I’ve just been over to the Origamiproject forums where they’ve kicked-off a series of polls. I like the forum. Its free-running and there’s a few members of the Origamiproject team that are regular contributors.
I asked them to set up a poll on “who’s doing the best job of promoting Ulta Mobile PCs” and then I realised that they might not run that one.
So I’m running it myself!
On the Carrypad front page you’ll find a poll asking the all-important question. Click through below and you’ll find the poll on the left hand side.
My vote went to TabletKiosk for their commitment to ultra mobile PC products and their willingness to communicate. Do you have an opinion?
Steve / Chippy.
Great poll Steve! I’ll be voting in a sec, but I think you’re missing the real winner here. Who’s promoting UMPCs the best? The blogosphere. ;)
The question is who is doing the best job promoting the UMPC? Well first lets look at what is available. It seems as though it would be hard to promote vaporware successfully. I’ll make assumptions here
Tablet Kiosk EO(s)
Samsung Q1 models
Sony Models (too pricey for me to remember the model name)
and ASUS
Now, currently what is available for me to readily purchase
Tablet Kiosk EO(s)
Samsung Q1 models
Sony Models
-ASUS lost its possible spot because well if i can’t get my hands on it, what’s the purpose of promoting it? No I’m done waiting for them in the US.
Now let’s assume that the internet is available everywhere. To do “the best job” you need to go beyond that bound.
Tablet Kiosk EO(s)
Samsung Q1 models
-I’m removing Sony because their devices seem to expensive for me to even bother looking. Samsung is available at Fry’s and Best Buy in Texas. TabletKiosk recently did their Road Show around the US.
Now who is the best?
NEITHER. Living in the Michigan, I can neither readily get my hands on a Q1 to preview, nor was there a stop remotely close to Michigan in the TabletKiosk road show.
I don’t care if it seems if I’m beating this point into the ground, but until SOMEONE (person, company, I don’t care) invests some time and money into grass roots marketing of these devices they wont move from the VAR markets. Companies need to put the devices into consumer’s hands, and show them what the devices can do, and how they can help the consumer.
Yep Kevin, I agree with you. It seems as if all of the current influential promotion has come from the blogosphere!
Sorry guys. I don’t agree with you.
Internet based information is an important part of the process but our readership is a tiny tiny percentage of the potential UMPC customer base. Not many IT managers in vertical markets will be reading our blogs. Our second target market – the consumer – is also concentrating on other things right now.
I’m not a marketing expert by a long shot but it seems quite obvious that we need to create a trigger for potential customers. That is advertising in trade and consumer magazines, going out and speaking to IT people (roadshow for example.) These traditional seeding methods are things we just can’t do very easilty from our keyboards. (Although i would like to see a number of blogs put $500 each in a pot for an advert in the NYT. SHould we start the UMPC incubators club? – Seriously.)
Of course, when the trigger works, the IT manager probably types a few keywords in Google and thats were we come in. Providing the quality content that enables the customer to educate themselves to the point whre they click our links/ads and go through to a purchase.
So, although we’re all working very hard on our internet planets, we still have to get someone to launch the rocket.
Regards
Steve.
Steve, I see your point, but I think you’re missing a bigger picture with the blogosphere. When I say “blogosphere”, I don’t just mean sites like yours, ours, and the other handful of UMPC-dedicated sites. When we write about UMPCs, those stories get picked up by much bigger outlets; take Engadget for example. Your recent FlyBook and Vega reviews were covered by what’s arguably the world’s largest blog. We’re talking about millions of readers. But it doesn’t stop there. Mainstream media reads Engadget and the stories can then trickle into that medium as well.
Here’s another example: when the DigitalKitchen video of the Origami Project was found, the story broke here: http://kevintwodotoh.com/2006/02/25/hardware/origami-video-the-real-deal.html You might not recognize it, but that’s my old blog, before I began collaborating with jkOTR. Steve, that page was hammered over the next few days and do you know by whom? Mainstream media readers, who I would say include IT managers. The page was picked up by the NY Times, Fox and many other media outlets bringing news to the general public. Don’t get me wrong here: vendors could do MUCH more to help the cause. However, to undervalue the effort and effect of the blogosphere would be a shame. BTW: as far as the vendor that’s done the best: I’m in full agreement with you and voted as such. Thanks!
Two points
1. The Asus UMPC is now available online from Dynamism and Newegg.
2. I’ve said it before, the rollout of UMPCs felt and feels like rolling out Beta hardware. Kevin is spot on when the says the blogosphere has been the best promtional outlet. I believe that was the intent and factored into the launch and the promotional budgets.
Ok, I lied. 3 points.
3. In retrospect, outside of the promtional budget the UMPC launch feels very similar to the Tablet PC launch. Those behind the platform feel excited about it, but not enough to really force it into the right sales channels and get it in folks hands. That hesitancy in investment led to a similarly hesitant market and some confusion.
I’m with kevin on this. there is very little marketing going on other than what is being promoted by blogs, and consequently being picked up by larger pubs, mainstream media, and engadget.
I believe this is on purpose. This first year is a beta test and marketing is the same way.
Wow Chippy, it looks like you hit a raw nerve.
My short but direct opinion would be that yes, blogs are currently read by “few” when compared to the “many” that could be reading. However from what I am seeing in Australia it is these “few” that will drive the success of these devices all the way to the bank.
The bleeding edge will always be small (because it hurts living there) but it will always be the most effective. So my point would be that Blogs are the success that makes this a hit or miss – not the OEM’s. Most marketing that comes out of OEM’s is over looked anyway because we’re immune to it. So the real push may well always be the blogs…
Love your survey!
This discussion os more interesting than the poll! I hope you all come to CeBit 2007 so we can carry this conversation on over a fresh German beer.
Back to the question though.
I think our (bloggers, enthusiasts) value lies more in the ‘sales support’ area than direct marketing. Most purchasing managers won’t even know what Engadget is but will react very well to a whisky and free game ticket from an account manager! We might not think that resellers,vars and vendors are doing much but there is much going on that we don’t see.
We shouldn’t stop our efforts of course. Its complimentary and every story that makes it big is another win for the segment but I think the real value of blogs/portals comes into play when the resellers, vars, vendors have spent some money and time with their expenses accounts. We have the time, knowledge and resources to really help a customer make an informed decision.
This process will change though. The blog channel is getting deeper, stronger and cutting a path direct to customers through mobile phones and television. Its going to get very toughfor PR companies in the coming years.
Oh one other thing. I don’t think 2006 was beta test. I think was the result of a race to get some brands in the UMPC space. The technology won’t be ripe enough for another year but the early birds might get some good momentum for 2007/2008.
Steve
I voted for Samsung not just because I have a Q1 but because they and Sony are about the only people that have had any success in getting product into the brick and mortar retail stores (Best Buy and Fry’s for Q1). I wouldn’t have bought a Q1 if I hadn’t been able to spend some hands on time with it at Best Buy. Still, even Samsung seems to just put the product out there with the “if you build it they will come” mindset. Definitely, room for improvement. I agree with Kevin that the blogs are the only real evangilists for the product out there. Even they are mostly preaching to the choir. I didn’t start reading all these great UMPC sites until I got interested in the Q1 not the other way around.
I’m frankly surprised at the number of votes for Samsung; aside from building the site and the hardware, and actually shipping units to retailers, they’ve done very little to promote the Q1 series that I’ve seen. Maybe things are different in Korea, but here in North America their marketing appears to be a stealth campaign.
I think that Tablet Kiosk is doing a better job at getting out to the community and making their case about Origamis… I just wish that TK was also interested in getting their units into retail outlets and the hands of the general consumer, instead of the verticals. (That latter is personal preference, though I strongly feel that the real growth potential for UMPCs is in the consumer market.)
— Steve
Bill. Good point about getting the devices to the high street.
Anton. I think the only reason TK are able to spend time and money doing roadshows is because they sell into verticals where they can add value and keep margins higher. If you put an i7210 in the high street and the purchase manager for the local hospital sees it for half the price that he’s about to pay, he’s going to ask for a better deal!
Regards
Steve.
The writing here are great. Thanks for having them.