{"id":936,"date":"2008-08-05T01:00:31","date_gmt":"2008-08-05T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/?p=936"},"modified":"2008-08-05T01:00:44","modified_gmt":"2008-08-05T09:00:44","slug":"microsoft%e2%80%99s-attempt-at-geny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/?p=936","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft\u2019s Attempt at GenY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, Genius.\u00a0 We want you.\u00a0 We know you\u2019re genius in some way or another.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re code crazy, binary brilliant or master of origami dollhouses, it\u2019s all good by us.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re feeling genius at the moment, or just want to tale a cerebral siesta, come take a look around.\u00a0 ((Retrieved from http:\/\/hey-genius.com\/ on July 16, 2008.))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hat tip to Fistfull of Talent who\u2019s Kris Dunn says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Seen an Apple ad lately?\u00a0 Then you know Microsoft is getting hammered in the branding business.\u00a0 Just for the record, in those Apple ads, Apple is represented by the cool tech guy, Microsoft is the overweight, uncool guy who likes wearing a suit.\u00a0 But you knew that – you’re sharp…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To it’s credit, Microsoft knows it has a problem<\/a> and is taking steps to try and get the cool factor going again.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I think Mircrosoft is doing wrong though.\u00a0 Smart people are going to Google and Apple not because they are going where smart people are, but because this is where the market perceives all the cool work to be happening.\u00a0 After all, stodgy operating systems and Microsoft Word is pretty dull.\u00a0 The Hey Genius campaign doesn\u2019t address the core problem of the employer brand \u2013 that they are seen as an old company with no interesting work for innovative young people.\u00a0 For this campaign to work, they don\u2019t need to acknowledge that there is a diversity of really smart young people around, but instead they need to show those young people why Microsoft is also cool.<\/p>\n

Hear from a Program Manager, Software Development Engineer & Software Development Engineer in Test talk about their recent internships at Microsoft and the impact they\u2019re now making on the company as full-time employees.\u00a0 ((Ibid))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I mean seriously, Gen Y doesn\u2019t care about the impact they make at the company.\u00a0 They want broader opportunities \u2013 they dream of changing the world and having a global effect by creating things at work.\u00a0 And within those broader opportunities, they want to have incredible learning experiences that propel them to new and better work, that is equally exciting and global.<\/p>\n

The point being, if you need to revamp your employer brand, make sure you understand your audience.\u00a0 I feel like in Microsoft\u2019s case, this new take on the employer brand is inward looking, and still misdirected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey, Genius.\u00a0 We want you.\u00a0 We know you\u2019re genius in some way or another.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re code crazy, binary brilliant or master of origami dollhouses, it\u2019s all good by us.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re feeling genius at the moment, or just…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communications","category-engagement","category-talent-acquisition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}