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In the spirit of our new article series on UMPC marketing strategies, our new poll asks a simple question: Who is doing the best job of actually marketing the UMPC?

I debated whether to add an option for “none of the above” to the list, but feared that a lot of folks might actually pick it… and I would really like to see who you folks think is doing the best at getting the word out right now. Granted, that this maybe a contest to award the best dressed pig, but there has to be a winner.

I won’t bias you with my opinion right now, but don’t be so sure that my answer will be the “community” (i.e. Ultranauts.com). Please take the time to submit your answer now. It only takes a second and it will be good for your karma (and, let’s face it, you could use the boost).

Grassroots that is. But before we dive into strategy number 1, let’s set-up the context for this new article series. I think The Joker summed it up best in 1989’s Batman: “This town needs and enema!” Translating that over to the UMPC, I would say that the platform’s marketing needs an overhaul. Desperately.

Over the next week or two, we’ll explore some of the things that Microsoft and partners can do to get the UMPC marketing machine back on track. After a stellar viral campaign that brought on an Origami frenzy, thinks have been less than quiet. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen such a hyped announcement followed by virtually nothing. Complete and utter silence. And worse… but we’ll talk about all of that in good time. For now, onto overhaul strategy #1…

UMPC Marketing Overhaul Strategy #1: Move from a viral marketing mentality to a grassroots marketing paradigm.

I’ll be first to admit that I thought the lead-up to Origami/UMPC was pretty good (though it got away from even Microsoft in those final hours). It got buzz, attention, press and a heck of alot of sites popping up to support and champion it (it had more dedicated URLs to its name than I’ve actually seen pop-up to cover any product, ever). But something happened after the viral campaign. Nothing happened. Microsoft went dark. People were getting their information from FCC filings. And the extent of Microsoft’s marketing efforts was some shaky-cam footage (from a cellphone!) of the UMPC in action during an interview between Otto Burkes and a Washington reporter. Lameness.

Here’s what MS missed. They failed to transition from viral marketing to grassroots marketing (which would then ultimately lead to a bit of mass marketing in due time). MS (and the partners) have a tremendous amount of entusiastic champions in the online community — from PDA-fans to laptop-fans to tablet-fans to fans-of-any-gadget-in-general. Look at the technocrati blog post spikes for UMPC in the week following its launch. That was a wave of grassroots momentum that Microsoft should have ridden. But they chose not to.

Yes, it is easy for me to say that they didn’t take advantage of their opportunity. So, what could they have done. Well, I’m not going to share my full 23-page PowerPoint plan, but here are a few examples of what should have been done in the days and weeks immediately following the announcement:

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Asus announced today that its UMPC will have a biometric security option, amoong other security enhancements:

ASUSTeK recognizes that today’s mobile workforce requires comprehensive protection technology to meet evolving security needs. A variety of ASUSTeK portable notebooks, including the new R2H Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC), provide the best security management options for protecting data integrity through both software and hardware features. The ASUSTeK ASPM system guards access to the device and any related networks using embedded multifactor authentication procedures managed by the Single Sign-On (SSO) function, allowing simple one-time log-in without compromising security.

It seems some of the vendors are getting further and further from the pre-launch consumer market that Microsoft carved out for the UMPC. Do these people look like they need biometric security?

You can read the full PR here via hardwarezone.com.

I’m being a little harsh on Rob Enderle, the President of the Enderle Analyst Group. He seems like a very knowledgable chap. And he is quite charismatic… he reminds me of Leo Laporte from the old TechTV days. And Rob reads really, really well.

Rob has taken a stab at episode two of his 4-part UMPC love letter. If you missed part 1, go here now.

Today’s insight? Forget about comparing the UMPC do any other device. The UMPC is its own machine with unique abilities that separate it from the crowd. Also, the TabletPC is dead. Ok, he didn’t say that last part exactly.

Remember that early, leaked video of the UMPC (way back when this was all known as the top-secret Origami Project)? We’ll if you’re an old-timer like me, then you’ll probably also remember that the video promised a gaming future where Halo was made portable (and possible) on the UMPC. It was the promise of that video that initially got me excited about the UMPC. Halo on-the-go? I’m so there.

We’ll marketing hype and reality don’t usually make good bedfellows. Apparently Halo will not be coming to the UMPC anytime soon. But, Microsoft is showing us the silver-lining: as of today, a Whack-a-Mole clone called Hammer Heads is the official debut game for the UMPC platform. Yawn!

“It’s great to have PopCap onboard developing innovative titles for the new Ultra-Mobile PC category,” said Otto Berkes, General Manager of the Ultra-Mobile PC group at Microsoft Corp. “The portability of UMPCs makes them a fantastic casual gaming platform. Add in the unique touch screen interface, and you have a whole new level of interactivity that creates some exciting possibilities for gamers.”

Did you catch it? “Casual gaming platform.” Of course, after seeing the specs and the battery life reports, we all knew that “casual” was the best we could hope for in the near-term. But, still, the promise of that Halo video gave me just a hint of hope that something was coming.

Hit popcap.com soon for more information on Hammer Heads

Hot on the heels of some lukewarm reviews, the first batch of UMPCs from the likes of Samsung and TabletKiosk are getting hammered on their battery life. The latest smackdown comes from Carrypad, who did some of the best pre-availability analysis I’ve seen regarding the UMPC, including battery life projections.

I’m a bit sceptical now that we’re going to reach 2.5 hours for a film. It also calls into question the rest of the battery life predictions.

You can see the rest of CarryPad’s concerns — as well as some direct links to some 3rd party battery tests — by going here.

It’s always nice to see an analyst sell out give a big endorsement to the UMPC platform. This is part 1 of a 4 part love fest between Rob Enderle, President of the Enderle Analyst Group, and the UMPC.

In this exciting episode, Rob tells us why we should welcome our new UMPC overlords with open arms… before they ultimately invade and merge with our bodies at the cellular level.

No, I’m not kidding.