The Basement

Last Friday I posted about Cymfony's newly announced Knowledge Center. I brought up some issues that I feel make this resource less effective than in possibly could be. Specifically, I felt that some of the material was too slanted towards Cymfony to be considered unbiased and as such potentially undermines the credibility of the entire site as an objective educational resource.

In response, Jim Nail, Cymfony's Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, posted comments describing Cymfony's intent with the site, acknowledging my concerns and letting me know what he plans to do about it. (There's also some interesting dialog between myself and German WOMM guru Martin Oetting of the Consumer Empowerment blog.)

That said, Mr. Nail doesn't say he going to change anything.

What he does say is that I've made some valid points and they are going to review their information and that their intent is to educate industry professionals to help reduce the barrier to entry.

So, am I upset? Am I going to rant about how talk is cheap?

Nope. "But Matt, why not?" you ask in surprise. "That's what we come here for!" Well, folks, not today. You see, even though Mr. Nail doesn't promise change, he has provided a cogent and thoughtful response. He's explained their position in very reasonable terms. He's not guilty of either of the two normal marketing guy responses - ignore or blindly defend. He's discovered detractor Kyptonite... he's done the one thing that detractors fear most... he's engaged in a conversation!

You see, if he's being reasonable and I respond in any way other that respectful appreciation, I look like an ass - the proverbial clueless moron.

Think back to the early days of my Volkswagen rant... Just think, if someone from Volkswagen had taken the time to post a couple of paragraphs about how and why they were doing what they were doing, how could I have continued without looking unreasonable? As it turns out, four plus months later I'm posting about somebody at Playboy Googling Kerri Martin (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

So Mr. Nail and Cymfony get a gold star for engaging detractors. Take note folks, this is exactly how it is done.

But enough of my engage your detractors rant... besides, from the comments Mr. Nail left, I think he probably will make a change or two because I think he thinks it will make the resource better. (I think he's right. ;) ) This is also a sign or Cymfony practicing what they preach. Above all else, WOMM is about listening in order to improve. Oh, by the way, Mr. Nail makes several points about including links to resource that mention their competitors and such, and he's right about every one.

Okay, moving on... in his comments, Mr. Nail makes a couple of really good points that I'd like to highlight. This paragraph jumped out at me...

The second design criterion was to be, in your words, "a primer for the uninitiated." In meeting with prospects (and from my days at Forrester), we hear comments like, "My VP just tasked me with developing a blog strategy and I don't know where to start." I believe the greatest barrier to growth of this area is lack of knowledge and understanding of the trends and how they impact business.

Since I think about this stuff all the time, this is something I sometimes lose sight of - not everybody get this. My petty criticism aside, Cymfony's Knowledge Center does a good job of giving folks a good starting point for these trends.

In closing, Mr. Nail, writes...

The line between "marketing propaganda" and "curriculum marketing" (to use Lester Wunderman's phrase) can be a thin one. I'll review the articles and if we crossed the line, try to dial it back a bit. In the meantime, let's continue the dialogue.

I love the phrase "curriculum marketing." While ultimately, Mr. Nail and I may have to agree to disagree about where the thin line lies, I think that smart companies like Cymfony are focused on educating their customers.

As an added bonus, I would also like to point you to the WOMMA WOMBAT podcast interview that Dave Evans did with Jim Nail prior to the event. I just listened to it this weekend and I really enjoyed it.