• by Catharine P. Taylor , September 9, 2008

Vice President, Communities and Conversations, Dell

As consumers have embraced social media, so has Dell. Bob Pearson doesn't have a traditional media background, unless you count sparring with the media. A former corporate communications executive at Dell, Pearson built a team from disciplines such as marketing, customer service and technical support. The result is a 40-plus person unit that can listen to and respond to customers. Pearson says success comes when "you are very customer-focused, and you understand how to have conversations that actually matter." Of course, what prompted Dell's development of a dedicated social media team was "Dell Hell," the 2005 series of postings by buzzmachine.com's Jeff Jarvis about his lousy Dell laptop and Dell's lousier service. But under Pearson's leadership, the company is now socially savvy, hosting blogs, a video channel and forums in addition to tracking what people are saying about Dell. And there's little doubt that as social media evolves, so will Pearson's approach. Sean McDonald, who reports to Pearson as director of communities and conversations, puts it this way: "He doesn't need a lot of validation and assessment and third-party sources to move forward."