Well Microsoft’s so called bribing of profiled bloggers has flourished on the net the past day or so. (Wired’s: Microsoft Tries To Buy New Friends). Microsoft has apparently given laptops and mediacenters for free. Slashdot’s post linking to, amongst others, blogger Long Zheng.
Well some of these “privileged” bloggers have felt the heat from critics. And I just read, most likely following this, Now Microsoft Wants Its Laptops Back. According to the post, Microsoft is sending new emails to bloggers underlining that these PCs are intended strictly for review purposes: “Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding of our intentions I’m going to ask that you either give the pc away or send it back when you no longer need it for product reviews.” — Microsoft rep.(?)
Microsoft definitely needs some good reviews for Vista now, and this PR-scheme does show some good will. Microsoft’s Zune continues to struggle, and was among the “prized” in Wired’s 2006 Vaporawards as the “iPod killer”.
Is Microsoft’s attempt to hook bloggers up with freebies an attempt of viral marketing? Should it rather be called guerrilla marketing? (spelling variation: gorilla). Choose for yourself!
Edit: I must admit I am biased to Microsoft from beforehand, and that I think that this could work as a bribe. (Added questionmark to post title)
Why it has to be a bribe over at eWeek http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2077596,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616
When was the last time a vendor had to send a “Let’s be clear” email after sending a piece of merchandise? C’mon, they made yet another silly PR mistake and are in damage control mode.
I will have to agree to a certain degree, that it has become a silly PR mistake. But again all PR is good PR in some way or another.
When this non-news broke, I read some strange, seemingly insincere, overly angry comments.
When all is said & done, it’s just PR fluff and constitutes nothing more than a fart in a thunderstorm…
Hehe, interesting way of putting it. However I also think that in a sense it’s good when we do see it happen. Since it reminds us of the reality out there (often unseen).
Just skimmed a little post by a Microsoft employee in the UK on the matter on his own blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/officerocker/archive/2007/01/02/microsoft-bribes-bloggers-you-think.aspx
Makes you wonder, though.
What with all of the bad press Microsoft get, even when they try to do the right things, they still come over looking like a shill…