The fake protest that launched Salesforce

Key Concepts:

• Guerilla Marketing
• Protest Stunt
• User Conference
• Publicity
• Staged Event
• Media Manipulation

The Salesforce Protest Stunt

The speaker recounts a guerilla marketing tactic employed to launch their product, leveraging a Salesforce user conference in San Francisco. The goal was to generate publicity and create buzz.

Staging the Protest:

• The team hired actors and acquired picket signs from Home Depot.
• They created signs with slogans like "The End of Software is Near," aiming to satirize the software industry.
• The protest was staged outside the Salesforce event.

Escalating the Situation:

• Tom Siebel, presumably the CEO of Salesforce, emerged from the building and became visibly upset by the protest.
• The team then deployed additional actors posing as a news crew in a van.
• These "news reporters" interviewed the protesters, making Siebel believe it was a legitimate media event.

Siebel's Reaction and Aftermath:

• Siebel, believing it was a real media event, called the police.
• The speaker emphasizes that Siebel is a "great guy" but was genuinely upset by the staged protest.
• The speaker notes that Siebel didn't immediately realize the protest was a marketing stunt orchestrated by them.

Conclusion:

The speaker describes a successful, albeit provocative, guerilla marketing campaign that involved a staged protest outside a Salesforce event. The stunt aimed to generate publicity by creating a spectacle and manipulating the perception of a real media event. The speaker highlights the effectiveness of the tactic in capturing attention, even if it initially upset the target, Tom Siebel.