Event Coverage: Norton Inner Circle
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009A number of weeks ago, I was invited by Text 100 to attend an event by Norton (yes, the people who make the anti virus), held at Equinox here in Singapore.
The first thing that I noticed at the event, was that it was a huge event. There easily over 60 people present, and further investigation revealed that some were bloggers like us, some were people interested in technology (like Tech 65), others were Norton enthusiasts and fans, others still were Norton detractors.
What? Norton’s paying money to feed detractors?
Yes you heard me right. If you watch the video by Effendy Ibrahim, he explains why it’s important to have a variety of people present to get meaningful feedback and conversations.
Later in the presentation, Norton said that while they have always been known for providing good protection, they were also known for being a computer resource hog, and agreed with that assessment. However they have learned their lesson and their latest version of Norton 360 takes up minimal resources.
That really blew me away. How many companies are mature enough and secure in their product to invite people who don’t like them, interact with them, and openly admit past mistakes? Not many, I can tell you that.
After the presentations, we broke up into smaller groups, depending on interests. I ended up in the “lifestyle” segment, where we talked about how to be safe when surfing the web. During this session it was mentioned that Generation Y spends the most time online compared to any age group, which prompted me to ask if Norton was aggressively going after this segment, given that Norton programmes are expensive and most of us students just go for the freeware.
The reply was surprisingly open (or maybe not surprising, by this time), saying that it was indeed an issue and that they were looking for an “in route” to the tertiary crowd. I was also informed that the student edition is not as expensive as I thought it was, estimated in the mid double-digits.
All in all, I was impressed not by the new version of Norton 360, but the openness towards communication with which Norton approached the session. This wasn’t an instance of a client engaging an agency to do an outreach programme for the sake of it, but the client genuinely wanting to reach out and create that connection with their audiences, knowing it will benefit them in the long run.
I have a copy of Norton Anti Virus (Gaming Edition) and a copy of Norton Utilities to give out (generously provided by Norton, of course). And all you have to do is comment why you should receive either of the products (specify which you want). Also, if you tweet this blogpost with the hashtag #Norton, you stand double the chances of winning. Closes Monday, 6th April!
Tags: detractors, enthusiasts, equinox, norton, norton 360, norton anti virus gaming edition, norton utilities, outreach programme, Singapore, symantec, tech 65, text 100
