Microsoft has announced that the public beta of Windows 7 is “limited to 2.5 million downloads.”
This is fantastic word of mouth marketing. A few people will actually do a rigorous beta test, but all 2.5 million people now have an emotional stake in the success of the product.
When 2.5 million bosses walk down the hall and ask 2.5 million IT guys if the company needs to upgrade, each of them will answer: "Of course we do. I helped build that product!" They've given 2.5 million people the right to claim authorship.
Lesson: How can you get love and loyalty before you even launch a product?
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This is a great example of how Internal Brand Adoption works so well. Brand isn’t simply about a product or service, it’s about the distinction of an organization. When the internal team is on board they become brand evangelists as in the Microsoft example…and great things happen. Brand delivery is just as important as well.
Maybe not all 2.5 million people will become evangelists. I have used a beta version at work and though it seems like an improvement over Vista, nothing has inspired me enough to talk about it like I talk about my Kindle or my iPod touch.
I guess it’s the closest they can come, brilliant, especially considering how reluctant people have been to adopt Vista. Of course it could always backfire on them…
The Kindle is hot right now, but I just don’t get it. I can read an e-book on my netbook, but I usually opt for the audio version. iPods? Not really anything new there. I never have cared for hardware that locks you in to using their software, and iTunes has been behaving very badly lately. Now Windows 7 on the other hand has a lot going for it. The only way to really test it is to blow away a machine and use it as your main every day machine. I use it daily on an HP Mini 1000 netbook. I think it runs great, but I send feedback frequently. I’ve posted a lot about Windows 7 on my blog.
My recommendation for Vista at work was to hold off. With the way Windows 7 runs on lower powered machines, I think the Windows 7 recommendation is going to be to start on that image file! The biggest challenge is going to be getting some of that legacy software to work.
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