I’ve been very busy the last few weeks and find myself just now catching up. As I do, there’s a few articles and blog posts that grabbed by attention.

It all started with a few posts (like this one) about Lotus Notes 8 splash screens. What’s wrong with that? Nothing. Except that it made me realize its the closest thing to “marketing” that I’ve seen come out of IBM/Lotus on this new product.

Now, I’m a Notes 8 beta user and I can tell you that its a big advancement. I totally get the roadmap that’s inherint in this product. The use of eclipse is smart and the ability to have productivity editors (light versions of products like Word, Excel, etc.) built into the application is awesome! I think that one feature alone could draw some serious attention to Notes 8. — The problem: IBM/Lotus isn’t drawing attention to Notes 8.

Sure, blogs are talking about it. Sure, there’s a couple of news articles out there on it. But nothing on the scale of the “R5″ release … and there should be! This version has some huge potential for people. And when you add things like Quickr and Connections to the mix, Lotus quickly becomes a brand that IT Managers should be paying attention to.

Which brings me to this article from IT-Director.com. In short, the author thinks that IBM shouldn’t continue to use the Lotus brand because its not helping to draw attention to their new products. And yet, even though Information Week didn’t mention it, Lotus DOES have a strong cult following. And that probably started because people who worked at the original Lotus clearly had passion for what they were doing, be it 1-2-3 or Notes or whatever.

So let’s recap:

• Notes 8 = potentially one of the greatest versions of Notes in a long time
• Connections & Quickr = potentially great new additions to a company that IT Managers should pay attention to
• IBM = recognizing branding power of “Lotus” and continuing to use it
• Lotus = has a cult following

So … why aren’t there more ads? Maybe IBM doesn’t think that Lotus products (which fit in any organization but fit particularly well in SMB’s) aren’t attractive to small-medium business. No, that can’t be it.

I’m not sure why the only “hype” about this product is limited to blogs, trade rags and splash screens on Flickr. While the beta still “feels” like a beta, its very very promising. I say: hype it up! Let’s see some ads! Let’s see some TV time for Notes 8, Quickr and Connections. Remind IT Managers why they should continue to invest in Notes, or better yet, why they should ditch Microsoft (or other email programs … my wife’s office is still on GroupWise!) software and adopt Lotus. Its a great decision … you just need to explain to NEW customers WHY its a great decision. And it all starts with attracting their attention … in an ad.

I’ll even get you started. What about … “I am, 2.0″ - clever, eh?

Now … I’m not endorsing a redo of the “I am” ads, they had sizzle, but no steak. I think there ought to be a campaign that has some element in it that appeals to the existing Lotus cult following (thus the “I am, 2.0″ thing), but more importantly, the ads need to clearly tell NEW customers why they should consider Notes 8. Its got to have a balance of “hey this is cool and looks great” and “wow, this will make my organization faster, better and more powerful.”

Also … I know that Notes 8 is still in beta, thus running an ad right now might be premature. Then again, maybe not. There’s something to be said for hyping a product LONG before its ready to come out. If only I could think of an example of a company that does that… hmmm…..