Microsoft lawsuit efforts under par

by MATTHEW BOYLE, PR Week USA 01-Sep-99

NEW YORK: Microsoft’s overall PR efforts are solid, but the software giant has dropped the ball PR-wise during its antitrust lawsuit.

NEW YORK: Microsoft’s overall PR efforts are solid, but the

software giant has dropped the ball PR-wise during its antitrust

lawsuit.

This was the key finding of the latest PRWeek/Impulse Research survey

conducted last week. Almost three-quarters (74.3%) of respondents said

that Redmond, WA-based Microsoft does a good job at PR, but less than

half (40%) thought it is handling the antitrust lawsuit appropriately

(see analysis, p9).

When asked what the company should do to counter bad PR, responses

ranged from ’get a new PR firm, pronto’ to ’nothing - bad press is

irrelevant to Microsoft.’ As for the role that CEO Bill Gates should

play, respondents were similarly divided: ’Get Gates out there telling

the story of the company’ was followed by ’don’t use Gates ... he

appears to be a whining victim.’

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