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When Steve Jobs "Welcomed IBM" with a full page ad, it was fun. It fit the vibe of who he was and the slightly rebellious marketing campaigns Apple was running.

by fairpx 10y ago

When Steve Jobs "Welcomed IBM" with a full page ad, it was fun. It fit the vibe of who he was and the slightly rebellious marketing campaigns Apple was running. Slack's "Welcome Microsoft" letter felt weird. It felt disconnected from the company and product many of us love and use every day. Might have been stronger to silently add a feature to Slack that lets you communicate with Microsoft Team's members.

loceng 10y ago
It definitely felt polar opposite to the tone of the wonderful animated animal character ad. Even visually the tone was too stark.
- loceng 10y ago
  They should really do another full-page ad saying they fucked up and that they thought they were being clever and their ego got the best of them. Make it visually appealing, full of animals ... that'd make me feel good about Slack again, like they're grownups and can admit mistakes.
twblalock 10y ago
Slack's letter appears to betray defensiveness and fear of competition, rather than a tongue-in-cheek attitude like Apple's ad did. I think that's why it seems weird.
- mbesto 10y ago
  It doesn't help that the snark from the CEO was awkward too: https://twitter.com/stewart/status/793969175807098881 https://twitter.com/stewart/status/793969175807098881
nashashmi 10y ago
> It felt disconnected from the company. I felt a sort of haughtiness in the letter, like "you don't understand what chat is, but we do, and if you look at our success, you will never understand what chat is, but we will." This was not a letter of advice, but instead a letter of intimidation. But if I give them the benefit of doubt, maybe it was just an ad. Nothing more. Nothing less. One that touted the underlying coolness of Slack and the platonic posture of Microsoft. In all of this, Slack misses the point of Office 365 chat, e.g. tie users together when working on Office products, and build collaboration features for Office users. Maybe Slack slacked off on what the market was requiring now and was not able to keep itself up to date with what companies like Microsoft needed.
tzs 10y ago
> When Steve Jobs "Welcomed IBM" with a full page ad [...] For reference, here is the ad: http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/jobs-apple-welcome-ibm-seriously-ad.php http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/jobs-apple-welco... There is an interesting welcome ad that Data General made when IBM announced their entry into the minicomputer market in 1976, although Data General never actually ran their add. It said: They Say IBM’s Entry Into Minicomputers Will Legitimize The Market. The Bastards Say, Welcome.
laxatives 10y ago
Apple's add was rebellious in the sense that they weren't trying to intimidate or smear a competitor, they wrote a genuine welcome. Slack's ad, by comparison, is a passive aggressive roommate leaving weird, indecipherable post it notes on the fridge.
- spikefromspace 10y ago
  I felt the same way. It was not genuine nor was it encouraging competition. Just because Slack built a very good product does not mean other companies are not allowed to compete with them especially one that already has an immense user base in the office/enterprise market.

by fairpx 10y ago

loceng 10y ago

It definitely felt polar opposite to the tone of the wonderful animated animal character ad. Even visually the tone was too stark.

loceng 10y ago
They should really do another full-page ad saying they fucked up and that they thought they were being clever and their ego got the best of them. Make it visually appealing, full of animals ... that'd make me feel good about Slack again, like they're grownups and can admit mistakes.

twblalock 10y ago

Slack's letter appears to betray defensiveness and fear of competition, rather than a tongue-in-cheek attitude like Apple's ad did. I think that's why it seems weird.

mbesto 10y ago
It doesn't help that the snark from the CEO was awkward too: https://twitter.com/stewart/status/793969175807098881 https://twitter.com/stewart/status/793969175807098881

nashashmi 10y ago

> It felt disconnected from the company. I felt a sort of haughtiness in the letter, like "you don't understand what chat is, but we do, and if you look at our success, you will never understand what chat is, but we will." This was not a letter of advice, but instead a letter of intimidation. But if I give them the benefit of doubt, maybe it was just an ad. Nothing more. Nothing less. One that touted the underlying coolness of Slack and the platonic posture of Microsoft. In all of this, Slack misses the point of Office 365 chat, e.g. tie users together when working on Office products, and build collaboration features for Office users. Maybe Slack slacked off on what the market was requiring now and was not able to keep itself up to date with what companies like Microsoft needed.

tzs 10y ago

> When Steve Jobs "Welcomed IBM" with a full page ad [...] For reference, here is the ad: http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/jobs-apple-welcome-ibm-seriously-ad.php http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/jobs-apple-welco... There is an interesting welcome ad that Data General made when IBM announced their entry into the minicomputer market in 1976, although Data General never actually ran their add. It said: They Say IBM’s Entry Into Minicomputers Will Legitimize The Market. The Bastards Say, Welcome.

laxatives 10y ago

Apple's add was rebellious in the sense that they weren't trying to intimidate or smear a competitor, they wrote a genuine welcome. Slack's ad, by comparison, is a passive aggressive roommate leaving weird, indecipherable post it notes on the fridge.

spikefromspace 10y ago
I felt the same way. It was not genuine nor was it encouraging competition. Just because Slack built a very good product does not mean other companies are not allowed to compete with them especially one that already has an immense user base in the office/enterprise market.