Microsoft Taps Outsider for Mobile Marketing Role
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News Brief. Microsoft isn't just on a company acquisition spree. The software giant is hiring more outsiders. Hey, whatever happened to promoting from within? |
Microsoft's employee roster is now more than 70,000. The company couldn't do better than an outsider for its Mobile Communications Business? Todd Peters, a former Staples brand management veep, is the new vice president of marketing for MCB.
Peters is the third outsider hired this month for a major position. Former Disney CIO Tony Scott will become Microsoft's new technology chief in February. Stephen Elop, former chief operating officer of Juniper Networks, will replace Jeff Raikes as president of Microsoft's Business division. A transition is underway, leading to Raikes' departure in September.
Microsoft sure is calling on lots of outside talent, suddenly. Again, I ask: Whatever happened to promoting from within, which is a longstanding Microsoft practice? Outsiders have hit-or-miss records at Microsoft. The corporate culture is quite insular. Outsiders either adapt or they flounder.
But maybe Microsoft's insular culture is the problem. New perspective is just what Microsoft needs right now, particularly for marketing. There, Peters looks good, at least from the CV. He has got solid advertising and marketing credentials, and, perhaps more importantly for Microsoft, a strong channel marketing background.
Peters takes on his new role at a crucial juncture. His marketing responsibilities will include the Windows Mobile and Windows Live Mobile brands. Microsoft needs to regain awareness captured by the iPhone. Apple's mobile is larger than life, if the marketing and enthusiast hype is to be believed. But the iPhone really is mere pipsqueak in a worldwide mobile market dominated by Nokia and an eclectic mix of Windows Mobile devices.
Can this outsider do better than insider could? We'll know soon enough, methinks. Time is against Microsoft. The Windows Mobile message needs to rise above the iPhone cacophony before Apple's mobile gets real enterprise support.
Two weeks ago, I starting using the AT&T Tilt (aka HTC 8925). The Tilt is nowhere near as stylish as the iPhone, nor is the user interface as slick. But I prefer the Tilt to the iPhone, for reasons better explained in a future post. But I would never have considered the Tilt as an iPhone alternative—and an enterprise-ready one—based on either AT&T or Microsoft marketing.
Better is no good, if no one knows about it.
Comments (7)
Tom Berber,
Thanx
I hope I'm not speaking too soon. But you are able to do what Joe was not able to do. Get ride of I-Man.
Or what I-Man should have done out of respect and that was to know that what he said was said he need not spam the site with the same cut and paste garbage.
Joe, I might now come back and read you articles and responses knowing now they are not full of spam.
Just make sure Tom your postings don't turn into spam. I would hate to fight spam with spam.
Posted by adsf | January 22, 2008 5:18 PM
Todd Peters, a former Staples brand management veep, is the new vice president of marketing for MCB.
Viruses, spyware, bugs, increasingly fragmented disks, frequent reboots, untenable DRM, and ever-increasing licensing costs?
Yeah, we got that!
Posted by Brian | January 22, 2008 5:25 PM
Huh, interesting... I seem to remember the iPhone eclipsed the entire windows mobile marketshare. (not installed base, marketshare...)
Who exactly is the pipsqueak there? If anything, both of them compared to Nokia and Motorola...
Posted by whatever | January 22, 2008 6:06 PM
So you're trying to tell us that in the space of 4 months you had as your primary phone:
.) iPhone
.) N95
.) now the HTC 8925
You know, you don't need to pretend to be owning any phone to make whatever point you want to make. Just say whatever you were paid to say and be done with it... sheesh!
Posted by oh really? | January 22, 2008 11:50 PM
Quote; "But maybe Microsoft's insular culture is the problem. New perspective is just what Microsoft needs right now, particularly for marketing."
----------------------------------------------------
Is it new perspective that Micro$oft needs right now, or would a better product really be the answer? Now matter how you market a product like Vi$ta, call it a Rose if you want, but it still smells like ____.
Posted by chips | January 23, 2008 1:39 AM
44 more days until I-Menst/criminal portuno has to find a new delusion and something else to carry on the fantasy that VCSY will survive the year without going bankrupt.
No wonder the price of VCSY stock is still falling. No wonder his pump-and-dump stock scam is such a failure.
Posted by Criminal Portuno | January 23, 2008 5:14 PM
@adsf
Thank you.
I am very sorry it has to be like this. In fact, I would be fine if Joe blocked I-Man and me. It would be worth the sacrifice to make the comments what they are supposed to be: comments on the subject at hand, not someone's underhanded attempt to bolster a stock's value. I just want this site to be about news and views and readers comments. It is not fair that we have to rifle through this I-Man's VCSY spam. This is beyond freedom of speech. What I-Man is doing is ABUSE and should be treated as such.
And I-Man has not stopped. He may have slowed for awhile, but he has posted more as of 01/24/07.
I feel justified to counter each hype and dump post by I-Man with... well... just the truth about the company. It is one of those penny stocks you might get in your email if the filter misses it.
So PLEASE, help get Microsoft Watch to be what it is supposed to be, and not a haven for stock hype-and-dump spam.
Posted by Tom Berber | January 24, 2008 3:52 PM