Businesses Helping with the DTV Transition

With DTV Transition day right around the corner, retailers are changing their strategies to help people understand what they need to do to be DTV compliant.  One such retailer is Best Buy.  In the last month or so they have put up a website to help their customers (and other interested parties) better understand the DTV Transition. 

  

At the Ask A Blueshirt site, visitors can read the latest blog posts, search frequently asked questions and even submit questions they may still have about the transition.  There is even a boot camp link that talks about the in-store workshops that were held at Best Buy stores around the United States earlier this week.  I'm hoping these are not the only workshops Best Buy plans to have as I see the some of the smaller cities, such as Fargo, were missed the first time around.    

Another interesting feature Best Buy has incorporated into this site is the Play 80's and 90's TV Trivia application for Facebook.  Users get to test their knowledge of classic television trivia while learning about the DTV Transition.  In between questions, a blue-shirted Best Buy employee  gives the player useful tips and suggestions to help them make the DTV Transition.  I found the game to be quite entertaining, although I do have to admit, I didn't do as well as I thought I would considering the amount of TV I watched in the 80's and 90's.  If you would like to play 80's and 90's TV trivia yourself and you are already a Facebook user, click on the image to the right to load the application.   

I think Best Buy has really tried to target a large group of consumers with this marketing plan.  They have the website available for people who are just looking for information.  They have the in-store workshops that target the not-so-computer-savvy crowd and they have the Facebook application, which appeals to the younger college generation consumers. 

This marketing plan also shows how Best Buy has been able to use convergence to target these different audiences.  The DTV Transition is a television based concept, but by thinking outside the box, Best Buy was able to integrate that concept on the internet, in a Facebook application and into their stores.  I think this use of convergence will be useful in getting information out about the DTV Transition effectively.