I came across a post on Charles Stricklin’s blog about how the Graffitti content management system was knocking WordPress in their Google ads. Now I’m not really that partial to any technology, and I get a little freaked out when people evangelize to me about how great a particular technology is (people in general, I’m not referring to Charles’ post).
But, seriously, WordPress is a pretty great tool — and not only that, it’s free. As I said in response to Charles’ post, the biggest problem with Graffitti’s statement is not whether or not they have a superior product — it’s that it’s just a bad marketing tactic.
Presentation Zen had a great post about this from almost a year ago, that sums things up nicely. The main point: when you talk about your competitors, don’t be a jerk. Be gracious, whether or not you think you do something better than they do, and remember that you can always learn something from the way they do things.
Tied to this idea is the fact that people almost always work in an industry, and within an industry, companies and people develop a reputation for being naive, optimistic, mean, shady… pick any adjective and you can probably think of someone you know who fits the bill.
Within your own industry, it not only feels good to contribute back to the community, it’s also good business. Knocking someone else’s product doesn’t make you look superior, it merely makes you look like you have an inferiority complex. And no one wants share anything with someone that badmouths them.
I would suggest that most WordPress users, if they were thinking of using Graffitti’s product, would feel alienated by the ad, instead of drawn in, as their marketers would surely hope. Instead of knocking a competing product, Graffitti’s focus should be on what makes their own product great — and what current WordPress users could gain by switching.
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January 10th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Hey Lucas,
I wrote my own blog entry in response to your comment on Charles Stricklin’s blog. I called it: Telligent Launches Brilliant Marketing Campaign for .NET-Based CMS “Graffiti”
I think you’re the one who needs a marketing lesson.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Interesting post Aaron — and in fact, I do actually agree with most of your post. ‘Pissing off the open source community and launching a firestorm of buzz that underscores the value proposition of Graffitti…’ is effectively what they’ve done, but I would hardly call my own reaction to their marketing angry. Getting people to blog about your product (whether that’s in the form of good or bad reviews) does, I’m sure, send people to check out the Graffitti website.
I do, however, disagree with one assertion you make in your post, which is that ‘Telligent isn’t targeting individual bloggers like myself; they’re targeting organizations that value professional support and the reliability of the Microsoft development stack.’ At the very beginning of your post, in the description of the Graffitti product, they state ‘Whether it’s your personal blog, the family Web site, or the primary Web presence for your small business, Graffiti CMS software is the solution for simple content management.’ They are targeting not only corporate users, but also, by their own admission, targeting individual bloggers with a ‘personal blog’.
I do however, agree with your statement that this may be an effective tactic to get the attention of corporate customers. As I said, I’m not really debating the superiority of Graffitii’s product (I’m not familiar with their product, so can’t really pass judgment on it). It is my opinion, however, that even if you generate buzz for your product by trashing your competition, corporate users aren’t going to take you seriously. It also seems like a bit of strange target — I don’t think (and I could be wrong) many major corporations are implementing WordPress as a content management system, blogging platform or anything else.
Thanks for your comment.