Proffering pre-loaded Acer Ferrari laptops loaded up with RAM and Microsoft Vista to bloggers is a great idea — I’ve said so — but the Edelman, AMD, Microsoft joint should have gone one step further; namely, Edelman PR should have sent out a traditional press release to announce the campaign strategy.
Here’s the copy I might have recommended:
“Edelman, on behalf of Microsoft and AMD, will be providing AMD desktops and laptops pre-loaded with Microsoft Vista to a broad cross-section of bloggers for their review. We will be recommending that the recipients of the Vista laptops should disclose the fact in their reviews, although the culture of the Internet and the blogosphere does not take kindly to being told what to do. Edelman, Microsoft, and AMD will not expect, demand, or require positive reviews from any of the recipients. We’re just hoping for the best and just want our new software to be seen in the best light possible. We’re Edelman, AMD, and Microsoft and $3,000 isn’t a lot of money at all for us. We’re just trying to reach out and try something new. We have offered all of the recipients an opportunity to be listed as recipients, although we do not require it.”
This release doesn’t have to be limited to PR Newswire. It could be announced by AMD, Microsoft, and Edelman’s Steve Rubel, or Richard Edelman’s 6AM. That would do two things: it would pre-announce something that the blogosphere fancies dodgy: stealth marketing.
The advantage is that you have two opportunities for client brand promotion: The proactive, transparent announcement of intent — for the benefit of the skeptics and critics alike — as well as the traditional marketing effort: getting uber-expensive laptops to bloggers to game reviews of an operating system that requires cutting edge hardware and a googolbyte of RAM.
When I worked for Caucus Systems, I learned from Lisa Kimball and Frank Burns that even in the time of Online Virtual Communities, it is essential to use all the tools available. PR agencies need to remember that New Media should not eschew old media. If it makes you feel web2.0, call it a mashup.
The promotion should have come in two waves. The first wave should have come with the introduction of the campaign’s intent; the second wave would have been the blogger outreach campaign itself.
The only error that Edelman, Microsoft, and AMD made was that they forgot that the Internet and the blogosphere hates “the man” and there isn’t anything more obviously “the man” than a PR agency such as Edelman that has a very obvious conservative bent.
The mistake could have been remedied by assuming that the Tech Bloggers were secondary to their skeptics and critics.
Any agency that represents Wal-Mart, the 9/11 Commission Report, and the Iraq Report really can’t be “us” no matter how many blogger they hire and buy.
