Re: Marketing the platform was: System i - Mentioned twice in SD Times -- MIDRANGE-L

Booth,

I truly cannot understand your circular reasoning. The name ~has~ changed.
No amount of whining will fix it. So, start there, and say:

"I program for i5/OS"

Instead of explaining that the AS/400 has been replaced by something, you
can use i5/OS to include everything. If you feel you are going to explain
something, then explain the present, not the past.

Besides, when is marketing limited by words. You said "brochure". I gave you
the title of "I am an i5/OS consultant" - which is the same number of words
as "I program for the AS/400", yet does not limit you to 2000 and before. If
you are counting words in my explanation, count the words you use to explain
that the AS/400 is no longer sold by IBM, and the recovery beyond that.

If your customer has an AS/400, then you must use AS/400 to talk to them
about their server. Because that is what it is. If you are selling them an
upgrade, or selling them a new server, you will be selling them a System i.

If your customer has an iSeries and calls it an AS/400, you may want to keep
calling it that so that you can keep them in the 20th century as well. Here
is your chance to talk to them about how wonderful the new servers are - and
how IBM had to call them something new because they were so good! Booth,
this is marketing the future, not about living in the past.

If all you ever want to do is program on an AS/400, then your brochure
should say that. If you want to find work in the future, you may need an
AS/400 brochure, an iSeries brochure, a System i brochure, am i5/OS
brochure, a Power 6 brochure - or, you could use 24 words on a single
brochure.

For me, I sell software to labor unions. When the competing vendors make
them ask what our infrastructure is, we say relational SQL database DB2 for
i5/OS, running on an IBM System i. Every time the word AS/400 comes up, it
gets slammed for being old. Using the new names, we can show that we are a
modern and relevant platform.

While you keep calling it an AS/400, vendors competing in our space will use
that against us. Each time we lose another sale because the customer thinks
the System i is an AS/400 is a sad sad day. I see this happening so much,
and I feel that if the i5/OS community could simply ALL call the platform by
the name that IBM calls it, we would have so much strength. Instead, we are
divided between those who call it what it USED TO BE.

Sad.
Trevor

On 2/22/08 12:04 AM, "Booth Martin" <booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I understand your position on this Trevor. I have no problems with the
stance you propose, but I would point out that "I program for the
AS/400" is a very clear and unambiguous 5 words. The verbiage you
suggest is 21 words, and I had to read it twice to understand what you
are saying.

I am not trying to editorialize, just pointing out that a niche product
destroys itself if it is not easily identifiable to the non-niche buyers.

You use a Mac. Simple. Clear. I have no idea what model of Mac; even
if you told me it would mean nothing to me. But Apple kept the Mac
brand and it is clear and identifiable. They could leverage the i so
that they pretty much have stolen the i-object brand name. (Hence IBM
had to admit that iSeries was a failed name change - everyone thought
it was an Apple product.)

Ah well... just as as an informtional piece, Trevor, I have found that a
commonly understood name can be "IBM midrange machines" Everyone seems
to understand "I program for the IBM midrange machines." Thats 7 words,
but it seems to work the best for me.

Trevor Perry wrote:

Booth,

Today, the IBM name for what we do is i5/OS. What you are doing is i5/OS
consulting, or i5/OS software. Your brochure should address the audience you
chase. Decide who that is, and mention them on your brochure.

My personal suggestion is to use i5/OS in your title. Somewhere on the page,
you can define the audience. An example:

"I am an i5/OS consultant."
"My customers are companies or organizations using i5/OS or OS/400 on
AS/400, iSeries or System i servers."

And then shut up about it. Explain it no further - you have all the relevant
names. Sorry if that sounds pretentious or confused to you, but with this,
you cover all your bases, google included. Stop defending it, and just say
it like it is. Stop trying to explain it. Stop deriding it.

If you want to move a little step further into the future, you could say:
"My customers are companies or organizations using i5/OS or OS/400 on
AS/400, iSeries, and System i servers and Power6 blades."

Adapt and evolve.
Trevor

On 2/21/08 11:10 PM, "Booth Martin" <booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If Chevrolet can be a brand name for 75 years than so can't AS/400.
People understand that Malibu, Corvair, and Caprice are name plates, but
Chevrolet is what they are buying.

I am soooo tired of spending my energy trying to figure out how to reach
my potential clients without sounding either old fashioned or so edgy as
to sound pretentious and confused.

You tell me, Trevor, what do I put on my brochure? I want to reach the
owners, users, and IT directors of the IBM midrange platform, including
those whose iron may be pre-2005, or even pre-2000.