The Battle Over Desktop Real Estate

The Battle Over Desktop Real Estate

I was watching a late night financial program on television in early
July, 2001 when I learned that Microsoft is allowing PC
manufacturers to control which icons are included on new Desktops.
Historically, Microsoft has argued that the Windows desktop was
their "sacrosanct intellectual property" and that only their icons --
not those of their competitors -- could reside on the desktop of a
new computer.

This was highly interesting to me since it confirms what I have been
repeatedly saying over the past year -- that the Windows desktop is
extremely valuable marketing real estate. As a matter of fact,
Microsoft and its competitors found it to be so valuable that a
federal court case was fought over access to the desktop (among
other issues regarding the Windows operating system).

It is interesting that there are still naysayers who question the
marketing power of the Windows desktop. One person comes to mind who
wrote me to say that he thought desktop marketing was a "neat
gimmick." I was incredulous at this kind of uninformed attitude! You
don't have to be a marketing genius to see that the desktop is
perhaps one of the most *logical* places to advertise. Think about
it. What other screen on the entire computer system is the first
screen you see when you boot up? What other screen is always
visible? The Windows desktop!

It is clear that Microsoft and their competitors don't view the
Windows desktop as a "neat gimmick." Federal court cases that cost
millions of dollars are not fought over gimmicks no matter
how "neat" they may be.

One thing I would like to point out is that Microsoft assigned an
almost religious value to the Windows desktop by referring to it as
their "sacrosanct intellectual property." Let's take a look at the
definition of "sacrosanct" as defined by Websters:

Sacrosanct comes from Latin sacrosanctus, consecrated with
religious ceremonies, hence holy, sacred, from sacrum, religious
rite (from sacer, holy) + sanctus consecrated (from sancire, to make
sacred by a religious act).

When Microsoft called the Windows desktop their "sacrosanct
intellectual property" they assigned a holy or sacred value to it.
Again, no "neat gimmick" here.

What makes the Windows desktop so valuable? It is the fact that very
few people buy on a first time visit to a site. The key to making
sales is *repetition*. It is a basic marketing principle that the
overwhelming majority of customers need to be exposed to an offer
three or more times before actually making the purchase. And the
Windows desktop provides the multiple exposures necessary to make
the sale. Here are the facts:

- Capturing the desktop is key to capturing users, eyeballs,
and market share.

- The desktop is the first screen the user sees when the
computer boots up.

- The desktop is the only persistent screen that the user
returns to again and again.

For the believers in desktop marketing the question is *how* to get
their company on the desktop. Big companies that have the money are
paying OEMs such as Compaq, Dell, and Gateway substantial sums to
get their icons shipped on the desktops of new computers. As a
matter of fact, it was reported that in certain instances AOL will
pay OEMs around $35 per computer to place AOL on the Windows XP
desktop. Ouch! $35 per desktop shortcut. That's quite a King's
ransom.

Historically, the cost of getting on the desktop has been extremely
high which speaks to the value of desktop real estate. It is my
belief that desktop marketing is going to fast replace the "old
ways" of online marketing -- many of which simply don't work. On the
contrary, desktop marketing is highly effective and gets results and
these successful companies know it.

But the Windows desktop is no longer the exclusive territory of
Fortune 500 companies. The good news is www.SeeYouAgainSoftware.com
offers extremely affordable desktop marketing products that allow
small online businesses to place their company icons on the desktop -
- right next to industry giants like AOL and Microsoft. Visitors
can then click on the icon at any time -- right from their desktop --
and are automatically taken directly back to the businesses' web
site.

So, once again, I am beating the drums for desktop marketing.
Remember, there is a reason that America Online is a multi-billion
dollar Fortune 500 company. The marketing executives at AOL are not
wet behind the ears -- they are seasoned marketers who know they
must be aggressive to get results. And desktop marketing is a key
component in getting those results.

Paul E. Burke is President of See You Again Software, LLC and the
innovator behind the #1 best-selling professional desktop marketing
products in history. You can e-mail him at
pburke@.... To learn more about desktop
marketing and how it can increase your customer acquisition and
retention, please visit: http://www.seeyouagainsoftware.com