I came across this article on Venturebeat today. I haven’t been following Tesla (the company that is promising a “cool” electric car) closely, but I wasn’t surprised to read that the CEO has been making some misleading statements.
Leaders need be optimistic in order to motivate their people. This is especially true in times of hardship when their organization isn’t doing so well. I have yet to meet a CEO of a public company that doesn’t believe wholeheartedly in the promise of their company. At least that’s the image they’re selling.
I imagine it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and take a step too far. Suddenly the land of rainbows and butterflies looks more like a desolate landscape of malice or stupidity. It’s a tough line to walk, but no one ever said being a CEO is easy.
Banksy the infamous street artist recently released the much anticipated film, “Exit Through the Gift Shop“.
WARNING: the rest of this post is a spoiler. If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know the ending stop reading. Read the full post »
I had forgotten about this post idea, but a recent visit to the Windows Store reawakened my frustration. Microsoft opened it’s Windows retail store in Scottsdale Fashion Square, an upscale mall in an affluent community. I went to check it out the first week it was open and I’ve been back only twice since. I never bought anything.
Microsoft had an opportunity to reach out to its customers in the home/family computing market with this dedicated store concept. They have complete control and can frame their product in any way they want. Unfortunately, they wasted their chance and have set themselves up to be number 2 in this market. Perhaps their misstep was by a lack of creativity. Maybe it was poorly conceived strategy. Whatever the cause, it’s bad marketing.
Windows is by far the leader in computer operating systems, but that dominance should not be taken for granted. When it comes to home computing Apple owns “easy to use”, “creative”, and “cool”. Windows on the other hand owns “the standard”, “gaming”, and “software”. Instead of emphasizing these qualities, Microsoft has decided to duplicate the Apple store model and compete for positioning Apple already owns. This strategy is not unheard of and has been quite successful in the past. Apple though tiny compared to Microsoft is high profile. Consumers have already made up their minds and Apple got to the “easy to use”, “creative”, “fun” space first. No amount of marketing spend is going to dislodge Apple from its earned territory unless, of course, Apple screws up big– unlikely.
Microsoft should have built its store to cement its strengths in the minds of the consumer or to go after the qualities that are still up for grabs. For example “value” is a ripe battleground and is the type of perception that can seriously effect all but Mac’s super fan customers.
I don’t think that Apple is going to overtake Windows computers in the consumer market overnight, but if this strategy continues, the brand confusion will only hurt Microsoft.
I recently experienced my first meeting in Second Life, a virtual world where people interact with each other through avatars. Instead of a conference call, my associate suggested we meet in Second Life face to face. I’ve always been a proponent of meeting in person. It’s a more honest interaction, so I said, “sure, why not”. Read the full post »
