Larry De’Ath’s Top 10 Best Practices for Analyst Relations

Last April, Larry De’Ath, a good friend and colleague of mine passed away. I had the opportunity to work with Larry for a little over four years during his time at GXS. Through my work with Larry, I gained a newfound appreciation for the complexities of AR. And I learned how someone who is highly skilled in the AR trade can generate significantly higher ROI from analyst firms and broader market influence. Having had one year to reflect on the lessons I learned from Larry, I decided to put together a Top 10 list of the Best Practices in AR he advocated. My list is below, but I would encourage those of you who knew Larry personally to add your own comments as well.

Microsoft takes a Bite out of Apple’s Core Strengths with New TV Ads

In my opinion, Microsoft’s advertising campaigns are among the worst I have seen in any industry. I find both their print and television campaigns to be non-impactful. It is not clear to me what the message is supposed to be and who the target audience is. The Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld commercials introduced last fall were totally lost on me. But in this latest series of Laptop Hunter ads that aired during the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, Microsoft has turned it around!