What are you saying?
I’m a recent Mac convert but was excited to hear that Microsoft was preparing to launch a 30 million dollar campaign* which ‘will highlight how Windows has become an indispensable part of the lives of a billion people around the globe — not only on PCs but also now online and via mobile devices’.** It’s about time. Since 2006, Microsoft has sat by silently as Apple’s Get A Mac campaign relentlessly bashed PCs (and recently Vista) for their perceived shortcomings. I’ve always wondered if/when Microsoft would stand up and defend itself, hence my excitement about what was sometimes referred to as the ‘Windows, Not Walls’ campaign.
Well, my excitement cooled upon hearing that Jerry Seinfeld would be one of the campaign’s spokesman. This recently released ad confirmed my fears:
Okay, so when will the highlighting its indispensability start?
What a disappointment. Microsoft has no clear message, ignores Apple, and avoids the Vista topic. The commercial was about ‘nothing’. I’m not sure how beneficial Bill Gates’ appearance is but I felt Seinfeld was wrong choice of representative for the following reasons:
1. Celebrities carry a message with their image. In the public’s mind, the tv show character, Jerry Seinfeld, is the center of a show about ‘nothing’. He is self-focused, immature, passionless and unwittingly stuck in a rut. This is great fodder for Microsoft jokes but a terrible association for its advertising message.
2. The public doesn’t see Seinfeld as young, innovative, technologically savvy or significant. (This ad does nothing to remedy that). In the Get A Mac ads, Apple consistently paints PCs as machines for the serious, the stoggie and the chronically un-hip. I see this ad as a sort of confirmation that Microsoft is indeed out of touch.
3. It is rumored that the few times Seinfeld had a computer in the show, it was a Mac.
Despite this, I hoped that Microsoft would surprise me with an out-of-the box campaign. So here’s to hoping that the next installment will knock the socks off the industry and bring the positive, competitive buzz that Microsoft needs right now. Based on the reactions I’ve seen to this ad, they have one more chance to make a great impression-and point to a direction.
Also, I’m hoping Windows, Not Walls is not the new slogan. If it is, then once again, Microsoft will need some marketing magic to make this work. I doubt that this campaign will improve but I am pulling for Microsoft. I love my Mac but I also love a great fight.
Here is a Youtube video containing 15 Mac vs. PC ads. Brilliant marketing by Apple.
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*WSJ, 8/21/08
** http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/default.mspx
