Tarnished Relationships, Clinton and Microsoft

Good points from Seth Godin on how very hard it is to recover from any tarnished relationship (where mistrust surges to the extent that one side builds a brick wall to make damn sure they tune you out). Better to avoid the lure of trading in some of your hard-earned trust and instead build on it, leverage it, multiply it, extend it. It's never 'just a few pennies' (nod to Todd) from the trust piggy bank.

Clinton's brand is so tarnished for a portion of the population that they'd likely refuse a cash gift from him. They certainly didn't bother to read the post until the end... they just decided they hated him, it, and by extension, me. Worth thinking about when you decide to trade in a little brand equity to move people to, say, an opt out spam program... (from Seth's post)

Ooops, what if you're already in the doghouse?

Robert Scoble (among other Redmond folks) is in the unfortunate predicament of regaining the trust that Microsoft has lost over time. That's not his only job but it ends up being everyone's job at MS. And no, Microsoft is not merely hated because it is big and successful - anyone that's been a software vendor knows their tactics don't engender trust...and certainly not love. There remain many rabid Microsoft haters. "I HATE Microsoft" is their rallying cry. (Maybe a lot of them aren't bloggers, or much more likely they hate MS so much that they're not even going to 'waste' their breath and engage with you, Robert.) "They'd likely refuse a cash gift"...if it came from Microsoft's filthy coffers.

I'm easy to win back. I was never in the "I hate Microsoft" camp. Mostly because hate is strong word and it takes a LOT to rile me up. But I never really really liked Microsoft either. Although not as catchy, I definitely was in the "Microsoft's behavior disgusts me" camp. Probably on par with those that feel (for entirely different reasons) that "Clinton's behavior disgusts me".

I have warmed up to Microsoft for two reasons. 1- I haven't dealt with them head-to-head in a few years so I don't have first-hand knowledge that they haven't changed and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. 2- And getting to the "I'll give them the benefit of the doubt" viewpoint is in huge part due to the bloggers at Microsoft. They've gone a long way in putting back some authentic currency in the ol' trust piggy bank.

Comments

[Robert Scoble]

Thanks for the kind words. Good stuff, rings true with me too.