Member Avatar for Lisa Hoover
Lisa Hoover 0 Junior Poster

What can your IT department learn from Microsoft's latest advertising bungles? Plenty.

When the company released its "Mojave Experiment" ads (which I'd link to but the site forces you to install Silverlight to view them), the premise was rather sad. It seemed to suggest that at least one of the company's flagship products is so maligned that its existence had to be hidden to get a viewer's attention. In these advertisements, "unsuspecting computer users" are led to believe they're seeing a new operating system called "Mojave." After they claim to like it, they're informed it's actually Windows Vista. Many displays of shock and glee ensue.

Although I'm sure Microsoft hoped otherwise, all many people got from these ads was that, had the company been upfront with what they wanted to show these apparently "unsuspecting computer users," they would have run screaming. Microsoft had to trick people into viewing the product and the commercial. Wow.

Next up are the recent Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Though clever, they're also head-scratchers. After watching, many viewers are left asking what the commercials are actually about. Again, not the best plan when you're trying to sell a product.

Though these two rounds of ads are either too dodgy or too esoteric for most consumers, at least IT departments can learn from them. First, always be straight with the computer users in your workplace. Don't tell workers that the new platform the company switched to is "just like the old one" if it's not. Don't suddenly change the way employees are used to doing things on their machines without warning, and be prepared to offer plenty of training until workers feel comfortable enough to use new applications and software on their own.

Second, don't leave your employees guessing. The last thing an IT department should hear several weeks after implementing a new system is "What's this all about again?" Don't make workers guess how a new app works or why it will benefit them (or the company) in the long run.

In short, if you're implementing a change in infrastructure, be transparent, upfront, and helpful. Hey, Microsoft marketing people? Are you listening? Your last batch of ads were none of the above.

  • 1 Contributor
  • 0 Replies
  • 216 Views

Dani AI

Generated

Building on ’s point that messaging failures often expose weak change management, the following playbook gives IT teams concrete steps to introduce a platform change with minimal disruption and faster adoption.

  • Define two or three measurable success criteria (for example: time-to-complete three core tasks, reduction in related help tickets, and % of users completing onboarding).
  • Map the “golden paths”: pick the top 5 tasks people do every day and document before/after workflows so trainers can demo real work, not feature lists.
  • Run a short, representative pilot (include one power user, one average user, and one novice per department). Collect time-on-task, ticket types, and verbatim feedback; iterate before wider rollout.
  • Communicate early and often with role-specific messages: short (1–3 minute) screen demos, a one-page cheat sheet for each role, and an FAQ that links tasks to business value.
  • Train and support with layered help: live role-based sessions, recorded on-demand clips, and scheduled “office hours” the first two weeks after go-live. Triage scripts for helpdesk speed resolution.
  • Plan contingency: keep legacy access or a documented rollback for the critical 3–5 tasks, and set clear escalation paths for business-critical failures.

Example schedule: 6–8 weeks out — stakeholder alignment and pilot selection; 3–4 weeks — build demos, cheat sheets, and training; 1 week — hands-on sessions and dry runs; launch + 2 weeks — extended support and daily ticket review; month 1–2 — metric review and targeted follow-up.

If adoption stalls, instrument the app to find failure points, run 5 live walkthroughs with struggling users, and update the cheat sheet/demo that maps directly to the failed step. Track: % trained, average task time, tickets for top tasks, and a short confidence survey. These concrete measures turn marketing-style messaging lessons into operational fixes that stick.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.