The Acer Guy

I’d like to take a few minutes out to talk about one of the most important elements of this blog. Simone.

The success and dare I mention it authority of this blog is due in no small part to his generosity, his own particular skill and, most important of all his belief that he can do a lot more for Acer’s customers.

If you look at blogs from other IT brands, there are always personalities behind them that believe in the value of the medium.

At Dell, without question the leader in this particular form of communication, it’s the chemistry between Lionel Menchaca and Richard Binhammer that has set the blogging world alight and helped transform public opinion of the company.

At HP, there no fewer than 52 corporate blogs in addition to 9 “Personal Interest Blogs”, although I’m not sure which one represents the company most.

Lenovo, of course, has David Churbuck who strikes up more interest and involvement than your average presidential debate (except this year’s).

OK, The Acer Guy is hardly a mega-site and there is no comparison between the way feedback gets absorbed into the company ethos from those sites and mine but the indefatigable willingness of Simone to roll up his sleeves and answer every single question I (you) throw at him puts him up there with the greats.

I’m sure all of you who’ve written to thank me for solving your numerous problems will agree.

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I know I know, you hate it when I go all corporate on you.

Don’t know if any of you have been following the “HP sues Acer” farce. I know I for one am guilty of not paying as much attention as perhaps I should yet the way I see it, these sort of things have a tendency to muddy the waters for everyone from the companies involved yet more importantly the users who lose confidence (rightly or wrongly) in the brands whose products they’ve worked damned hard to pay for.

Anyway, for those of you who don’t read the small print in “Murky-Tech News” allow me to bring you up to speed courtesy of what is perhaps the best flow chart ever created.

This I found a couple of days ago over on The Register.

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Now here’s something to celebrate.

Just read this news flash over at MLive.com that puts Acer AHEAD of Lenovo for the first time.

The title and focus of the article is about HP’s 4 point lead over Dell but the real news (for me anyway) happens a little further down:

Under IDC’s measure, China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. tied Taiwan-based Acer Inc. for third place in worldwide shipments, each achieving a 6.7 percent slice of the market. Gartner’s found Acer with a slight lead over Lenovo for the first time, garnering a 6.8 percent share compared to Lenovo’s 6.3 percent.

Wonder how long we’ll have to wait for official confirmation?

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I always wanted this blog to stay away from corporate issues but every now and then something blips on the radar that can’t be ignored. Bear with me for a minute.

If anyone has been watching, there have been some healthy (for want of a better word) exchanges of opinions going on between several key IT players over the past few weeks.

First HP used a favourable article on ZDNet to have a go at IBM and Dell on Eric Klintz’s Marketing Excellence blog. Lionel from Dell responds on the same thread but the argument dies.

Chris from MWW Group (PRs to Amazon.com among others) tracks back to this on their Open the Dialogue” blog and uses it as a healthy example of what blogging is all about – real people debating real issues head to head, without PR interference.

The thing is none of this “wanton sincerity” is true at all.

First of all, simply by debating on HP’s MARKETING EXCELLENCE blog, means that all sincerity flies straight out the window (remember, All Marketers are Liars, says Seth Godin).

Then I replied to Chris with a post just before Christmas about how difficult (artificial) it is to compare independent professional blogs to corporate ones. My post wasn’t published. True I’m a little guy, but the “Openness” of MWW Groups “Dialogue” is now in doubt.

Want to see a really open debate? One with real people arguing about real issues? Then read the vehemence over at Scoble’s blog following his dig at Apple after his son’s Mac Book Pro had problems, complaining that despite Apple’s poor service and Dell’s openness, the former gets good press while the latter suffers from the opposite.

The comments are what Scoble himself in his book Naked Conversations defined as “Tough Love”.

On corporate blogs it’s a different story and Klintz’s refusal to take the argument with Lionel any further is a clear demonstration of this.

True, a blog must by definition be open and personal, but surely not to the point where a company of the caliber of HP filters the replies it posts (read Lionel’s reply) and places a legal disclaimer at the foot of each page which reads:

“Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of HP and may not have been reviewed in advance by HP.”

In this case, there is a certain inconsistency in what employees are saying about their companies, and how these same companies wish to be represented.

If you’re truly sincere, why not, as Dell has rightly done, stand by your comments and do without the disclaimer? At least that way you bind the underlying truth of your words to the principles, values and goals of the company you (directly or indirectly) represent.

And that’s where an intelligent marketing department enters the equation.

As I mentioned in my unpublished post, “I think that only the foolish would seriously believe that behind the apparent liberty with which Dell, HP and Lenovo people blog, marketing didn’t have a hand in establishing the general guidelines and best practices to be implemented.”

Look closely and you don’t find debate on corporate blogs. Discussion yes, and even some serious “link appreciation”, but not debate.

Investor relations, client loyalty and sheer common sense dictates that corporations of this scale will continue to foster brand awareness with the same care and attention they have devotedly applied since conception.

Blogging gives them another channel, it’s true. A more open channel for sure (with (unfiltered?) feedback to boot!), but a channel all the same.

And that’s how it should be.

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