There's something that's been bothering me for a while and I've only just understood what it is.
Has anyone noticed that when IT companies start blogging, they start promoting themselves on various levels? Product, Business, Channel, Service and even Market Position...
This is all very well and I don't want to criticise proven practices, but I think IT companies should make a very clear division between the interests of its customers and those of its shareholders when talking to the public at large.
When you write body copy for brochures, flyers or any other "collateral" used to promote a company's product, your audience is the buying public. Whether they buy it from the manufacturer/vendor directly or from their favourite tech store is largely irrelevant. If the product fits, they'll buy it.
When you write a corporate brochure, press release or conference presentation your audience is entirely different, and the tone of language used changes accordingly.
Lately I've been monitoring IT blogs from as many component manufacturers and big brand vendors as possible and I've noticed that "the message" is often blurred by other issues such as market share or the direct/indirect model argument.
This is great if you're an investor, but gives a confused message to the buying public. At what point is the difference between direct and indirect business models relevant to them?
There are moments when best practice, channel strategy and product development are necessarily aggregated but surely this shouldn't become a "standard", unless of course you are prepared to get on the blogosphere at a corporate level, but leave the customer behind.
