I've always thought that the worst kind of desperate marketing for a product or service is when a company stops trying to say "our product is better" and starts saying; "our competitor's product is worse". Sadly, this seems to be the case with Microsoft today.

Marketing teams seem to come and go in waves. Throughout the 90's, Microsoft had some of the best marketing campaigns, while other companies like Coke, who had previously been successful, fell back on the desperate technique of attempting to bash their rival. In the case of Coke, that rival, Pepsi gained a lot of ground with their "Taste of a new Generation" campaigns.

Today, I'd say that the best marketing teams are at McDonalds - who are impressively combating the "unhealthy" image of their products and Apple, who are driving a massive resurgence in their product. Microsoft's own marketing these days is decidedly mediocre.

In fact, the mediocrity of Microsoft's marketing has reached such a low point that it's possible to plot the timing and angle of their future campaigns. It's almost as if their marketing team have set themselves calendar reminders to tell them who and when to bash.

Last week, IBM Lotusphere started. For those who don't know, this is their annual major event where they showcase their Lotus brand collaboration tools and provide road maps for its future. IBM had a very good year last year and Microsoft is obviously feeling the pinch.

As all eyes turned to watch IBM/Lotus, I began looking towards Microsoft anticipating that they'd roll out the old FUD (fear, uncertainty and disaster) bandwagon complete with unsubstantiated claims of a mass exodus from IBM and a dysfunctional migration tool.

I didn't have to wait long at all and Microsoft's marketing team dutifully rolled it out with almost no changes from last year or even (sigh!) the year before (2006). The press release was right on time too - just like a number 9 bus. Keep watching for similar styled releases whenever Apple, OpenOffice or the Linux Community have major conventions or releases.

It's sad when marketing is so predictable and so defensive. If I were Microsoft, I'd be looking to replace my marketing team with a bunch of spontaneous, proactive people before all the great work of their 90's team is completely undone.