Re: MSFT video demos Host Integration Server

Now you have done it!! Branding wars begin! :-

They chose System i. The server at the time was called an AS/400, but the
brand ~is~ System i. AS/400, iSeries and System i5 are all servers in the
family (er, brand) of System i. System i is ~not~ a piece of hardware, but
the name you use to refer to ALL the pieces of hardware. Therefore, what
they chose (an AS/400 server) belongs to System i! They DID choose System i.
This (simple) concept, it seems, is lost to many people.

Think of it like this. GM is the company. IBM is the company. Chevrolet is
the brand. System i is the brand. Corvette is the model. System i5 is the
model. Nova is another model. AS/400 is another model.

For your example, Toyota is a company. Toyota and Lexus are brands. Prius is
a model.

As for marketing, if we KNOW that IBM does not market our platform well,
then we should stop complaining (I know you are not, David) and DO something
about it. IBM has given us a brand to belong to - AT LAST! Yet, we cannot
get past our narrow 400 view of the world and take it to the streets. If the
AS/400 was all that good, why does everyone think it is so OLD? If we cannot
market the AS/400 beyond the "OLD" moniker, then step up to the plate with
our new brand - System i, and let's take over the world. System i includes
your favorite AS/400 hardware and OS/400 software, along with all the new
and amazing things we have with i5 and i5/OS.

I think it is time for US to market the BRAND. What if everyone on this list
went into their CEO's office and said "thanks for the System i!"? What a
revolution!

Get off your GREEN/AS!



On 6/5/07 8:31 PM, "David Gibbs" <david@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Trevor Perry wrote:

Aha!! But they DID choose System i!!

No they didn't. They chose AS/400.

The easy part is that "System i" is a brand name that includes the server
hardware that is currently called System i5, and the previous generations of
AS/400 and iSeries servers.

Brand? Ford is a brand, Escape is a product (which has a hybrid
version). Toyota is a brand, Prius is a product.

IBM is the brand ... AS/400 is the product, iSeries is the product,
System i is the product.

Branding! Marketing! Something programmers complain about, but apparently
remain uneducated about!

I don't think programmers are uneducated about branding & marketing ...
as they are the targets of the IBM branding & marketing.

Heck, if the people who love the system hate the branding & marketing
... what would you expect from the rest of the marketplace?

JMHO

david