Alex Barnett blog : marketing

So what is an Enthusiast Evangelist?

alexbarnett — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:02:00 GMT

Brian Johnson just landed a cool job as an "Enthusiast Evangelist" (EE) on Microsoft's DPE (Developer and Platform Evangelism) team. I worked with Brian in my MSDN / TechNet days where he then moved to the Mac Business Unit. He recently moved his family over to Florida - but instead of Microsoft letting go of his talents, they offered him this "EE" position.

So what is an Enthusiast Evangelist? Stephanie Quilao, another "EE", decribed the role when he announced his new position at Microsoft:

"The Enthusiast Evangelist role is a newly created position at Microsoft, and there are going to be more folks like me in other regions around the U.S. Our jobs are basically to go out and mingle, bond, and touch influential end users and show them all the cool things that Microsoft has to offer.

...Now, traditionally, Evangelists at Microsoft and most tech companies focus primarily on techie audiences like developers, IT Managers, and uber geeks. The Enthusiast Evangelist is a new role that is designed more to (excuse my boss speak) bridge the gap between consumer and tech company. It is no secret that there is a big divide between how tech companies promote and what consumers understand. Most people just scratch their heads. Microsoft wanted to hire me because my primary talent is the ability to translate Geek speak into Oprah speak to show people how technology can help them live their best lives."

Sounds like the perfect role for Brian who co-authored Xbox 360 for Dummies and Zune for Dummies with Duncan Mackenzie. Congrats Brian!

Jakob Nielsen admits a horrid truth

alexbarnett — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:55:00 GMT

Jakob Nielsen admits a horrid truth:

"I've been reluctant to discuss one of the findings from our eyetracking research because the conclusion is that unethical design pays off."

Does Xbox 360 warranty cover Transformation?

alexbarnett — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:32:00 GMT

Saw the new Tranformers movie with William yesterday. Outstanding CGI and takes product placement marketing to new limits. Which brings me to the following question: Is this covered by the newly extended Xbox 360 warranty?

Chase.com - is this your idea of transparent marketing?

alexbarnett — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 18:20:00 GMT

This ad popped up on the Chase.com site this morning. Overlayed is what looks like internal codes from their customer segmention model. Either this is shown in error, or, Chase is taking the notion of transparent marketing a little too literally.

Favorite word of the month: Marchitecture

admin — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 16:00:00 GMT

Favourite word of the month: 'Marchitecture':

"A Marchitecture is an architecture produced for marketing reasons, normally by a vendor. It is designed to put the vendor in the best possible light by emphasising the positive as well as hiding the negative. If you are in marketing you will spell it Marketecture."