Because marketing IS a process of argumentation, I think this is a great article:

http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/10/24/microsofts-ad-vs-apples-three-move-set/

Aside from the point that Microsoft has taken way too long to respond to Apple’s ads implying that the PC (powered by Windows) is nerdy and uncool, I think the article does an excellent job of pointing out that Microsoft did not carefully consider what Apple’s counter-move will be.

Additionally, Microsoft responded by playing INTO Apple’s frame, instead of creating their own.

If nothing else, this is a great exercise for any marketer to engage in: If you were Marketing Director for Microsoft, how would you respond to Apple?

If you’re a basketball fan, this reminds me of the Dallas Mavericks of 2 years ago entering their first-round series with the Golden State Warriors. Dallas entered the series with the best record in basketball. Yet, for some reason their coach abandoned the winning formula proven by the regular season and instead changed his lineup and game approach to respond to the Warriors. In other words, he gave up his team’s position of strength and conceded to the strengths of the Warriors, the LESSOR team.

The result? One of the biggest first-round upsets ever by the Warriors, who looked like the better team throughout the series.

Or how about Coke abandoning their winning formula to compete with second-fiddle Pepsi?

Both moves, monumentally bonehead.

There are reasons most of the world still use a PC - me, for one, is because I don’t have to worry about software compatibility.

Now I know Mac users with counter with the fact that the Mac can now run Windows apps just fine . . . but I know I still get plenty of complaints from Mac users who can’t run a particular file or application.

My approach, if I were Microsoft would be to paint Mac as an oddball outcast. Alternative, hip and cool? Yeah, like the radical goth kid with the spiked blue hair and a chain running from his nose to the safety pin piercing his scalp. He might “think” he’s cool, but he just doesn’t fit in with the REAL WORLD of business.

Picture this radical kid sitting in a board meeting with a bunch of suits. The suits don’t take him seriously and throughout the meeting he has to keep saying “that won’t run on my Mac”.

Yes Microsoft, you’d be smarter to position the Mac as a cute (and expensive) toy that doesn’t have any place in the world of business. It doesn’t matter if that’s the complete truth or not . . .

Marketing is not an exercise in REALITY; marketing is an exercise in perception management. It really doesn’t matter if the Mac is a superior system or not. The Beta was clearly superior to the VHS - but Beta died because VHS was smart enough to open itself up to the mainstream. People went to VHS because it was simply more available - more compatible and therefore more “user friendly”.

What do you think? And more importantly, how do you take this lesson and apply it to your own business?

X

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 9:46 am and is filed under Marketing Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.