Oakland
Colosseum, November 1981
There was a time when I thought I would pursue a career
in professional rugby. Back in the day, this meant playing for a regional Rugby
League team in my home country of Australia and I was absolutely sure I could
make the grade. Having won the high school annual best-and-fairest aware for
Rugby League three years in a row; making it to zone representation and then to
district trials for a national side (to tour New Guinea), I thought that well,
why not?
To this day as much as I may rue the decision by my
parents not to sign preliminary papers allowing me to try out for an entry
level team within the pros, it was not to be. Ever since I catch myself
wondering how that might have turned out. This was late 1960s where the signing
bonus was limited to just $2,000 and where the “salary” maxed out at $200 with a
win and $20 with a loss. Professional, yes! A career, not so much!
Over the years I have spent many hours watching all
forms of football. I have been to Twickenham Stadium to watch Rugby (Australia
vs England). I have watched a Soccer cup game in the Munich Olympic park
(Munich vs Everton). I have been to the Oakland Colosseum to watch an NFL game
(Raiders vs Chargers) and yes, I camped out at Randwick to watch my favorite
Rugby Union team when the Ella Brothers ruled supreme.
But it has been my time watching the NFL that has had
the most influence on me even as with hindsight it gave me insight into ways to
pursue marketing. When it comes to technology in general and yes, to NonStop
specifically, there is much I have learnt by paying attention to the details of
the game. I was reminded of this after email exchanges and a number of Zoom
calls over the past couple of weeks and it simply proved too hard to ignore
what I have witnessed. While this will not be a post that goes into the
details, it is worth taking another look at some of the more general plays
occurring during the game.
Shore up the defense!
It is often said that it is a good defense that wins
the big games. I am not sure this has always translated to a winning course of
action, but then again, it certainly helps if you can stop the other side from
scoring points. When it is your turn to move the ball there is less pressure on
your team to play “hurry-up” football with every play.
From a marketing perspective, before you before you
turn on the water (to the tub) make sure the plug is in place! In other words, capitalize on
that one aspect of business that keeps your customers coming back to you, year
after year. That’s right; your support team is the organization that is most
responsible for making sure attrition never overtakes any market gains you
make.
When it comes to NonStop, there is no mistaking the
fact that there is a core of NonStop users who continue to rely on the
attributes of NonStop, year in and year out, such that whenever a new NonStop
system makes it to market, they are among the first to migrate. Having said
this, it is this cadre of NonStop users that represent the best reference
points a company can have so yes, shore up the defense! So yes, it’s just that
simple and it’s a must!
Rush the quarterback!
Pressure, pressure and the mistakes will come. There
are so many quotes that have entered language that originated with aggressive
pursuits of the opponents quarterback, none more so than the image of the
quarterback sack. Drive the offense backwards and you not only make it more
difficult to execute a game plan but more than once you will have that
quarterback looking over his shoulders for the rest of the game; off balance,
as such makes moving the ball up-field so much harder.
In this case, the marketing message couldn’t be
clearer. Know yourself and yes, know your competitor. NFL is all about bringing
your strength to bear on the other side’s weakness. When facing tough
competition, don’t let them take the momentum away from you. As we all know, if
you keep on doing the same thing, you will get the same results. Campaign in an
area that is either being ignored or, better still, the competition is not being
prepared to compete! Change the focus and have your customers ask the questions
of your competitor.
For NonStop there is no better example than NonStop
embracing x86 with InfiniBand. Did anyone truly expect that pivot to take
place? Furthermore, did the market anticipate NonStop going virtual? In many
ways this was not just a master stroke but it really did eliminate many arguments
that spoke to proprietary and costly. In one move, the playing field was not
only leveled but put the NonStop team on the front foot where it could
capitalize on the legendary, albeit iconic, benefits of NonStop. So yes,
NonStop does mission critical transactions and generates the freshest data and
that is the unfair advantage NonStop has in the marketplace.
Script the first offensive plays!
Have you ever wondered why the pros seem to be looking
at large plastic spreadsheets? It’s hard to miss the many bright colors that
cover certain cells. The very best teams kick off their turn with the ball with
a finite set of predetermined plays. In so doing, the coaches can quickly
ascertain what works (on the day) and what isn’t proving productive. Once the
script has unfolded then these coaches let the quarterback loose, running plays
from the selection that have yielded the biggest advantage.
When it comes to marketing, you need data. You need to
have current research information on hand. You have to do your homework and
communicate to your team. How many times have we heard during a game of NFL a
winning coach telling his players, “do your job!” True marketing has little to
do with magic. Taking your product back into the market as is the case with
almost all technology companies is usually the result of a new feature, or
product, or support for a new industry vertical. Understand the messages you
will deliver and hone the storyline as the media picks up on elements of what
you are delivering.
For NonStop, this is perhaps the biggest challenge of
all. The is no first prize for those vendors who have “the best kept secret”
which is usually a euphemism for missed marketing opportunities. Perhaps one of
the best messages for NonStop came with the launch of Himalaya – remember; no
price premium for NonStop? Unfortunately, like many messages we hear, what
developed didn’t follow the script of the time. Too many third party products
needed for NonStop bulked up on the anticipated upgrade revenues to where the
TCO wasn’t truly competitive. So yes, script then needs to change!
Go deep!
In any NFL game there is no escaping that breakout
moment when the quarterback heaves the ball the length of the field and
connects with a world class sprinter easily evading the defenses to run in a
big score. It’s a television moment that will be replayed often in the weeks
ahead. It’s drama and yes, it’s athletic even as it’s a ballet. To successfully
run such a play, your team has had to run earlier plays that draw in the defense.
You have to be convincing in the way you run the offense in order to open the
field to you winning plays.
In marketing we can view this as a disruptive move. How
many times have we read of a product capable of disrupting the industry? Did
anyone really anticipate the iPhone ahead of its release? For me, with the time
I have spent in marketing, this is the play I most treasure; pulling off the
unexpected and changing the course of the conversation. Scripting our message,
gathering the data, fine-tuning our responses is all well and good but if it
doesn’t ultimately lead to that big play, that ability to go deep and to
confound the opposition, then it is opportunity missed.
For NonStop the move to become similar to other HPE
product lines and to better align with HPE push into Platform-as-a-Service and a
pay as you go model is arguably the best deep play of the millennium. It brings
NonStop into the twenty-first century unlike any other play scripted or
otherwise. But the challenge for those in marketing, myself included, is to
orchestrate the delivery of that message to where it resonates best. To the
enterprise and to the C-suite who can see where NonStop could take them.
Marketing isn’t just messages flung willy-nilly into the ether, but rather, a
laser that needs to become focused and intensified.
Marketing only works when we have committed to a play
book that channels us all and indeed challenges us all, to simply win. I may
have learnt a lot from watching the NFL but I have learnt even more from
watching the industry and when it comes to NonStop, I have so much more to
view. Perhaps when it comes to our own legendary and iconic NonStop we might
take a leaf out of the Chevrolet play book when it promoted the new Corvette:
Still a night out, but everything fits in
Still hardworking, just a little easier
Still a legend, just more legendary
After all, “win baby, win” should resonate
well beyond the playing field!
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