The Marketleap Report
Vol. 1 - Issue #6 - April 27, 2001

Great Concept - Poor Follow Through
By Keith Boswell

IBM is one of the most well known corporate brands. Their technology and consulting practices make them a powerhouse in the computing world. But when you think of IBM, you picture workers in pinstripe suits and well-groomed hair, conservative, calculating - not exactly risk-takers.

For the past year, IBM has tried to stretch outside of the shadow that Microsoft cast on the computer industry. IBM has embraced the Linux operating system as a business alternative to the Microsoft Windows platform. It has pledged to invest up to $1 billion dollars over the next year into the evolving Linux OS.

A recent ad that supports their Linux initiative asks, "Why is IBM supporting Linux? Because we admire it, we believe in it, we need it, and it's good for customers."

The ad goes on to detail that the open standards that surround the Linux community create the proper mindset for the evolution of business online. IBM sees Linux as the path to integrating hardware and software into one flawless infrastructure. They claim that Linux will do for applications what the Internet did for networks.

So when you discover that part of IBM's advertising campaign for Linux has resulted in one arrest and potential fines in two large U.S. cities, you begin to wonder how far IBM is willing to go to spread the message.

In the past week, residents of San Francisco and Chicago have been treated to a guerilla marketing campaign that many feel has crossed the line between advertising and unwanted urban graffiti. In both towns, a stencil was used to promote the new message "Peace, Love and Linux." The stencil depicts a peace sign, heart and smiling penguin, the symbol of Linux. No reference to IBM is made.

In San Francisco, the group that placed the message used blue and black spray paint. The stencil was applied all over town, even at the home of peace and love - the corner of Haight and Ashbury. In Chicago the company employed by Ogilvy and Mather, IBM's ad firm, to place the stencil all over town used only black spray paint.

Chicago police caught the culprit in the act, but not before he had already tagged over 100 spots throughout the Windy City. In both cities, IBM was asked to pull the campaign immediately and discontinue their guerilla message invasion. In Chicago, the city is contemplating fining the company for the cost to remove the spray paint.

In the zeal to appear cool, IBM gave itself a black eye. Guerilla marketing can be successful and exciting, but not if it appears on every street corner. The underground campaign used to promote the movie Man on the Moon is a good example.

Highlighting the life of Andy Kaufman, posters of Kaufman's face and his alter ego painted in psychedelic colors began appearing nationwide out of nowhere. Overnight, they showed up throughout cities across the US and made no mention of the movie. They generated a buzz on the street, but not at the box office.

The ad industry knew it was on to something. In order to be hip today you have to appear to shun the mainstream, even make fun of it. Over the top doesn't cut it. Gratuitous usage of imagery appears smug and vain. Trying to be cool isn't the same as being cool.

No one ever expected a mainstream company like IBM to cross the line like they did. Other brands will probably follow suit, breaking minor laws to reach an audience they hadn't been able to before.

By over-appealing to the computer nerd that might get behind their message, IBM put a distance between themselves and that same audience. Simplicity and wit are the order of the day. Take a clue from Big Blue. Crime doesn't pay, but crafty ideas could win over new minds.