It's HARD to Break the Marketing Mold

Yesterday a friend who is starting an Oracle blog emailed me her first post. I won’t share it here, but it a was well-written piece of marketing copy about an industry analyst report. Here’s my reply to her:

It's good, of course, but I think it's off the mark.

I think your posts need to add value right off the bat and need to ENGAGE something that’s out there on the Web or at an event, or something that’s happening here at campus.

For example, what is [our competitor] saying about the analyst numbers and how can you set the record straight?

Or how are these numbers reflected in the moves that Oracle is making? Do they mean that we can scale up developers and do stuff that others can’t? Are there some examples, such as a hiring binge in India or China or here? Are we using our market share advantage to pump out database options that no one else has the resources to build and is there someone from one of those teams that has a blog you can reference?

Other ideas for posts: Is there a new database learning event out there and is there a blog post about it you can link to? Did someone from Oracle just go to the TDWI conference and give a talk or learn something new and blog about it? Or can you link to their abstract and tell people where to learn more?

Is someone you know planning something interesting (that we can talk about) at OpenWorld: an interesting session topic, or an off-site event; something “inside” that you can show people? This is the kind of stuff you should lead with. This is the kind of stuff that will engage people in the blog.

What do you think?

It's hard to break away from the official marketing voice that we've learned over the years and speak directly to people. I applaud my friend for making the first step.
- Jeff

Where I'm Going with Web Video

Socialrank.com has a good example on their home page of where I'm going Web video at Oracle. Click on the move below "Introducing Discovery Engine..." and you will see a way to bring some enjoyment to you and your visitor while solidly making your point. This is the quality I'm driving towards with shows like One Minute Oracle.

Of course Web video is also good for spur-of-the-moment broadcasting and we'll see a lot of that at OpenWorld, including some from me.

How Quickly Can You Construct a Video?

In the Brand and Creative group we’re experimenting with iMovie as a storytelling tool that allows you to bring real human beings into your technology reporting. So while on staycation last week, I experimented with how quickly one could use iMovie to create videos. The following one, shot on a short Mt. bike ride from the coast into Big Basin park, took me about a half hour to construct after I had pulled in the video from our Flip video. IMovie 08 makes is easy to choose scenes, add transitions and titles. I “shared” the movie at the highest quality and then uploaded the 17MB file to YouTube. BTW, this is a great little ride; Waddell Beach to Berry Creek Falls.