Name: Elliott Chun
Position: Communications Manager
Education: Visual Arts and Sociology, Western University; Public Relations, Humber College
Professional role model: Richard Branson. He’s a tremendous leader, showman and will one day take us up to space.
Favourite Best Buy purchase: My Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. I never leave home without it and would certainly be lost without it.
In 140 characters or less, what is your favourite part of your job?
Working with an extremely talented group of people, publicizing everything Best Buy, including our vendors, community work and services.
What are your daily responsibilities as a Communications Manager?
I’m constantly discovering creative ways with my teams to promote and story-tell the fantastic things Best Buy is achieving in Canada. I also protect our brand and build campaigns to engage media and customers while identifying and building a community of advocates.
What are the perks of working at Best Buy?
There are too many to list! First off, the biggest perk is working with incredible people. I genuinely enjoy working regularly with a talented group of people. This includes the gifted team at our head offices in Burnaby, our stores, agency and vendor partners and our senior leadership teams. Secondly, as a guy who naturally loves tech and uses it to simplify and enhance my life, the staff discount comes in handy. Additionally, when I’m at the head office, I always appreciate having access to the subsidized, modern gym, as well as the B.C. trails, which are liberating when heading out on an after-work run. Lastly, the food services in our common areas at the head office and regional offices are a nice perk too.
How did agency life prepare you to work client-side at Best Buy?
It gave me a wide array of skill sets to prepare for an in-house role. Instead of working on several clients at a time, all with varying communications needs, I’ve channeled that to service my internal clients and vendor partners to help reach our marketing communications objectives. Beginning my career at PR agencies also brought me the benefit of understanding the nuances of agency life, which helps me manage expectations, account management and deliverables on both sides of the house.
In addition to your full-time job at Best Buy, you’re also a tech expert for CTV. How do you juggle both jobs?
It’s a really fun group at CTV, especially the Vancouver team. I’m very fortunate the station allows me to express my passion for technology with their viewers, be it on CTV Morning Live Vancouver or via satellite with another city newsroom. It does take time to prepare for product-themed segments and interviews outside the ‘nine to five’ – weekends included – but for me, the time that goes into it doesn’t feel like work. I see the segments as a wonderful way to stay on top of the latest tech trends across many disciplines and a terrific outlet to share my expertise with others. I’m fortunate Best Buy supports my endeavours to be a strong voice for the brand. Even though I live in Toronto now, I sincerely appreciate the opportunities from CTV Morning Live Vancouver to continue segments on the show.
What have you learned about public relations since Future Shop closed?
There are passionate customers and staff that loved the Future Shop brand. It was major news to deliver, but it is fantastic seeing people embrace Best Buy and shift their trust and business with us in-store and online.
I know Canadians will love the in-store and online enhancements of Best Buy stores and BestBuy.ca as they see the $200M investment at work over the next two years. This includes amazing appliances displays and experiences in-store, working with our vendor partners to enhance product presentations, increasing staffing levels to better serve customers and invest in the online shopping experience, including expanding in-store pick-up areas and soon launching a ship-from-store program, making in-store inventory available to online customers across the country.
How do you think Canada’s retail industry will continue to evolve?
The adage ‘the customer is always right’ will continue to be the guiding principle for retailers. It’s important that we continue to listen to what customers want, how they prefer to shop, exceed expectations by delivering a ‘home run’ experience each time – be it an online, mobile or the in-store. Best Buy will be become more experiential. You’re starting to see that through our store-within-a-store concepts, such as our Microsoft Windows stores, Samsung, Apple and Beats. These areas are a fantastic experience to walk through and try the latest by these manufacturers and are even staffed by their own people.
Looking ahead, mobile devices will become even more prevalent in the shopping experience. Our reserve and pick-up offering has [had] a tremendous uptick since inception. This is where customers can not only reserve items through their phone, tablet or computer and have it ready for pickup within 20 minutes at the Best Buy store of their choice. Mobile device integration with the in-store experience will continue to grow and make the shopping experience more convenient and accessible. Best Buy is pleased to be the Canadian retail leader in the multi-channel world of retail.
