AMD gets tarred with the viral marketing brush

[Geo]

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=articles&go=read&arc_id=112

The story began ten days ago when two new users registered on our forums and posted a thread about AMD’s new Virtual Tradeshow. The first user was called “programmer3642†and the second was “machinetime53â€. These two started a suspicious discussion regarding AMD’s Virtual Tradeshow. The first user looked like a spammer to our staff members and we started to check it out.

After long attempts at finding more information regarding these users and their messages, we came across the fact that some users have posted very similar posts on other forums:

* HotHardware
* PC Perspective
* BigBruin
* X-bit Labs
* PC Guide
* Computing.net
* PDA Gold
* Backpage
* SwishTalk


When we were sure that these guys were just spamming, we started to check their IPs and we have been shocked to find out that the IP is leading to a company called “Design Reactorâ€. According to this company’s Website, they are dealing with advertisement, digital communications, and more. According to their Website, their main client is AMD. And there are many more clients such as: HP, Sun, Visa, Motorola and others.

Heres the original thread post:

Check out this web site! (url deleted) It's like AMD built a 3D convention hall and got a bunch of other big companies to build booths there, too. This much video and 3D must have cost a bundle!

There are, of course, many forms of viral marketing, and many of them are quite obvious and explicit as to what they are. That would not be an example of one of the happy transparent ones, in my view.

 

[SugarCoat]

Guess they didnt want to spend the dough for a comercial and a moby song.

 

[Bobbler]

I'd be surprised if this wasn't more common than we'd like to think (and usually much more sly). I'd also be surprised if there was a large company with products that target the avid forum goers that didn't partake in this type of stuff (Intel, AMD, Nvidia, ATI, Sony/SCE, Microsoft Games, Nintendo, etc.). Between places like Design Reactor, AEG, and others, it seems there is quite a bit of it going around.

 

[trinibwoy]

Well probably everybody except ATi.

 

[SugarCoat]

Amd=ati!

 

[Geo]

Some people just think that promoting moral equivalence is more important than whether that moral equivalence is in the gutter, as at least it will keep the fanbois quiet. And that's the really important thing, y'know. Or something.

AMD fanbois will now go on a frantic search for Intel viral marketing, I predict. Classic defense by attack.

 

[Corwin_B]

Some people just think that promoting moral equivalence is more important than whether that moral equivalence is in the gutter, as at least it will keep the fanbois quiet. And that's the really important thing, y'know. Or something.

AMD fanbois will now go on a frantic search for Intel viral marketing, I predict. Classic defense by attack.

QFT, sadly.

 

[Slides]

There is no indication that "Design Reactor" is doing this viral marketing on AMD's behest. They too have a stake in this "Virtual Tradeshow" and could be just doing it for their own sake. Check their site.

http://www.designreactor.com/

From what I can tell, they are not primarily a marketing firm.

 

[L233]

AFAIK, this particular form of blatantly manipulative marketing is called "stealth marketing". I certainly hope AMD wasn't stupid enough to pay that company a lot of money for their efforts because they're apparently retards who have no clue what they're doing. Stealth marketing has the annoying habbit of backfiring when people find out that they're being manipulated.

 

[Geo]

There is no indication that "Design Reactor" is doing this viral marketing on AMD's behest. They too have a stake in this "Virtual Tradeshow" and could be just doing it for their own sake. Check their site.

http://www.designreactor.com/

From what I can tell, they are not primarily a marketing firm.

Oh, I think that's generous. I can't see how that blurb about "partnership" would read any differently either way, whether DR was an independant equity participant in the tradeshow, or just did the work for AMD.

Tho I agree it is not obvious from their site that they are a marketing firm. Perhaps that explains the ham-handedness of their approach to "advertising" <kaff, kaff> this.

Edit: Really tho, for my money, "sh*t happens", particularly in big companies, and across companies to sub-contractors and consultants. Wires get crossed. High-level execs deal in the summary rather than the details, unless forced to. The bigger test to me is once it *does* plainly become apparent what is going on, how does the company deal with it? Do they jump on it and clean it up? Or not? Personally, I'm all about "go forward", rather than "flog for the past".

 

[SugarCoat]

AFAIK, this particular form of blatantly manipulative marketing is called "stealth marketing". I certainly hope AMD wasn't stupid enough to pay that company a lot of money for their efforts because they're apparently retards who have no clue what they're doing. Stealth marketing has the annoying habbit of backfiring when people find out that they're being manipulated.

You'd think they'd stop using IPs linked directly to their company after the last few oustings.

Geo i already said Intel doesnt need to higher companies, they have money for comercials with moby songs!

slight OT but funneh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwHMIxdDdu8

 

[Geo]

Tech Report got a response on this. Interestingly, they sent the request for comment to AMD, but got the response back from Design Reactor.

Basically, they blamed overenthusiastic employees, rather than an official organized effort.

http://www.techreport.com/onearticle.x/10847

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I don't know what the problem is with someone arriving at a forum and introducing themselves as employees working for a company doing this online thing for AMD, and would you like to go and visit and ask any questions?

They'd get a lot more respect if they did that, instead of this stupid cloak and dagger thing that always gets found out and makes everyone involved look like idiots.

 

[Geo]

It is a puzzlement, isn't it? Maybe for the really unofficial ones they don't feel like they can talk for the company officially, so they just don't mention it. But then you look at what they were doing here and it went further than that. They absolutely pretended to *not* be associated, which is that extra step into clear "now I will whup your ass" land when uncovered.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I just think it shows a total disrespect for the customer. Sure, there's ******s in their intended audience, but there's also a lot of people that are more clever and more net-savvy than these viral markeeters seem to be, and we outnumber them about several millions to one.

The problem is that companies like AMD (or any of the previous examples we've had) that employ these people get tarred with the same brush. Either they've got no respect for the customer, they think we're stupid and gullible, or they really don't know their target audience which makes their marketing ignorant and incompetent.

The bad publicity for a company that gets found out lying to, and dishonestly manipulating their potential customers should be enough to stop them doing it in the first place. The fact that it isn't shows the lack of morality these people have. The fact that "everyone else does it" is not a valid excuse. It's sad.

 

[schtuga]

I was playing interactive football on TSN(CFL) a couple of weeks back.mini games trivia,chat etc,when this guy comes on and says

What do you guys think of the news on www. blah blah blah

What news

The hamilton news on www. blah blah blah.
Do you think it will happen?


Will what happen?


The big news on www.blah blah blah


At this point(after all we were into the game)we realised was what he was up to ,exposed him for it and told him to blow.eventually he did.
But I think we will find this sort of thing happening more and more and in far more places.
I can see why they do it,jsut wish we could avoid it.

 

[DudeMiester]

Well I went to the virutal IT website itself, and I must admit, it is pretty damn cool. I can see how they would get so excited about it, but I disapprove of their methods.

 

[poopypoo]

I just think it shows a total disrespect for the customer. Sure, there's ******s in their intended audience, but there's also a lot of people that are more clever and more net-savvy than these viral markeeters seem to be, and we outnumber them about several millions to one.

Yeah, it really frustrates me that one of the golden tenets of modern advertising is NOT "Don't insult your customer's intelligence." Because they do that to me (and a lot of people are way smarter than me lol) all the damn time and it pisses me the #&^%!! off. I want to crush all marketers who engage in that sort of thing. With nutcrackers.

 

[Sobek]

Oh man this thread brings back memories...

Sure it's bad, but at least they're not buying out people with free hardware to come virally spam our beloved forums with trash and good word.

*hint hint*