tocci]

I'll be interested in the results of this poll for sure! :)

[Mike Keliher]

Without knowing too much about the specific struggles of either company's "road to recovery," I'm going with Kryptonite. Dell is such a huge company that has so much going on that, although they had some massive troubles, it was just a distraction. (I know that's a bit of an oversimplification, but run with me.)

Kryptonite, on the other hand, I hadn't even heard of until their lock was picked with a Bic. That's the first thing I think of when I hear Kryptonite; that's not at all the case with Dell. Of course, that's just my perspective. I've had several great Dell computers. Maybe someone who has been an avid fan of Kryptonite feels just as positively about that company.

[Jeremy Pepper]

There's always back stories, but Dell seems more pigheaded and Kryptonite took the right steps.

[RichardatDELL]

Hi Kevin

Wow. Good question and be interesting to see what your readers think, for sure.

By the way, you know about the Linux loaded on select desktops and laptops coming out of IdeaStorm? Feedback from Ideastorm is also why we re-offerred Windows XP as a choice to customers.

Did you see what went up on Ideastorm last evening? We posted two "Panel with a View" product design concepts for future generation XPS gaming desktops, and opened it to the global community to vote on their design preference. If any of your readers are interested, hope they'll drop by and provide feedback.

Ill wait for yours on the question you posed :-)

[John Cass]

I think its Dell, few companies are doing what Dell is doing with Blogs at the moment. It may have taken some time, but their monitoring and response system is something to model for the rest of the industry.

[Kevin Dugan]

Great input here from everyone. Thanks!

Richard - You're clearly benefitting from a smart approach. Congratulations and welcome!

[RichardatDELL]

I see we are leading the vote...Im not sure thats a good thing or not, but appreciated the feedback here and elsewhere. Kevin, thanks for the welcome...and congratulations, although we have lots of work to keep doing, I must say.

John, thanks for the vote of confidence....I think I owe you a reply and need to order that book.

Jeremy, I trust you meant "in the past" :-)

[Refurbished desktop computer]

A laptop is a big investment that you'll probably have to live with every day. If it comes down to choosing between a design you love and a minor difference in specs, I'd point out that nearly all mainstream laptops are powerful enough for everyday computing tasks, so go with a great design.