The Battle Over Desktop Real Estate
By Paul E. Burke, Sat Dec 10th
I was watching a late night financial program on television inearly July, 2001 when I learned that Microsoft is allowing PCmanufacturers to control which icons are included on newDesktops. Historically, Microsoft has argued that the Windowsdesktop was their "sacrosanct intellectual property" and thatonly their icons -- not those of their competitors -- couldreside on the desktop of a new computer. This was highly interesting to me since it confirms what I havebeen repeatedly saying over the past year -- that the Windowsdesktop is extremely valuable marketing real estate. As a matterof fact, Microsoft and its competitors found it to be sovaluable that a federal court case was fought over access to thedesktop (among other issues regarding the Windows operatingsystem). It is interesting that there are still naysayers who questionthe marketing power of the Windows desktop. One person comes tomind who wrote me to say that he thought desktop marketing was a"neat gimmick." I was incredulous at this kind of uninformedattitude! You don't have to be a marketing genius to see thatthe desktop is perhaps one of the most *logical* places toadvertise. Think about it. What other screen on the entirecomputer system is the first screen you see when you boot up?What other screen is always visible? The Windows desktop!
It is clear that Microsoft and their competitors don't view theWindows desktop as a "neat gimmick." Federal court cases thatcost millions of dollars are not fought over gimmicks no matterhow "neat" they may be. One thing I would like to point out is that Microsoft assignedan almost religious value to the Windows desktop by referring toit as their "sacrosanct intellectual property." Let's take alook at the definition of "sacrosanct" as defined by Websters: Sacrosanct comes from Latin sacrosanctus, consecrated withreligious ceremonies, hence holy, sacred, from sacrum, religiousrite (from sacer, holy) + sanctus consecrated (from sancire, tomake sacred by a religious act). When Microsoft called the Windows desktop their "sacrosanctintellectual property" they assigned a holy or sacred value toit. Again, no "neat gimmick" here. What makes the Windows desktop so valuable? It is the fact thatvery few people buy on a first time visit to a site. The key tomaking sales is *repetition*. It is a basic marketing principlethat the
overwhelming majority of customers need to be exposedto an offer three or more times before actually making thepurchase. And the Windows desktop provides the multipleexposures necessary to make the sale. Here are the facts: - Capturing the desktop is key to capturing users, eyeballs, andmarket share. - The desktop is the first screen the user seeswhen the computer boots up. - The desktop is the only persistentscreen that the user returns to again and again. For the believers in desktop marketing the question is *how* toget their company on the desktop. Big companies that have themoney are paying OEMs such as Compaq, Dell, and Gatewaysubstantial sums to get their icons shipped on the desktops ofnew computers. As a matter of fact, it was reported that incertain instances AOL will pay OEMs around $35 per computer toplace AOL on the Windows XP desktop. Ouch! $35 per desktopshortcut. That's quite a King's ransom. Historically, the cost of getting on the desktop has beenextremely high which speaks to the value of desktop real estate.It is my belief that desktop marketing is going to fast replacethe "old ways" of online marketing -- many of which simply don'twork. On the contrary, desktop marketing is highly effective andgets results and these successful companies know it. But the Windows desktop is no longer the exclusive territory ofFortune 500 companies. The good news is See You Again Software,LLC offers extremely affordable desktop marketing products thatallow small online businesses to place their company icons onthe desktop -- right next to industry giants like AOL andMicrosoft. Visitors can then click on the icon at any time --right from their desktop -- and are automatically taken directlyback to the businesses' web site. So, once again, I am beating the drums for desktop marketing.Remember, there is a reason that America Online is amulti-billion dollar Fortune 500 company. The marketingexecutives at AOL are not wet behind the ears -- they areseasoned marketers who know they must be aggressive to getresults. And desktop marketing is a key component in gettingthose results. About the author:Paul E. Burke is President of See You Again Software, LLC andthe innovator behind the #1 best-selling professional desktopmarketing products in history. You can e-mail him atpburke@seeyouagainsoftware.com. To learn more about desktopmarketing and how it can increase your customer acquisition andretention, please visit: http://www.seeyouagainsoftware.com |
