{"id":38544,"date":"2023-10-20T14:57:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/slack-shoots-microsoft-with-friendly-advice-in-jungle-of-collaborative-apps-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:57:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:57:14","slug":"slack-shoots-microsoft-with-friendly-advice-in-jungle-of-collaborative-apps-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/slack-shoots-microsoft-with-friendly-advice-in-jungle-of-collaborative-apps-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Slack shoots Microsoft with “friendly advice” in jungle of collaborative apps – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Workplace messaging start-up Slack has gone head to head with Microsoft, addressing the tech giant in a very public way after the release of Microsoft\u2019s competing software, Teams.<\/p>\n

Teams was announced today at a Microsoft event in New York where it was revealed the software would be integrated with the company\u2019s Office 365 suite.<\/p>\n

Office 365 is a cloud-based offering of Microsoft\u2019s programs like Word, Excel, and Outlook and the service has over 85 million monthly users.<\/p>\n

Slack was launched in 2013, and two years later the service was boasting 500,000 daily users and a company valuation of $2.76 billion.<\/p>\n

Read more: Slack can whip your business team into shape<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Teams will offer many similar features to Slack, including chat features, file sharing, and customisable\u00a0groups.<\/p>\n

Microsoft is hoping to set itself apart from Slack with heightened security features and by allowing users to collaboratively edit documents within the application.<\/p>\n

Microsoft has even gotten on-board with Slack\u2019s emoji and gif offerings, and Teams\u00a0includes \u201ca library of emojis, GIFs, custom stickers and memes\u201d to let users \u201cexpress personality within their digital workspace\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve designed Office 365 to meet the unique needs of every group, with purpose-built applications \u2014 like Outlook, SharePoint and Yammer \u2014 that all naturally work together.<\/p>\n

And now with Microsoft Teams, Office 365 accommodates all work styles,\u201d corporate vice president of Office Kirk Koenigsbauer said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Microsoft has made it clear it has no qualms competing with Slack, with corporate VP of Office 365 marketing Ron Markezich telling Business Insider<\/a>\u00a0that Slack was an \u201capplication du jour\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle companies come and go,\u201d Markezich said.<\/p>\n

In response to Microsoft\u2019s launch, Slack went one better, taking out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times<\/em> welcoming Teams to the market, reports AdWeek<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDear Microsoft. Wow. Big news! Congratulations on today\u2019s announcements.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re genuinely excited to have some competition,\u201d the advertisement reads.<\/p>\n

\n

That feeling when you think “we should buy a full page in the Times and publish an open letter,” and then you do. 💫 pic.twitter.com\/BQiEawRA6d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Stewart Butterfield (@stewart) November 2, 2016<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe realised a few years ago that the value of switching to Slack was so obvious and the advantages so overwhelming that every business would be using Slack, or \u201csomething just like it\u201d within the decade. It\u2019s validating to see you\u2019ve come around to the same way of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ad continues with some \u201cfriendly advice\u201d to Microsoft on how to make Teams succeed, whilst simultaneously advertising Slack\u2019s features.<\/p>\n

Slack advises Teams to offer more features than Slack, saying Microsoft will not succeed \u201cby making a big list of Slack\u2019s features and simply checking those boxes\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ad also states Microsoft will need to \u201cdo this with love\u201d and take a \u201cradically different approach\u201d if the company wants to match what Slack already offers.<\/p>\n

Finally, the ad ends on a somewhat threatening note, stating \u201cOne final point: Slack is here to stay\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see Slack at work in nearly every newsroom and every technology company across the country. It\u2019s the only tool preferred by both late night comedy writers and risk & compliance officers,\u201d the ad reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is in some of the world\u2019s largest enterprises as well as tens of thousands of businesses on the main streets of towns and cities all over the planet. And we\u2019re just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marketing expert at Marketing Angels Michelle Gamble told SmartCompany<\/em> Slack\u2019s approach was \u201cvery effective newsjacking\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that they pre-empted the launch by Microsoft is quite clever. Before anyone is talking about Teams it\u2019s bringing Slack into the conversation,\u201d Gamble says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about Microsoft\u2019s new product anymore, it\u2019s about the new Slack competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gamble believes Slack\u2019s response is \u201creally serious\u201d despite the \u201cplayful\u201d tone of the advertisement.<\/p>\n

Nicole Reaney, crisis communications expert at InsideOut PR agrees, telling SmartCompany<\/em>\u00a0the ad is \u201ctongue in cheek in its format with a serious undertone\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese marketing ideas are really great for confirming a brand\u2019s position in the market in a fun and appealing way,\u201d Reaney says.<\/p>\n

The ad\u2019s targeted position in the New York Times<\/em> is no accident, says Gamble, as the readers of the newspaper are more likely to be the key decision makers in businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ad is telling all the key decision makers why Slack is a leading product, and what it offers over Microsoft\u2019s new product,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Neither Gamble nor Reaney believe\u00a0the ad will come across as petty in any way, with Reaney saying \u201cit would be petty if there was no strong brand defence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the launch has ruffled Slack\u2019s feathers,\u201d Reaney says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not often competing brands go head to head in a cheeky public forum, so it\u2019s a tactic that will bring brand attention and create viral spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both agree there is little risk involved with Slack\u2019s bold campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it will look petty, the whole thing was done quite intelligently and in an articulate way.<\/p>\n

You need to have a good level of brand awareness before you attempt something like this.\u201d Gamble says.<\/p>\n

Microsoft could not provide comment on the matter, and SmartCompany<\/em> did not receive a response from Slack prior to publication.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on SmartCompany<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Workplace messaging start-up Slack has gone head to head with Microsoft, addressing the tech giant in a very public way<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}