Dear Microsoft

Did any of you get the Microsoft free standing insert in the 1/12 Wall Street Journal?  It's very clever—too clever for it's own good.  By the way, I am not talking about a Microsoft email hoax some folks have mentioned to me.  I'm talking about an honest-to-goodness printed letter slipped in the fold of my Wall Street Journal. 

For those of you who did not get the insert...it is a one-page letter, on Microsoft letterhead, stamped "DRAFT," with "hand-marked" corrections. 

The letter is written more like an ad than a letter.  That's ok.  But you have to dig to find out:

• To whom the letter is directed,
• What the point of the letter is...what it is trying to sell 
• What Microsoft wants me to do; there is no call to action, except for a not-to-prominent url on the lower right-hand side

I admit; I looked at the letter.  You have to.  That's what's clever about it.   I see it is from Microsoft.  Then I scan it for more info, which I cannot easily find.

Because I am a professional marketer, I do read the letter.  Turns out the letter is selling enterprise software, for which, in case Microsoft cares, I do not purchase. 

Even though Microsoft has money to burn, I do hope the letter was a creative market test sent to a discreet zip code.  Even so, I wish Microsoft had called me instead, paid me half of what they paid for the letter, and asked asked me if I thought this test would work...at least as executed.  I would have told them, "no;"  and saved them money.   I maybe even would have invested my fee into some Microsoft software updates.  

So what's wrong with this letter?  I have to work WAY too hard to find out: 

• to whom Microsoft is addressing the communication?  Is it me? 
• what Microsoft is selling
• what Microsoft wants me to do...still don't know (I can guess; but why bother?)

So the moral to this story is...if you get a really big idea...unless you are Microsoft and are looking for ways to spend money, don't forget that every successful marketing effort is grounded in sound marketing strategy:  

• make sure you know your target market and how to reach them
• don't make your target audience work hard to find out what you are selling (unless you are giving away money, in which case your target audience won't mind the extra work)
• make sure your target audience knows what you want them to do...go to your web  site, call you, etc.
• and finally, again unless you are giving away money, give your target audience a good reason to take action.

The above advice is not terribly clever.  It just works. 

What dumb ads or direct mail have you seen so far in 2009?  

Victoria