Intel wanted to enhance its partner marketing strategy with Dell and drive sales in Singapore, where there is a low e-commerce penetration. Since Dell relies heavily on e-commerce and the market was so cluttered and price sensitive, both Intel and Dell needed to find a way to stand out as revolutionizing the online model. The objective was to find an online technique that would drive sales for Intel partners across markets and show Intel and Dell to be innovators in the retail space.
The target audience was wary of buying computers online because there was a perception that you could negotiate a better deal in a retail store. A surprising consumer trend was uncovered in China where social networks were being used to crowdsource other potential purchasers of big ticket products. People would organize a date, time and retailer venue and meet and negotiate with sales people for a volume deal. Intel wanted to replicate this.
The solution was to gather together a 'swarm' of Dell consumers and create perceived benefit for them while jointly purchasing Intel-based systems. The idea was simple, the more the buyers, the lower is the price! The Swarm deal was pubilicised throughout social media - on a microsite with live Twitter feeds, email, mobile, Facebook and on key blogs. Consumers could "follow" products they were interested in buying and a live counter appeared on the site showing live buyers and the price that Dell could offer for that number of people. Those who were in two minds could nominate a price when they would join a Swarm and receive a reminder when the price had hit that level.
As a result all of the PCs were sold out within three weeks even though it was a week before the PC fair - a time when users hold out in anticipation of good deals. There was a 15% rise in pre-qualified leads with 80% opting for further communication. A second swarm with improved features in Canada eclipsed the total Singapore sales within the first week.