Marketing. . . So Cool

by Rob Kolstad
<kolstad@usenix.org>

Dr. Rob Kolstad works as program manager organizing computer security conferences. Longtime editor of ;login:, he is also head coach of the USENIX-sponsored USA Computing Olympiad.

I never really have had a great handle on Marketing. It's been elusive and confusing to me for a very long time. I think I'm starting to understand, though.

When I was at BSDI, I finally started to learn just what it is that marketing people do. In the past, I had wondered, since I had been "looking in from the outside" and didn't comprehend either the goals or the mechanisms.

Our marketing professional patiently explained to me that an organization's marketing department has many functions: identifying potential products, identifying potential customer groups for those products, public relations and advertising, ensuring adequate product literature, inventing "product perceptions," and a host of other miscellaneous duties.

It seems as if marketing, and particularly the advertising and public relations functions, are hitting a new peak these days. I'm watching marketers shape perceptions throughout the marketplace with an effectiveness that astounds me.

For the last several years, I have provided transportation to a friend of mine to the Colorado State Fair. There's always a good concert or other event to make the day a pleasurable one; this year, it was a concert by the Moody Blues (who are promoting their new album). He brought with him a friend ("Rich") who is a particular fan of what are now called "oldies" groups.

While touring the Fair, we walked by the Marines' recruiting booth. You might have heard that the armed forces are recruiting heavily these days since full employment often motivates young people to work in private industry rather than join the armed forces.

"Betcha can't do ten pullups," barks a sergeant at Rich.

The transformation in Rich's behavior was remarkable. "Of course I can," he replied. The ensuing exchange quickly established the challenge, the prizes, and the ultimate prize: being good enough to join the United States Marine Corps.

The Marines are doing a great job at marketing. They know precisely how to get the attention of their potential "customers."

I observe other people opening mail, watching television, listening to the radio, or even discussing various purchasing decisions in their lives. From the point of view of a marketing-observer, they gulp down the marketing manipulations with blazing speed. "Oh, I just must have the new, fast Macintosh," say writers on the Internet. "It's just blazing fast." I haven't run on that new munition (if you've seen the advertising, you know what I mean). I am skeptical, however, that all that speed is going to be dramatically different from whatever is in "second place."

I watch book publishers publicize free software as the panacea for the masses. They spend lots of money and time promoting free software. Of course, they are one of the few institutions who actually stand to make a cash profit on "free" items (since they sell the books and conferences for money).

I have become, for better or worse, a far more cynical consumer. I don't rush in and buy stocks that rise 570% on their opening day. I take many "performance" claims (whether it's disk drives or automobiles) with a grain of salt. I try to figure out the big picture when I'm only presented with the rosy side.

I know that's a bit of a negative approach to "consuming," but it sure seems like the only way one can avoid surprises later in the game. I find I have been consuming more the last couple years and enjoying most of it. I hope I can keep that up.