As an avid IBM supporter I am the first person to tell you that Microsoft trounces IBM when it comes to marketing their products. This has bothered me for years. Every time I go to Lotusphere in Orlando, FL I see all the cool new products that IBM is releasing and then I hear absolutely nothing for an entire year until the next Lotusphere. IBM marketing just doesn’t seem to exist anywhere!
I have blogged about Lotus Foundations before (and will do another technical update in the future), but as I was hoping, hoping, hoping that IBM would rise to the occasion and scream to the world what an awesome product this is for every single small business on the face of this planet, I get this:
My IBM/Foundations rep sent me an email and ASKED me to send this to all my customers.
I am a geologist. My degree is in geology with a concentration in invertebrate paleontology. I am no marketing whiz, nor do I pretend to be one on TV. I have been in the computer field for over 10 years and certified in Lotus technologies for almost as long. I know nothing about marketing or viral videos. BUT, if this is the kind of stuff that the people with the degrees and the experience are putting out, it’s no wonder Microsoft trounces IBM.
Yah, I’m kind of upset. But more so I am upset about the response given by the company that created this trash for IBM. According to them, the video did exactly what it was supposed to do, which was make people talk…Must be nice to have a job where I can create a finished product that fails miserably and put a positive spin on it like that. They also claimed that the video went viral. I’m not sure 53,000 hits is viral in anyone’s book, but hey, we’re talking about marketing again here.
Please help me IBM. I love your products. Lotus Foundations is the perfect solution for any small company out there. Can you please give me something that helps me sell your product. Can you please create a marketing campaign that I can be proud of?
Author: Greg Gartland, PMP and Technology Consultant
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