CAD vs CAD, Par Deux

Rachael Taggart of Strategic PR muses on The Attraction of Detraction, asking the question: Why do CAD marketing departments engage in juvenile behavior?

Quote from the article: "My theory: This occurs because if a company does not respond in kind to an attack, it fears it will be regarded as weak. Some of the activity is simply tit-for-tat - they did it to us last year so we will do it to them this year. However the attacks can be quite aggressive, more so, I feel, than they need to be."

"The Perfectly Engineered Surf Party for Solidworks Users"

As SolidWorks World gets underway in Las Vegas, a competitor [I won't say who, in order to avoid giving them the free publicity they crave] is setting up a marketing stunt in a parking lot behind the Imperial Palace. With the WaveLoch device (whatever that is), they hope to attract the attention of customers attending SolidWorks World.

The competitor's external PR agency, Fleishman, has been trying to get the attention of media attending the SolidWorks event. On Sunday afternoon, one emailed me the following friendly note -- after I had turned down two previous invitations made by them through email and telephone:

"Hi Ralph -- I noticed in your blog that you won't arrive here until Monday afternoon. I'm happy to line up 1:1 interviews for you with the founder and engineer of WaveLoch on Monday evening if you have any time to drop by." (At last someone reads my blog; I am grateful for the audience.)

I replied: "It is unfair of your client to expect me to take part in its event when SolidWorks is paying my way for their event." Will their collective consciences be pricked? Who knows...

Comments

[David William Edwards]

If often the little dog that yaps the most!

[Tony Tanzillo]

I found the intro at Fleishman's website interesting:

Starting out with the question:

"What is the value of communications?"

And answers it with:

"For us, it's much more than managing perceptions".

Managing perceptions?