Is this who you want representing your brand?

Last week, Best Buy (BBY) launched an audacious online engagement experiment in allowing hundreds of employees to man their Twitter feed. “Twelpforce” aggregates rank and file employee contributions into a single Twitter account. However, unlike say a Sprint (S) or Comcast (CMCSA) who utilize communications and service professionals, the results have been hit or miss for Best Buy.

The primary Twelpforce issue seems to be continuity. Whereas Best Buy sees strength in numbers, I see value in relationships. With so many contributors coming and going under one name, Twelpforce has no individual personality… beyond ‘disjointed conversation’, the second and far greater, continuity issue. Twitter conveniently allows you to follow a thread via “in reply to” links. Which the Twelpforce feed lacks. Meaning, to track down an original question you may end up clicking through to a Best Buy employee’s Twitter account -  which is how I stumbled upon that gem above, posted within a few minutes of a #twelpforce comment. And then there’s the matter of pumping leaked products over existing inventory or promoting one brand over another (wonder how Dell fees about this?).

So while corporate Best Buy and the vast majority of participating Blue Shirts are good intentioned with their tweet cloud, I worry how this is going to play out. Thoughts?

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