John Dragoon’s Blog

Over five thousand people from 58 countries will arrive in Salt Lake City, Utah next Sunday, March 16th for the annual Novell tradition known as Brainshare. Brainshare, Novell’s annual user conference, has been going on for over 20 years and for many in the IT industry it’s their annual pilgrimage for learning new things, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and keeping up with the pace, change and opportunities in our industry.

Above all, Brainshare is about education. Sure there are the obligatory keynotes, main tent sessions, technical showcases and evening get togethers (this years entertainment features comedian Frank Caliendo and musical group Collective Soul). But the real nitty gritty for attendees are the over 250 technical breakout sessions. It’s in these sessions where real knowledge is transferred from the engineers and experts who develop, support and help implement Novell and partner solutions. I can tell you first hand the Novell employees and partners who put on these sessions take great pride in their subject matter and its delivery.

Brainshare isn’t just about the class room. We pride ourselves in delivering hands on experiences and information you can use your first day back in the office – if not before. In our Novell Technology Lab there’s the ever popular installation and migration depot where you can install, migrate or upgrade to the latest Novell technologies.

This is my fifth Brainshare and I look forward to it every year. There’s still time to see what it’s all about and join us in Salt Lake.

We’d love to see you there.

John

“If French fries were fat free, would you still like them?”

I’ve got to admit country music has some of the best lines. I heard this one on the way home last night and it got me thinking about marketing. Truth is I was probably thinking about marketing well before this line but that’s another story. I’m quite sure the segue to marketing thought was well beyond the writer’s initial intent but that’s the beauty of country music. You can find something in it for you no matter your perspective or starting point.

So the relationship to French Fries and marketing? In the end, the appeal to French Fries has little to do with their fat content. French fries are appealing because they are an easy and tasteful way to enjoy potatoes. Period. Some potato farmer long ago figured out that the way to sell more potatoes was to make their consumption easy and tasty. And so it is with marketing. The way to make your company, product, or service more compelling is to simplify what you stand for and to make it relevant, credible, distinctive, unique and “tasty”. I can imagine The French fry tag line: French Fries: “The easy way to enjoy potatoes” – or, French Fries: “Potatoes on the Go”. Pretty simple: category and benefit.

The technology industry at large and the software industry in particular have a hard time articulating what we stand for in language that is easy to understand and compelling. Our team has spent a lot of time over the last 6 months surveying thousands of customers, talking to our partners, the analysts and each other on the best way to represent and position Novell.

Some common themes that emerged in our research inclcuded:

• Stay the course on your strategy
• Be straight forward about what you do
• Clearly articulate the benefits
• Reflect your positioning in your various customer touchpoints in a clear, consistent and compelling way
• Be true to your companies’ heritage but aspiring in your future vision

We’re very proud of our technology and like many companies have led with a description of that technology vs what it allows for from a customer perspective. An audit of our own language and outward facing communication suggests we have room for improvement in simpler and more direct language. We are aiming to change that and in the coming weeks we will address the feedback we’ve heard with messaging and positioning that continues to refine what Novell stands for and why you should care.

I’m very passionate about Novell’s positioning and I’ll communicate directly on the specifics of our changes in the weeks and months ahead. Like all things marketing, I know we will get a lot of opinions on the good, bad and indifferent and I look forward to the feedback. At the end of the day, we are all trying to make Novell like our beloved french fry – simple and tasty (yeah, we’re not fat free yet either).

John