Microsoft's DroidRage Twitter campaign goes painfully wrong
zdnet.com
zdnet.com
Yesterday, some other tech news site declared something like Microsoft's "DroidRage" campaign EXPLODES in their face. In their article, they quote over a half dozen tweets.
So I go onto Twitter and do a search for DroidRage and this "explosion" is actually more like a dozen or two people having fun with Microsoft.
Anyway, after the publishing of yesterday's article and it's subsequent posting on TechMeme and the Twittersphere, #DroigRage replies explode with everyone trying to get their Seinfeld moment.
Look, I think Microsoft's campaign and that kind of marketing are awful. Ballmer and their marketing dept should be wiped clean. You're alienating loyalists of whatever product you're making fun of. But this is a total non-story. It's more of a meme and a chance to stick One More Thing on Microsoft. This is not newsworthy.
Worse, it shows a very bad mentality from the so-called 'passionate fan-base', which reeks of Microsoft's own situation on the desktop:
> True, Android malware is a real problem. True, Google needs to do more about blocking malware applications from ever reaching users in the first place via the Google Play Store. But, there's also a lot of Android malware FUD and Android now has over 75% of the smartphone market
This kind of proof-by-horde is a catastrophe. Being the leader in marketshare doesn't make you right, technology is not a democracy: if there's a security flaw in the code or in the process, the flaw is there regardless of the number of users. It reeks of a "good-enough" mentality (of the bad kind, not the "less-is-more" or "worse-is-better" kinds): the one that strings things together, declares "It works!" and goes up in arms when someone dares pointing out the cracks and flaws, especially compared to other (potential or existing) more robust platforms.
This does not make the MS campaign any less awkward, but compare Windows Phone blip on the Android radar to (on desk- and laptops) Linux blip on the Windows radar, and how the rampant malware situation of the Windows ecosystem used to be an argument in favor of Linux. Many of those 'passionate fans' are using the same argument in favor of their mobile platform that they loved to use agains their competitor platform (that, or the Android guys are not Linux guys but the same Windows guys that are so much used to hate Apple that they ran away from the iThings towards Android, and so use the same baseless arguments to justify their decision).
PS: This is solely an argument on the 'fan-base' and the article, not the various past and present capabilities of the platform themselves. If you were reading this comment and thought I was taking sides, reread it while keeping in mind I'm talking about people, not hard+software.
There has been several years of relatively vicious back and forth flaming between iOS fans and Android fans now. A lot of legitimate criticisms have been fired off by both sides, and both sides are very quick to respond with less legitimate but equally vitriolic response-fire. Even people who don't go in for that sort of thing probably cannot help but feel a little defensive about their choice at times.
If Microsoft wants to walk into the room and throw some mud (legitimate mud or otherwise, it doesn't particularly matter), they should expect everyone else in the room to already be pretty practiced throwing mud back. Nothing about this situation should have caught Microsoft by surprise.
Edit: Also, relative market-shares are probably an important thing to consider when your marketing campaign is calling upon people to bash the competition for you. Of course more people are going to respond negatively to this if you are a market-share minority. I am having a hard time imagining a reality where this could have worked out as planned.
Part of the problem is that unless we're close to a fully equipped test lab, most of us have to make a choice of device and stick with it; because phones especially are still effectively luxury items. That means most people who are most strident in their belief about the superiority of one brand or another, do not have experience with other products ( or at best, superficial experience ).
So, someone who is raging on about their favored brand is trying to justify their own choices and likely has no meaningful experience of the alternatives.
So for expert level trolling, ask them what they think of Palm, or Meego.
This is one of the largest tech companies in the US running a media campaign to attack one of the other largest public tech company's products. That alone makes it newsworthy. The fact it was such a lame attempt at a time it's crucial for Microsoft to have some marketing success in mobile also makes it newsworthy.
That it was picked up by niche press and turned into a viral wave doesn't negate that. I'm sure (a large) part of Microsoft's intent in this campaign was for it to turn viral and get picked up by media outlets. If it had gone according to their plan and turned into a tidal wave of complaining about Android, I expect they would have hoped for media coverage as part of that.
That said, I'm not sure this Microsoft campaign mocked anyone either. It didn't have any humor to it, and that's part of why it was such a lame effort. At least Apple's ads had a bit of self deprecation to them in how they depicted the Mac.
The Samsung ads however directly target the users as the thing to be lampooned. Rather ad hominem, and not all that appealing of a way to sway me over marketingwise.
Because building mobile operating systems people want to buy isn't exactly working for them.
I'm not sure why, but in all my exchanges with Microsoft supporters (employees or just fans) I felt a huge sense of entitlement and a rather bizarre perplexity about why they fail so completely on mobile and completely dominating the desktop.
Of course it is. Don't be ridiculous.
It helps everyone of us to actually check it before posting an ignorant comment.
When they stick to the basics, they usually manage to be half-decent, like for the Windows 8 campaign: safe, completely unremarkable, but at least it didn't blow further holes in the already-tarnished brand.
TL;DR: dear Microsoft, don't try to be hip.
Whatever the contractual situation, CPB is a train wreck for companies looking to be hip, and they've profited substantially from their image of being the hippest game in town. Ad associations keep giving them awards year after year.
And the Groupon ads were hilarious. Terrible ads, and they should have expected the horrible PR they received, but they were among my favorite Superbowl advertisements to actually watch. More advertisers should be willing to risk PR flack in the service of making something memorable – CP+B's ratio of wins to losses is enormous, which is why they keep landing huge clients.
As for the "accept their creative without input", yeah, advertisers love to find clients willing to give them free range, because clients are often very good at fucking up smart ideas. They don't insist on that contract, though: Groupon's blog mentions that they "gave them a shot at pitching us concepts, and they came up with an idea we couldn’t resist blowing millions of dollars on." [https://blog.groupon.com/cities/groupon-super-bowl-ads/]
I worked at Groupon when they did the Superbowl ads for us. Sorry, I'm reserving that right to knock them. I would put a smiley if I could get my head out of my hands right now.
I realize it was meant for internal use only, but good lord, somebody put a lot of work into this thing. It makes me so uncomfortable to watch, and to imagine the culture that might well have embraced this.
I've seen it happen and... it doesn't even need to be a culture, just a high-up exec who had a "genius idea", and showed it to his cat who purred, so he decided to run with it.
Now the culture around tends not to be fantastic, but you only need one person with a debatable sense of everything and high-enough up the chain that he can push stuff without any oversight (let alone undersight from those working under him)
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
I agree.
"You make a grown man cry... "
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk
I'll let you be the judge on 'hipness' here.
The problem with trying to look hip is that if you have to try in the first place, you're just not hip. This is a problem that seems to have to plagued Microsoft over and over throughout the years.
- Get hired by huge company
- Have dozens of creative ideas, present them each to the client
- Get rejected on all fronts
- Have dozens of watered-down ideas, present them each to the client
- They approve one of the ideas, but request X, Y and Z all be changed (most likely watered down)
- Create the idea, send over for approval - Hear nothing back
- Email contact dozens of times hoping for feedback
- Finally hear back with contact saying it's going up the chain of command for approval(most likely lost in the email black hole)
- Someone you've never heard of from the higher ups emails you and asks for a bunch of changes
- Make changes (once again, watering the concept down)
- Realize the ad has nothing unique or creative in it, send it back to client; they love it.
- Cry at desk
Uhm, no it's not. Apple has used Chiat/Day since the 80s.
All in all, the Windows 8 ads are IMO fresh, and definitely leaning more towards the younger adult hip side. And they're pulling it off pretty nicely.
This is my overall proposal for MS changing their ways wrt Surface: http://www.techdisruptive.com/2012/12/03/dear-microsoft-let-...
Internet Explorer karaoke wasn't bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD9FAOPBiDk
No! It's fun to watch them try!
That's wrong. Even before that specific incident, they did give out prizes to people who won, and there were multiple winners before and after. That particular incident might have been about one particular employee but certainly was not widespread. Guess which incident makes it into the news and onto HN front page?
But malware fearmongering is a bizarre tactic. For the vast vast vast majority of users, it's a hypothetical rather than an actual experience.
I hate that the WP product team, which has done a bang-up job, has to deal with incompetent marketing like this. Android has many, many unresolved and probably unresolvable problems. Buying a Nexus model solves most of these problems, but wow, what a goddamn mess Touchwiz and Sense based phones are. I had to wipe my wife's SGS2 and put CM9 on there just to stop a mystery battery drain that made her phone useless, even after many factory resets. Samsung blamed google and google blamed samsung and t-mobile blamed everyone but themselves. Way, way too many chefs here.
Apple and MS get it. You don't give carriers and OEM control over your mobile OS, because they will be poor stewards of it. Once my Nexus gets long in the tooth I might move to WP8. It looks pretty sharp.
Regarding WP, it's a fucking mess. I've had two handsets now and while it's a good product at the core, some of the decisions (such as isolated storage) are just shit. It's virtually impossible moving data around apps except using cut and paste or network access. Also, the network and connection management stuff is painful if you have to switch between 3.5G and WiFi. The battery life on my last handset (a Lumia 710) was abysmal even with no apps installed and everything cleaned out. Oh and long term support is just crap - look at the palava around the 7.8 upgrade.
My other half's Galaxy Ace is actually pretty crap as well TouchWiz is horrible, it's slow and the screen is crap. Everyone I know with a Galaxy S2/S3 is not satisfied with it.
I got given an iPhone 4S as well (which the proximity sensor had packed in on) which was horrible as well - iOS UI is so noisy, the handset is obviously suspect if the proximity sensor doesn't even work (didn't work properly from purchase date) and you can't even replace the battery.
All this pushed me back to grabbing a Nokia 6303 until I found out that the things are changing hands for £100GBP+ now from people who have given up on SmartPhones.
It's all gone batshit.
I just want a phone that works.
- MicroSD card - 3.5mm headphone jack - basic camera - basic video recorder - FM Radio
Perhaps an Orange Rio or Rio2 would do instead? ZTE with orange branding and Java based apps. Reasonable alpha keyboard and quite cheap in UK.
My next phone is going to be a Nexus, but the first generation of Galaxy S is the best phone I ever owned and it replaced my iPhone 3GS. Battery life lasts for 4 days of normal usage, after I installed an app from Google Play that disables data/wifi when in standby or at night, otherwise it lasts for 2 days.
I tried upgrading, but battery life is too important to me and the device is too under-powered for newer Android versions, not to mention that all Exynos devices, such as the Galaxy S family, have problems with custom ROMs like CyanogenMod because of a lack of source-code for drivers. Phones like Sony Xperia T are much, much better in this regard.
Also I discovered that even though Jelly Bean is completely awesome when it comes to UI and new features, it doesn't really do anything groundbreaking that my Gingerbread doesn't do. I do have 2 or 3 apps that have been bundled by Samsung, but I just ignore them. Considering that I got the phone for $20 on a reasonable contract, it was a steal anyway.
And can your Windows Phone or your iOS device block phone calls / sms messages? Can it save battery life by turning data on or off on schedule? Can it run Firefox? I thought so.
I suspect a campaign like this could have worked if Microsoft didn't have a giant pot/kettle problem.
Win8 was a great idea (same interface on all of my devices? Great!) but Microsoft has really dropped the ball. I'm glad someone did it, now who's going to do it right?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/09/17/161315765/mus...
Here's a social-media-tip: If you are the progenitor of an idea/product, people are automatically wary of self-promotional antics. If your self-promotional antics involve asking others to do your dirty work: i.e. bash the competition, your self-promotional antics will likely backfire on you. People generally don't like negative emotions when they're using social media...except in the Schadenfreude of watching things backfire, especially when the victim is a big corporation.
#[an]droidrage tweets, not so much.
Seriously maleware on Android? I install a lot of crappy apps and one abused notifications for promotions.
This coming from Microsoft is reality satire. Now they call their phone "windows" and the tag you should use is "droidrage". It never occurred to anybody there this could be a bad idea?
"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.
"These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.
"Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do."
Of course, just now as I use the Google Play store, I'm reminded that the king of search still needs to improve the search capabilities of its own online store. Everyone in the industry has more to learn from customers.
edit: Also - it's unfortunate that only yesterday was I reading about the Scroogle campaign. Not to single out Microsoft as the only company that advertises like this, but it's sad to see them sinking to that level...
The problem of course is the screwed up rights system. Instead of presenting a big list of permissions for every app on install, how about you just ask me directly if the app is about to send a text to some number not in my contact list?
http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/12/sophisticated-botnet...
Then again, I don't worry much about malware on Windows because I pay attention to what I'm doing.
It was obvious this was going to happen, what really did they expect? Even if they had a few stories come through, they are all but drowned out by everyone else. Funny they did not run a #iPhoneRage campaign... although there is still time yet!
You might find this relevant: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4887574
I'd read the same thing elsewhere yesterday, when I looked for it, all I could find was dan's comment.
You'd think they would have grown out of this pathetic style a long time ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sforhbLiwLA
To go on the attack as part of your campaign says that you're feeling defensive and negative about your own position and that you've run out of positives to trumpet.
And people ask me why start-ups aren't getting into bed with Microsoft these days... Because who wants a company like this as your biggest partner?
Since I believe the author alone affects the quality of the article, I can fully see where seeing his name automatically causes the quality to dwindle.
Any twitter campaign will have participants who try to hijack the campaign for the opposing view. However, Obama has a strong enough base (I mean, ~50% of voters cast a ballet for him, and he does have a stronger hold on the younger, more-likely-to-tweet demographic) participating to drown out the hijackers.
The problem with this Windows campaign (I mean, besides that they tried the exact same thing before and failed) is that they specifically preclude their most devout supporters from participating. Anyone who is a die-hard Windows Phone fan has probably switched to WP when it was first available, and some probably have never touched android (I mean, they might have held onto Windows CE - anybody remember that? - until the first WP came out). In addition, anyone already using the latest WP hardware has no reason to tweet in order to win a free phone they already own.
So given this situation where MS's strong supporters have no content or reason to tweet, guess who rises up to fill the dead space? This campaign failed because it was designed to fail.
I tried to install Hotmail app and guess what it contained Malware.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdGkkp1aq8
(I am aware this will rightfully get modded down but sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do)