Is Slack's TV Commercial the Beginning of the End?
If you're not familiar with Slack , it's a b-to-b software platform. More specifically, it's a lightweight collaboration tool that combines real-time messaging, archiving and search tools into one handy app. And you can integrate seemingly anything with the flexible platform, making Slack all the more useful to enterprises.
The brand is running this TV commercial right now (on at least a few cable networks).
Now before I make my point about the above ad, let me get two things on the record.
- My team and I are happy users of the Slack platform. As a result, I'm not surprised by their success and $2.8 billion valuation.
- The TV spot is great. I don't have any issues with the creative.
So what's my point?
Why is a b-to-b company trying to raise awareness with a consumer audience?
Why would a b-to-b company tap a broad reach, mass media channel like TV to reach their audience?
Does this symbolize the beginning of the end of web 2.0's pragmatism?
The Dot Com Boom, Bubble & Bust
A newly, well-funded startup making a misstep like this is more reminiscent of the dot com era.
And there are two BIG things that separate the web 2.0 and dot com eras.
Delivering on the Promise: Much of what has come to be in the web 2.0 era was first promised in the dot com era. It took technology some time to catch up to many of the ideas and claims made, but we're basically just now delivering on what was envisioned more than 15 years ago.
Pragmatism: There was a lot more questionable marketing moves taking place during the dot com era, like a b-to-b company airing a TV spot to a consumer audience. It was, arguably, fueled by over-funding and a sense of urgency that had too many really smart people prioritizing speed over strategy.
As I'm not privy to Slack's marketing strategy, I realize I may be missing something. And I hope my assumptions are wrong. Because when I see their TV spot, I feel like I'm seeing the past, not the future. And I'd assumed by know we learned from our mistakes.
Software Engineer
8yThe new commerical using the music and style of old fashioned cartoons that are fairly widely considered racist like Betty Boop is somewhat horrifying. The new commercials make it more clear that in addition to businesses they are promoting it to the public to get people to try new things and expand thier market. Slack is an integrated,modern digital convergence platform. Like email it has many potential applications. To market to businesses you must market to the people that make decisions for them. Just like commercials for prescription drugs these ads are intended to reach a fairly small portion of the audience. I don't follow how having commercials in general is questionable or negative for Slack. There are many ads for business products and services on TV and the internet. What baffles me: Why the risky commercials? The new commercial of questionable taste is mostly zanny. The 2015 AD actually very descriptive and informative, however it's definitely not as memorable as the new one. I was searching for opinions on the new commercial and found your post. What do you think?
Creative Writer and Communication Strategist | Innovation Office | ServiceNow
9yI'm curious: What cable channels is this airing on? I'm guessing that they were trying to appeal to early adopters of a certain demographic - exactly the types of people who are on their phones while watching TV and who might be able to convince their own coworkers to start using Slack.
Chief Marketing Officer, BMC Software
9yAgree the ad is baffling. Strange particularly as they produced "Yeah we tried Slack..." video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6zVzWU95Sw That video is what good looks like when telling a company story and value proposition.