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Summer 1997
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Pick Systems is increasingly conscious of the need to play a leadership role in the Pick community and is gearing itself to create more of a presence. Greater press contact, more editorial coverage and positions statements on a variety of issues are all initiatives which will serve to strengthen the view that Pick is mainstream, Pick is pro-active and Pick is well-placed for growth.
Now I know that all of the cynics out there are probably saying 'so what? that is just fluff'. Well, like it or not there is no point in flinging large amounts of money on advertising and waiting for the phone to ring. What is needed is leg-work followed by more leg-work.
Decision-makers do read, and editorial carries significantly more weight than advertorial features or plain advertising - and it is difficult to get because it has to be news worthy. Getting to the press is one thing, giving them something to write about is another. It has to be topical, it has to be relevant and it has to be available right now.
Rudge Bowen has recently been seen in the company of a number of IT journalists giving the company's views on a variety of issues, not just confined to Pick Systems and its products, but to industry concerns and topical issues. Product branding, marketing on the Internet, the year 2000, data warehousing and the Java language are just some of the subjects covered. And of course there are case studies of successful implementation that demonstrate the power of the model.
On the business front, the distribution channel now benefits from three distributors, each with significant strengths: Sanderson Cotswold, ISL and CMS. Programmes have been implemented to streamline support and product availability. Reports and marketing material is available on request to companies in support of their business bids. VARs are being presented with a comprehensive handbook to make their lives easier, and it all takes time and resources - but it's getting there.
Training courses are being run or are under development to demonstrate D3,Visual Basic development, Internet and Microsoft interoperability. These are known as the 'small footprint programme' and are intended to provide skills and understanding to the business partners so that they can address these issues with tier end-users, consider how their applications can benefit, but above all engender a greater level of confidence when seeking new business opportunities.
One of the issues that has been raised, and quite rightly, is that competitive products have a much higher profile in the market, and this needs to be addressed. One of the immediate problems is that it requires a lot of effort to win over those who have never heard of the product - a feed-back loop. If Pick is more visible in the market the problem fades away. Trying to fight alternatives on functionality is a defensive posture, and we all know how the strength of marketing can blind people to pragmatism.
Coupled with this issue is one of branding and the fact that there are a variety of Pick licensee products out there that have done little to establish a unified front. Look at what has happened in the UNIX world, look at how Microsoft is fragmenting the Java initiatives. The original thinking behind licensing was to establish a large user base and differentiated solutions - playing the proprietary game. Things have changed and in open systems land branding is highly important, but it cannot be something which is not tied into a product architecture. Trying to create a new branding is rather like teaching a pig to sing: it takes considerable effort, it is not guaranteed, and it annoys the pig.
Yes, Pick Systems has been guilty of not making enough noise in the market, but instead of harping on, there is a refocusing and more dynamic approach to the whole issue of marketing, promoting success and business effectiveness.
In October, Pick Systems is going to host a VAR conference, which will be a platform for users to present case studies. There will be technical demonstrations to illustrate the functionality which will serve to position Pick and the D3 products firmly at the hub of open systems solutions. But probably as importantly, there will be opportunities to meet with and discuss issues with other business partners and Pick Systems staff and formalise activities around user groups and forums.
A marketing newsletter is about to be launched which will contain articles of interest, news stories and details of events and success stories. This will be bi-monthly and the first issue will be out in August. Apart from that, we are trying to encourage more contact with business partners to find solutions to their concerns, be they technical, administrative or competitive. If there is anything else that we should be doing, we still have a few minutes each day that are not fully occupied!
Andrew Morris
Last Updated: 30 June 1999