There’s quite some buzz in the blogosphere about the Ferrari laptops Microsoft ‘gave away’ in the US. As much as I understand the negative spiral that has been growing around this subject, I’d like to take a step back and overlook this entire issue, both from a marketeer’s and from a blogger’s point of view.
The (very pricy) laptops have been sent around as a promotional tool to have ‘influentials’ try it out and give their feedback. As a marketeer I think you need to realize that feedback can be good or bad. That said, bloggers who think they will be blacklisted for pointing out flaws or things that disturb them are not fully aware of what ‘reviewing a product’ means. I’ve read that some bloggers call it ‘bribery’, but I disagree on that. The original note that has been sent out together with the laptops said:
“you are welcome to send the machine back to us after you are done playing with it, or you can give it away to your community, or you can hold onto it for as long as you’d like.”
(as read on Marshall Kirkpatrick’s blog)
From a marketeer’s point of view, I think this message needed to be much more specific, because the last sentence states “…or you can hold on to it for as long as you’d like”. That leaves the door open too much for misinterpretation, and that’s exactly what happened here. Obviously Microsoft will not send out free stuff that’s worth so much, just in order to get good reviews. The reason why they chose to send out the fully installed laptops is because they’d have more control about the hardware setup and programs that have been installed, assuring the optimal conditions for the product (Vista) to be tested.
What the US marketeers should have done was describe more clearly what the purpose of the action was, and what they expected from the participants. And most importantly: what needed to be done with the laptop after the reviewing phase.
It’s all about communication. Clear and straight communication. That’s the key issue.
As a marketing blogger of an averagely popular blog, I’ve been offered quite some swag to write editorials about. I can say in all honesty that I’ve never really written anything that I didn’t want to write, I’ve never been positive about something that I didn’t like. I was just happy to toy around with the service I’ve been given access to and I wrote what I thought. Any blogger that feels ‘ambushed’ or ‘forced’ to write positive reviews just because he thinks that’s expected should seriously reconsider his main reason for blogging. If you have doubts, why not ask for clarification? Why not inform yourself? And above all, disclose the fact that you got the stuff for free to try it out. Always disclose.
The reason why I follow these conversations about those laptops is because I’m working on a similar project. I’ve learned important lessons from the approach the marketeers followed and I know now even better how I would start my project, guide it and follow up on it.
I know that Microsoft, through those marketeers, had nothing but good intentions when they decided to hand out the laptops. There’s no hidden agenda behind it. It’s just a token of goodwill and nothing more. If they would have handed out boxed Vista OS CDs, the environment in which the Vistas would be installed would not be as optimal for all participants. Not everyone has the same configuration, and not everyone would be happy to install a new OS on their own machine. All Microsoft wanted to do was provide an experience that would cause a ‘wow’ feeling that would make people enthusiastic about the product. I don’t see much harm in that, and that’s why I think this entire buzz is a little over-exaggerated. That’s my humble opinion.
