02/17/2007 08:24:00 PM 
This week we got a couple of interesting leads:
Lost
Yahoo's UK PR agency contacted us to let us know that the producers of Lost were using Yahoo Answers to ask what people thought the "monster" was?
This question obviously struck a chord with Lost's passionate fans, as so far, they have gotten over 8,000 responses.
The nice part of the story is that in 11 days time, the show's producers will reveal the real identity of the monster.
It's a good way to engage the collective minds of the show's fan base and offer a compelling reward at the end.
Dell
Dell is clearly a brand in the midst of trying to re-discover its roots and soul; bringing back the founder to run the show and hiring top-flight marketers from Motorola, is a clear sign that they mean business. The company has always been about meeting consumer needs, customization and personalization. In many ways, it was "the people's PC company" (pre-People PC), doing what Volkswagen did for autos in Germany in the 30s , for computers in the US and beyond in the 90s.
It appears Dell have re-discovered this core idea fused it with some Web 2.0/Digg goodness to create Ideastorm.
It's a web environment where consumers suggest ideas that they would like Dell to implement, other users vote on them (Digg style) and the hopefully Dell does something with them.
On a page, that strangely appears to be sponsored by Windows Vista, Dell declares.
"Dell IdeaStorm launched on Friday, February 16. Dell employees are monitoring IdeaStorm to gauge which ideas are most important and most relevant to you. And we'll share those ideas throughout our organization to trigger new thoughts about how we evolve as a company.
As your ideas begin to pour in, we will use this page to provide updates on ideas that Dell is considering. We'll also show you how your ideas are being put into action at Dell over time. Please check back to see your ideas in action."
The top ideas today are:
1. A no software options- 1,800 votes
2. Stickers to show that you are part of Dell?s eco friendly plant a tree program- 615 votes
3. More RAM- 512 isn't enough- 598 votes
4. Organize the website by consumer need, not by product line-407 votes
It's a great development and one that could help elevate the Dell brand, we will check in a month of so, to see how this develops.
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