doubt

GET FIRED OR FIRED UP?

One of the most effective business-to-business ad campaigns of a generation ago was built around the concept that nobody ever got fired for recommending IBM. At the time, new computer companies were springing up left and right, offering promising but unproven technology. IBM may not have been exciting, but it was considered to be the safe choice.

What made the campaign effective was not what it said, but what it implied. IT managers and other corporate executives read the ads and thought, “They’re right. If I recommend one of those other companies and the technology doesn’t work, I’m going to get the blame. IBM may cost more, but everybody knows and trusts them.”

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