Reviews of this effort are very mixed. CK’s Blog post Dear Microsoft: Please stay dorky. It’s who you are…and it works, CK gives Microsoft credit for showing their “dorkiness” in this video rather than put on the staid, corporate boring presentations. In her words:

Ah, that’s much more in-line with a brand that will always be associated with America’s #1 Geek Bill Gates.

On the other hand, Drew McLellan was a bit more concerned about the perception it gives to the world that may not understand the reasoning behind making the video in the first place. In his post, When an internal corporate video goes terribly wrong, he feels that:

In “today’s world, you can’t really afford to be this lame, even if it is a joke.”

My personal opinion is that this video is absurdly funny if you just view it as it was probably intended. And I truly believe that Microsoft knew this video would get out onto YouTube and probably did it on purpose. Look at the attention Microsoft is getting for Vista SP1. Nothing goes viral faster than something that is supposed to be “for internal use only”. Someone in Microsoft marketing took a chance and brilliantly got their message out.

But I do agree with Drew on the lesson that should be learned. In today’s social media world, everything you create can and will get out into the public and will take on a life of its own. When you create something that you may think is only for certain eyes, think again. Those who see the video will judge you on their perception of how you should behave and a harmless joke might harm your brand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPv8PPl7ANU

©2012 Masterful Marketing. All Rights Reserved.

Microsoft “Rockin’ Our Sales” Video is an original post from Debra Murphy, Small Business Marketing Coach: Masterful Marketing - Marketing in the New Media World. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Debra on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PImrkfYBjGI

Now I just need to get Peter, the assistant pro onto Twitter!

©2012 Masterful Marketing. All Rights Reserved.

Social Media comes to Golf is an original post from Debra Murphy, Small Business Marketing Coach: Masterful Marketing - Marketing in the New Media World. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Debra on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.