If anyone needs proof that social media works then read this from the Financial Times. (subscription required for the full article):
Microsoft launches a tipple for techies
Tonight, a select group will gather in a bar in London’s Soho to quaff a crisp, South African white wine bottled in their honour.The hand-picked guests toasting the new vintage are not, however, wine connoisseurs but techies. The gathering marks the launch of the Blue Monster Reserve label, created by winery Stormhoek for Microsoft and its employees.
In classic marketing fashion, Hugh MacLeod, who created the Blue Monster cartoon spent Sunday teasing 935 Twitterers about ‘Hugh’s Next Big Project,’ running a countdown to the ‘announcement.’
This is either faintly ridiculous or deeply smart. Own label wine has been used by professionals and City types for years as a corporate gift, the idea being to cement the relationship between vendor and customer. Hugh’s doing this with a slight twist. Quoting from the FT article, he says:
The cartoon of a sharp-toothed blue creature and its tagline, “Microsoft – change the world or go homeâ€, has now been adopted by some Microsoft employees and fans as a symbol of the company’s innovation.
“People see Microsoft as a big, bad corporate monster,†Mr MacLeod said. “Yet all the Microsofties I’ve spoken to say they just want to make great products and do good works. It was obvious that Microsoft had to get better at telling their story.â€
“Wine is a social object, and so is the Blue Monster: they both inspire conversation,†he said. “And we thought the cartoon would look really cool on a bottle.â€
Steve Clayton, chief technology officer at one of Microsoft’s UK affiliates and a nine-year veteran of the company, said Blue Monster reminded people that Microsoft “has a sense of fun and humourâ€.
Mr Clayton has been at the forefront of the Blue Monster movement: he uses the image on his business card and is the administrator of a “Friends of Blue Monster†Facebook group.
“[Microsoft’s HQ] has been very supportive of us using the Microsoft name alongside the Blue Monster image,†Mr MacLeod said. It makes sense; they’ve been around for about 30 years and are trying to reinvent themselves to embrace a new generation.â€
Blue Monster-branded bottles will be available only to Microsoft and its affiliates. “We have no intention of selling the product outside Microsoft,†said Jason Korman, Stormhoek’s chief executive. “The wine itself only went live last week, and already we’ve had massive interest from different parts of the company.â€
While a bottle of plonk will rarely if ever make a difference to a buying decision, it will be interesting to see how the idea inspires conversation about Microsoft within and around the channel. In my mind there are four main angles:
- You can get a bottle if you’re a member of the Facebook Friends of Stormhoek crowd. Go figure what this might do for boosting that club’s membership and the subsequent conversations around Microsoft.
- Coming as it does on the day the EU will hand down its judgment on Microsoft’s monopoly, the announcement will deflect attention away from the result, if only temporarily.
- The brand association between Stormhoek and Microsoft will likely lift general sales of Stormhoek wine in both its UK and US outlets. In particular, it will help Stormhoek break into the ultra competitive US market
- Hugh has been working as a consultant for Microsoft. He’s also a Stormhoek stakeholder. This is the first time I’ve heard of someone successfully drinking from the buy and sell side at the same time. Smart if you can do it.
All clever marketing but see it for what it is – marketing.
Technorati Tags: Blue monster, marketing, Microsoft, Stormhoek
