CAG Comic #2: Best Buy Customer Centricity

It only been one short year since CAG Comic #1 was released. At this rate, we should have a series going by 2040.
Drawn by our very own WhipSmartBanky, #2 is based on Best Buy's Customer Centricity program and a related document that was leaked to CAG. If you are not already familiar with Best Buy's new strategy, I recommend first reading the article below before viewing the comic.

During the first CAGcast, I mentioned receiving a leaked Best Buy document, which dealt with their controversial Customer Centricity program. For those who have not already heard, the program is based on consultant and professor, Larry Selden’s “Angel Customer/Demon Customer” theories. Best Buy is attempting to easily identify who their Angel Customers (most profitable) are, and cease doing business with their Demons/Devils (least profitable). They have separated the Angels into 5 different groups and are currently building and converting stores (mostly in California) specifically tailored to serving their Fab 5.

The document, which was provided to Best Buy’s largest suppliers, discusses how important the Customer Centricity program is to Best Buy’s future and provides detailed information on the customers they will be focusing on. This is an attempt to better inform suppliers on products that will be more likely to appear in the newly focused Best Buy stores. The scary part is that it appears this document was sent to major video game publishers as well. Hopefully we won’t be seeing games published based upon Customer Centricity research.

Here are Best Buy’s target customers:

1) Barry is male with money to burn, age 30+ usually married with kids. He purchases pricier items, like fancy home theaters and wants personal service from a male salesperson

2) Buzz is male in his low 20’s to 20 years old, single or married without kids and spends most of his time and money on technology and entertainment.

There are three versions of Buzz:
Fun Buzz puts entertainment purchases first, plays with tech in-store, and looks forward to “New Release Tuesday”.
Status Buzz needs the latest and greatest gadgets so he can show off the latest gadgets to his friends.
Responsible Buzz is the most CAG-like of the bunch. He is in no rush and makes sure he is making the right purchase.

3) Ray is a married male low 30s to mid 50s who needs to convince Mrs. Ray (who is looking for family value) before purchasing.

4) Jill is an upper-middle class mom who typically doesn’t like the Best Buy experience; needs female personal shopping assistants who treat her with respect to help with digital photography, kitchen and laundry products.

5) Best Buy for Business is small business customers, many who work out of their home (like me!).
They are likely to react well to a personal business consultant salesperson and Best Buy’s technical support service, named Geek Squad.

It’s too early to tell if the millions Best Buy is spending on research and implementation of Customer Centricity will pay off. Will Best Buy be able to employ (and retain) the types of sales force needed for this ambitious plan? Will customers react favorably to being catered to, or will they prefer a more hands-off approach found at stores like Walmart and Target? The numbers from Best Buy’s test stores look promising, but I can’t help but feel that this might be the marketing equivalent of killing a fly with a hand grenade.

That was great, nice job guys.

I only shop at Best Buy when I want to use the GGC.

very nice - and appropriate to the struggle some of us have been having with BB lately... us demon customers that is.

[quote name='CheapyD']

4) Jill is an upper-middle class mom who typically doesn’t like the Best Buy experience; needs female personal shopping assistants who treat her with respect to help with digital photography, kitchen and laundry products.
[/QUOTE]




What a great stereotype.

Best Buy putting women in the kitchen and doing the wash... is this 1940?

I just noticed that the weapon the Best Buy employee is holding in frame 6 is a revolution controller, thats pretty darn funny

LOL. Very funny.

I'll just stay a devil customer.

[quote name='fatherofcaitlyn']I'll just stay a devil customer.[/QUOTE]

It's tough being a devil customer today, though. You've got more competition from increasing numbers of CAG bargain shoppers, and BB is offering less and less in the way of deals (as evidenced by the slim pickings at their recent sale).

Very funny strip. Good job.
Devils are here to stay. I will keep doing my devil ways as usual.

Nice! Great Job!

good stuff

[quote name='MaxBiaggi3']It's tough being a devil customer today, though. You've got more competition from increasing numbers of CAG bargain shoppers, and BB is offering less and less in the way of deals (as evidenced by the slim pickings at their recent sale). [/QUOTE]

You must keep faith in these troubled times.

1. Not every cashier knows a pricematch and a coupon aren't stackable.

2. The coming of the 360 shall unleash a tidal wave of cheap games because BB et all will put their hopes on Madden 06 360, Perfect Dark Zero and dozens of average titles.

3. Stupid people breed faster than smart people.

[quote name='Roufuss']


What a great stereotype.

Best Buy putting women in the kitchen and doing the wash... is this 1940?[/QUOTE]

Not to mention it's the ONLY category for women that is presented by the market research! :shock:

[quote name='mykevermin']Not to mention it's the ONLY category for women that is presented by the market research! :shock:[/QUOTE] There is kind of a Mrs. Ray segment too. She is the wet blanket that makes you get the 32" TV instead of the 42".

it was very entertaining. thanks!

stereotypes make me sad and are the reason I don't go to Best Buy.

Great stuff gents!!! Worst Buy is probably pissed about this one. Oh well F'em.

I been trying to stay away from Worst Buy for the past two months, but had to go this week when they had a sale of $9.99 DVD's. Oddly enough, it seems like most of them will be showing up on Cinemax in the next few weeks/months if you watch that channel often.

Ever since Circuit City moved into relatively the same area I've been going there instead.

I'm sure BB loves me, I've spent thousand of dollars there over the years (although much less since I found out about CAG.com).

[quote name='CheapyD']There is kind of a Mrs. Ray segment too. She is the wet blanket that makes you get the 32" TV instead of the 42".[/QUOTE]

Well, yes, I did see that. However, the customer identification focused on the man; "Mrs. Ray" was treated more like an appendage than a person (not to mention her role was not to make any purchases, but to restrict Ray from superfluous spending).

So, with women, it's evidently Oreck vacuums, washing machines, or nothin' at all.

Quite funny... but I think 'Devil Employees' is far more appropraite from what I saw in this most recent BB sale locally... minimal $5 games to be had, thanks to the employees.. heck, some employees were even po'ed because 'smarter' (heh) customers hid copies of Paper Mario 2 around the store... the computer says there are copies left... yes, sitting in the PC section behind some poker game no one will buy, and right behind that copy of High Fidelity that they'll never lift up.

I didn't think it was funny the first time I read it, but after reading Cheapy's explanation of the whole BB document, I think it's hysterical. I love how the presumable Angle customer get together and form Deviltron. I like getting stuff for free, so apparently, that makes me satanic in BB's eyes.

Once again, another great CAG comic from WSB.

And their classifications of their Angel customers just makes me want to them over every single chance I get, since they're so clueless that a good bunch of the Devil Customers are:

1) Very Internet savvy.
2) Price driven more than store brand driven.
3) Repeat customers when treated well in the store.
4) Frustrated with the lack of talent in most retails stores (not meant as a rip on retail as a whole, though there's just too many damn useless ones otu there).
5) Repeat customers who will make multiple purchases when given a reason to do so.
6) Provides feedback to others about their experience, much more vocally when bad.

The first comic's alternate ending is still the best. CheapyD owns the best buy guy and destroys his brains with brute force.

Barry and Jill describe my parents to a tee. And they are always very confused and give me strange looks when I talk about my hate of Best Buy.

On a side note, I wonder how the horrible BB over here will fare after our new Circuit City opens across the street.

[quote name='the3rdkey']The first comic's alternate ending is still the best. CheapyD owns the best buy guy and destroys his brains with brute force.[/QUOTE]That's pretty classic, but I dunno...panel 5 of this comic really seals the deal for me:

"And I'll form...the head!"

Thanks for all the great comments, guys!

Awesome. I have only been to best buy once since my BB experince. and my 2nd to last BB trip. and that was to get the national treasure dvd.

It's good, but not appropriate for some kids here.

[quote name='Fireshooter']It's good, but not appropriate for some kids here.[/QUOTE]

I think the kids here, who I would say the youngest regular poster is 12. Are just fine I dare to say most have here haved played GTA and have heard worst terms from tv, music and, everyday life sometihng called the parental guardians probaly have heard worse from them, and friends at school.

Unfortunately, I totally see this as a trend that most stores will begin to follow. Making it harder and harder to find decent deals.

I wonder how many percent of the average shoppers are considered "demons/devils?"

Great comic, guys!

[quote name='AngellicLulu']stereotypes make me sad and are the reason I don't go to Best Buy.[/QUOTE]

Hey, who let you on the internet?

I'm sure there is wash to be done or sandwiches to make

I also love how all the men want "male employees to help them make decisions". Um, no, I'd rather take a hot chick selling me a television then some geeky looking douche anytime.

Great comic! Very funny. I want to use Barry as my avatar

Best Buy's simlistic characterization of people will probably work, sadly. Too many shoppers are uninformed and don't care about spending too much money.

[quote name='nogard']I wonder how many percent of the average shoppers are considered "demons/devils?"[/QUOTE]

It all depends on where you live. The closest BB to me would be at least 75% demons. Some by choice others not. About 20 miles away is another BB I would say about...... 80% angels there. High income neighborhood, million dollar homes, BB is one of the few electronics stores in the area.


Great comic btw. I loved it. As soon as this Idea is implimented I am getting some of my family to go into BB wearing Buzz, Ray, and Jill nametags just to see how we are treated.

[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']That's pretty classic, but I dunno...panel 5 of this comic really seals the deal for me:

"And I'll form...the head!"

Thanks for all the great comments, guys![/QUOTE]


That was a great addition... especially since it was the Small Business Owner... heh...

When you think of all the money and hours they probably wasted on focus groups, discussions, hiring MBAs, etc., to put together that business strat, it makes me just laugh.

very nice work cheapy and banky

remember, the best way to best buy is to get a job there and cost them sales, its something ive been toying with. granted it would only be a few days before i would get canned, but damn if it wouldnt be fun to take out the enemy from inside.

^^

Nice artwork WSB!

Nothing will top last years though.

In my best Jack voice:

Best Buy WANTs Devil Customers in their stores... they NEED Devil Customers in their store...

As much as they may posture with this crap, 'Devil Customers' provide a service for BB.. that is, they actually are customers who will buy games at BB because BB makes them cheaper than other places...

The problem I see with BB's proposed target market for video games in particular is that this target market, by and large, is the same market that will continually be alienated by speculated advances in gaming and gaming technology, etc... Many already believe that the new systems such as Xbox 360 and PS3 and beyond will be too specialized/mature and standardized for casual gamers anyway...

It would seem to me, then, that Nintendo may be the best friend/beneficiary BB could have if the Revolution *simpler* approach works out... it fits exactly what BB would like with their model... simple games and gaming for for their type of gamers, still cutting edge technology with cutting edge technology price tags...

I.e., for the 'types' and video gaming:

1) Barry is male with money to burn, age 30+ usually married with kids. He purchases pricier items, like fancy home theaters and wants personal service from a male salesperson

E.g., 'Barry' is a joy to have at a poker table. Barry will probably buy a system like PS3 for a Madden game or two for himself, but likely will not play the system because he can't hack the AI on Rookie... Barry wishes he still had his NES system... Prime Revolution target candidate... and will continually be phased out of the gaming arena as Barry's responsibilites grow in the short term unless he's made to feel accepted... will become 'Ray' eventually, which leads to another interesting conclusion...

2) There are three versions of Buzz:

E.g., 'Buzz' is the closest thing to a hardcore gamer on this list, and with every passing year, will become more internet savy and more CAG-like (those kids, they are bright). Buzz will likely wait for certain games to go GH/PC unless it is in the genre Buzz selects as a must play. Buzz probably will be just as likely to buy games where they are the cheapest.

3) Ray is a married male low 30s to mid 50s who needs to convince Mrs. Ray (who is looking for family value) before purchasing.

E.g., 'Ray' probably has the last video game system he'll ever own... However, Ray may have children who will want video game systems. Ray will want his kids to have the best system (for him to toy around with) if Ray was a former gamer, and Mrs. Ray will want a 'family friendly' system as in following the stereotype above... again, Ideal Nintendo Revolution market.

4) Jill is an upper-middle class mom who typically doesn’t like the Best Buy experience; needs female personal shopping assistants who treat her with respect to help with digital photography, kitchen and laundry products.

Jill probably will buy any game on her kids' X-Mas list so long as it has a cartoon character on the cover and is lacking violence... Seems most inclinded to buy a Revolution when she asks a clerk which would be 'safest' for her kids..

5) Best Buy for Business is small business customers, many who work out of their home (like me!).

E.g., probably a non-issue unless they own a restaurant with a tv screen and video game controller at every table, e.g., similar to ESPN zone at WDW in Fla...

Pretty funny stuff, although I'd have liked them to say "Shaq-fu it, let's go to Target" although... I have no idea what other sites you're posting this on, and they may not get shaq-fu. As for using Target instead of Walmart, well I think Walmart is even worse than Best Buy, at least Best Buy is upfront about their agenda.

[quote name='Zenithian Legend']Pretty funny stuff, although I'd have liked them to say "Shaq-fu it, let's go to Target" although... I have no idea what other sites you're posting this on, and they may not get shaq-fu. As for using Target instead of Walmart, well I think Walmart is even worse than Best Buy, at least Best Buy is upfront about their agenda.[/QUOTE]
i dont think walmart has any hidden adgenda.

Very nice comic, guys. props to you!
I read the thing about devil customers when it leaked, and almost decided to boycott them, as it is so biased against its customers its disgusting. I decided, continuing to be a devil customer, will continue to cut into there dollars, as long as I only go when its a loss leader or anything CAG worthy........
for what its worth, I bought my big screen tv from Circity, very pleasant experience. Best buy sux. com, scared me so bad about a possible purchase of one at BB, The most expensive thing I get there is a dvd box set (on new release tuesday, no doubt, looking forward to 'em)
love the robots.......very battle of the planets.

actually walmart does have an agenda : total global domination......muhah MUHAH HUHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
didnt you see the south park episode? totally right on the money.......go on without me, must by screwdriver set, it dropped in price since last time, go on without me , i cant make it!!!

i dont watch southpark, nor would i get my information from an animated show (on comedy central no less) wal mart is a giant multinational corporation, they offer lower prices than most stores because they have more pull than a smaller chain, local grocery store, ect.

im not defending walmart, they are a very bad company, but they are pretty up front about their anti-union, sexist policies.

[quote name='punqsux']i dont watch southpark, nor would i get my information from an animated show (on comedy central no less) wal mart is a giant multinational corporation, they offer lower prices than most stores because they have more pull than a smaller chain, local grocery store, ect.

im not defending walmart, they are a very bad company, but they are pretty up front about their anti-union, sexist policies.[/QUOTE]

upfront about their anti-union, sexist policies? nnnnnnoooooooo......get out.
south park is not for information, but a darn good parody of the store, I think.

Damn, now I can't get that Voltron theme music out of my head. (Great comic by the way)

awesome comic, I love it!

Thanks for bringin' the ha-has WSB.

[quote name='fitzcain']upfront about their anti-union, sexist policies? nnnnnnoooooooo......get out.
south park is not for information, but a darn good parody of the store, I think.[/QUOTE]
i dont mean upfront as in advertising them in their stores, but they make you agree to not form or join a union when working there (that seems upfront) and i assumed it was common knowledge that they just promote mostly men, and just pay off any discrimination lawsuits they get about not promoting equally if not more apt women

must just be me though