Rural England Natural Gardening Company Worms Its Way to Global Dell Small Business Excellence Award
-- Innovative Use of Social Media Earns Wiggly Wigglers Global Acclaim from Dell, ICSB and Endeavor
-- Podcasts, Wiki, Facebook Helps Grow Global Customer Base to 90,000, Reduce Advertising Budget by 80 Percent
-- Online Customer Communications Among Top Issues Driving SMB IT Investments
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Innovation and leadership in social media earned Wiggly Wigglers, a rural England-based natural gardening mail-order company, the 2008 Global Dell Small Business Excellence Award. The announcement and $50,000 technology award were made today at a press conference in New York.
The News:
-- Innovation and leadership in social media earned Wiggly
Wigglers, a rural England-based natural gardening mail-order
company, the 2008 Global Dell Small Business Excellence Award.
The announcement and $50,000 technology award were made today
at a press conference in New York.
-- Epitomized by Wiggly Wigglers, Dell and the International
Council for Small Business (ICSB) also released today global
research showing the No. 1 reason small businesses worldwide
invest in technology is to better serve their customers.
Additionally, two of the top 10 issues driving their IT
investments are enabling online communications and building
tools for community and conversations with customers.
-- By using social media to connect with current customers and
reach new ones, Wiggly Wigglers:
-- Serves 90,000 customers worldwide and delivers its
products across Europe;
-- Cut its advertising budget by 80 percent when the company
turned to social media over traditional advertising;
-- Facebook fans currently stand at 898, with over 170
discussion topics;
-- Hosted a total of 50 weekly podcasts from the "Wiggly
sofa" reaching thousands of listeners per week, and San
Francisco Chronicle readers rated it their "favorite
gardening podcast;" and
-- Built its catalogue based on Wiki ideas generated on its
Facebook page by experts and customers.
-- While use of social media is increasing, research shows that
businesses have a long way to go to fully leverage it to
better serve customers and grow.
-- According to AMI research(1), 5 to 6 percent of SMBs are using
social media.
-- A study from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for
Marketing Research says 39 percent of the Inc. 500 are
blogging, compared to just 11.6 percent of Fortune 500
companies.
-- IDC reports 10 percent of SMBs are on Facebook.(2)
-- Running for five years in the United States, in partnership
with the National Federation of Independent Business, and in
its first year as an international program, the Dell award
solicits and recognizes small businesses for their innovative
use of technology to improve their customers' experience.
Chosen from 12 national winners from Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain,
United Kingdom and the United States, Wiggly Wigglers will
receive $50,000 in Dell technology and services, a lifetime
membership to the ICSB, and engagement with Endeavor's network
of business leaders and high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging
countries worldwide.
-- Among the global award contenders, the U.S. 2008 Dell/NFIB
Small Business Excellence Award winner is Steve Mattie,
founder and president of Transport Designs, Inc., a
manufacturer of highly customized enclosed trailers and truck
conversion motor homes in Montoursville, Pa.
-- If you own a business with fewer than 100 employees and are
interested becoming the next Wiggly Wigglers, visit
www.dell.com/ceaward. 2009 applications open February 2, 2009.
You can also visit www.facebook.com/dellsocialmedia for
practical guides to putting social media to work in your
company.
Quotes:
-- "Small businesses need to realize there are online
conversations happening about their brand every day, and they
are more likely to be positive and have impact if you're part
of them," said Wiggly Wigglers founder Heather Gorringe.
"Social media can be time consuming but it is really valuable,
has better longevity than traditional media, and it is a lot
of fun. We are thrilled to receive this award and can't wait
to start blogging and podcasting with our customers all over
the world to let them know."
-- "The fact that Wiggly Wigglers is growing while cutting their
operating expenses so dramatically because of their use of
technology is very impressive and a key reason they earned
this recognition," said Dave Marmonti, President of Dell
Europe, Middle East and Africa. "With the economy top of mind
for so many customers, I hope small businesses everywhere can
learn from what they are doing and implement similar
strategies in their companies."
-- "The world has always depended on the innovations and
inspiration of entrepreneurs to cure diseases, address
challenges and most importantly jumpstart economies," said
Elmira Bayrasli, director of corporate partnerships for
Endeavor. "Economies depend on high-growth, high-impact
entrepreneurs. Endeavor is proud to support Dell's Small
Business Excellence Award which encourages and inspires
entrepreneurs to think and dream big."
Additional Information:
Dell Social Media for Small Business
www.direct2dell.com/simplifyandsave
Wiggly Wigglers YouTube Video
Michael Dell talking with 2008 national award winners on the economy
About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value.
(1) AMI-Partners, AMI SMB Perspective: Dell Launches a New Social Media On-ramp for Small Businesses, Laurie McCabe, September 24, 2008.
(2) IDC, IDC Small and Medium-Sized Business Market Update: September 2008 (Doc # 214711), Justin Jaffe and Raymond Boggs, October, 2008.
Source: Dell Inc.
Released November 6, 2008