The first 15 seconds of AT&T’s “network of possibilities” commercials like the one below, always remind me of IBM’s long running Smarter Planet commercials.
And they similarly raise in my mind the question: How much of the technology in the commercial beyond the network (or services) comes from AT&T (or IBM)? The answer, depending on the commercial, is very little. I call it hitching your trailer to someone else’s hot product = trailer tow marketing.
Not just AT&T and IBM, it is amazing how many vendors are managing to work in an Apple or Google product into their demos and marketing.
If you think that’s your competitive differentiator, think again. The common innovation denominator is the Apple or Google product, you are the filler!
