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IBM needs to get out more

Category ibm marketing
So it seems it's not just us annoying whingers in the Yellow Bubble who think that IBM marketing is feeble. Burton Group agrees.
"On about 40% of the calls we get from people who eventually buy a Microsoft product, they instantly know what they want--and they tell us specifically. 'OK, we need 80 copies of Microsoft X, 25 copies of Microsoft Y, etc.' However, no IBM customer ever specifically asks for an IBM product. We'll do a demo based on their stated needs, and they'll say, 'Wow. What product is this? This is pretty cool. What do you call it? Hmm, never heard of it.'"

Once again, a data point making the case that while IBM's product offerings are well understood by its installed base, they aren't known outside of IBM's inner circle. IBM needs to get out more.

Posted by Julian Woodward On 04/17/2009 |

Comments

Gravatar Image1 - This is a reflection of IBM's strategy.
IBM wants to sell solutions, not products. They don't want customers to request specific products - as they might request cheaper products that do the job as opposed to more expensive and profitable products. Emoticon

The fact that it's not the most effective or 'best' strategy is pretty much irrelevant.

Posted by Craig Wiseman At 15:33:36 On 17/04/2009 | - Website - |