Snarky blogs and software foul-ups
By Colin Campbell - Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - 0 Comments
It turns out, we weren’t the only ones who found Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment campaign…
It turns out, we weren’t the only ones who found Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment campaign a bit off. But it’s worth noting that Microsoft isn’t the only computer giant with PR problems these days. The normally can-do-no-wrong Apple committed its own marketing blunder recently with the launch of MobileMe (its program that lets users automatically synch email and other info between their iPhones and computers). Initial reviews weren’t great. It was deemed glitchy and flawed by some.
The results were bad enough that Apple apologized. According to some reports, Steve Jobs himself (in a conveniently leaked email) said it was “not up to Apple’s standards.” It’ll be interesting to see how Apple continues to handle this misstep. But by admitting its mistakes and vowing to fix them (as opposed to trying to convince the public that it’s wrong), it’s off to a pretty good start.
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Microsoft thinks you’re stupid
By Colin Campbell - Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 10:12 AM - 0 Comments
In an effort to prove to the world that its Vista operating system doesn’t…
In an effort to prove to the world that its Vista operating system doesn’t suck, Microsoft has a new marketing campaign called the Mojave Experiment.It goes like this: A focus group is filmed talking about their negative views of Vista. They are then asked to try a new system, called Mojave. They love it. Then they’re informed that Mojave is actually just Vista. Gotcha!
The ad ends with the kicker: “Now decide for yourself.” Ok then… We’ve decided it’s a horribly misguided gimmick in which Microsoft seems to be shifting blame for its bad PR problems over to their customers. The message: you’re stupid for not liking Vista and for trusting the reviews.
Really, the only thing to take away from this campaign is that the Vista name is mud and Microsoft needs to change it, fast. When you start attacking and insulting your own customers, it’s a sign of desperation.
