Marketing by criticism is not cool

Published on March 3rd, 2010 Leave your comment (2 so far) »

MacHeist is here again with a bundled selection of OSX applications for a daft price. Rarely do I find a bundle that is not worth the price. But this time I have been put off by one item in particular.

I am always on the lookout for new tools to add to the professional arsenal. But to push those I use daily off their trusted pedestals takes some effort.

The opening salvo of a sales pitch for a new FTP application that is part of the current MacHeist bundle offer, begins by criticising users for continuing with a tried, tested, trusted product that I have used for many years:

Are you still using Transmit, an app that dates all the way back to MacOS 8? Well, if so, then it’s time to make room for the new kid in town… Flow

That’s right, they open their sales pitch in that way, and continue with snipes at Transmit with reference to Transmit’s very basic text editor:

And we’re not talking about a gimped editor…

Panic’s Transmit is one of those apps that I never hesitate to upgrade. Along with hardened, mature tools like BBEDit, they have remained at the core of my day to day development work (BBEdit is even set to auto boot when my Mac starts).

Am I behind the times in my choice of tool? When I find a new tool that stands the test against those I trust, I’ll make the switch. But strip away the bells and whistles of most new tools and I generally find poor substitutes for those that already enable me to do my job.

Of course, tool choice is a personal one and there are many who would never make the same choices as me. But to go so far as to be critical of a user’s choice is an immature, insecure and ignorant form of marketing. Not the kind of company to which I want to make a professional commitment.

Tags: competition, development, FTP, ignorant, marketing
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