3328 - Pioneer
Dealer Portal
Cie Studios - Long Beach, CA
Pioneer Electronics’
car audio division asked Cie Studios
to develop a dealer portal to provide
its dealer-base with access to technical
information about Pioneer products.
Rather than build a standard technical
support site, Cie Studios proposed to
create a community for car-audio professionals.
This portal would not only help car-audio
professionals with technical information,
this portal would provide training and
business support services, and allow
car audio professionals to connect with
and learn from one another. The end
result was Pioneer Mel: Mobile Electronics
Live. Features - Mel
features a rich social networking platform
that allows Pioneer's dealers to create
profiles for themselves and their businesses.
The site allows dealers to show off
advanced car installations, rate each
other's profiles and leave comments
for one another. The site tracks user
activity and awards users with Mel Bucks
for participating in the community.
The Mel Bucks are used by Pioneer to
encourage specific activities on the
site, such as watching training videos.
Users are able to redeem their Mel Bucks
online for prizes like concert tickets,
clothing and watches. Mel has transformed
Pioneer's communication with its dealers.
Dealers are able to comment on any technical
information in Mel. This has allowed
Pioneer to leverage the collective knowledge
of its dealer base. Dealers regularly
identify technical problems and solutions
faster than Pioneer can do on its own.
Innovation – Microsoft is showcasing Mel in a case-study on how businesses can use social computing to improve communication, increase collaboration, and strengthen their relationships with their customers. Results
- The Mel system has dramatically increased
the speed at which Pioneer is able to
communicate with its dealers. By providing
business resources as well as technical
information, Mel has also positioned
Pioneer as a business partner with its
dealers.
