What Vista marketers could learn from toilet paper

Toilet paper is sold more effectively than Windows Vista, according to one member of Microsoft’s UK marketing staff.

Allister Frost, of the consumer marketing team, says in his blog that he was once responsible for marketing “a well known brand of toilet tissue”, when he learned that it was best to keep things simple.

He writes: “When you're selling a commodity product that, to be frank, people wipe their backsides with, you never make the purchase decision more complicated than necessary.

“Every additional SKU (stock keeping unit) had to have a reason to be. Slow selling lines weren't tolerated by the retailers for long and, more drastically, drew shoppers' attention away from the faster selling lines where the profits were greatest.”

But for some reason, “possibly historical arrogance or just marketing naivety”, Microsoft doesn't apply similar discipline, Frost writes. “Buying Windows Vista, deciding which version to select, and getting the right flavour for your hardware, is absurdly complicated.”

He reproduces a Gizmodo chart comparing 13 editions of Vista compared with on for MacOS 10.5 and concludes: “Maybe we think our products are more engaging, more essential, more life-enhancing than anything our competitors can produce. Maybe we just enjoy making life difficult for everyone.”