Quite a Tagline from Microsoft
July 23, 2010
The marketers sometimes stroke the fur of the azure chip cats and evoke purrs. Once in a while, an azure chip cat will try to bite with tiny little incisors. I am waiting for the purrs and snarls when consultants, mavens, satraps, and unemployed CMS and ERP professionals react to Microsoft’s new tag line.
It is:
Be What’s Next
Not long ago, tag lines irritated some experts. I think I know what the legacy giant is trying to communicate. I agree with “‘Be What’s Next’: New Microsoft Slogan (and Branding?).” This is a branding play.
The azure chip folks may want to engage in a Clintonesque analysis of the verb “to be”. Then there is the delicious ambiguity of “what”. That is worth one of those $500 two page reports that get indexed by NewsNow.co.uk. And, finally, the promise of “next”. That was a computer once, wasn’t it?
The issue for this addled goose is the relatives of the Kin’s kin. The Google six week cadence played to a rousing Sousa march provides the audible context. Finally, there is the panting of the Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter folks.
To be what’s next, one needs to be sure one is not trampled in the rush to the future. Slogans are not reality even if those creating them are brands.
Stephen E Arnold, July 23, 2010
Freebie
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
