In a good example of “show, don’t tell,” Tableau Software’s weblog demonstrates the power of its product with a story: how rich, middle-income and poor voters compare in liberal, conservative and battleground states. The political story is awkward to tell in words, but it’s easy in pictures. Pictures that tell stories is what Tableau’s all about.
marketing/PR
The trouble with IT marketing
The reason most IT marketing puts features out in front, instead of benefits, is that marketers got in the habit of pitching to geeks. That audience craves obscurity. Imagine what would happen if the business people knew what all those BI tools did!
That’s not my observation. I heard it from a VP of business development in the exhibition hall at TDWI conference in Las Vegas earlier this year. (I just came across the conversation in my notes.) You may not be surprised that his company is absolutely post-geek.
He thinks that era is passing. A younger audience is upon us that grew up on data.… Read the rest “The trouble with IT marketing”
A word from the marketing-crimes division
This public service announcement opens on a CSI-like scene. Let’s call it “CSI: Marketing Crimes Division.” The lieutenant asks the lab guy, “What have you got?”
“It’s a tough one,” says the lab guy.
Lying before them under bright lights on a stainless steel examination table is the weapon: an email printed on plain white paper. The lieutenant turns it gently with tongs, then reads it. “‘Brillo-BI is designed for the vast majority of businesspeople who do not have access to big BI solutions.'” A list of features follows in bullet points.
He snorts, “I don’t get it. The product can’t be for everybody.… Read the rest “A word from the marketing-crimes division”