Do you see it as a response to Apple's advertisements?
Here the Microsoft advertisement:
and here you have one of Apple's advertisements against Microsoft.
So, maybe you're wondering: How come did Microsoft come up with such an advertisement? What are they targeting at? Is it effective?
If you ask me, it doesn't give me any clue about Microsoft's brand features as I suppose that that's what they are aiming at with this advertisement.
However, as I'm not a specialist in advertising, I cite you a specialist's opinion:
"Is Mr Gates’s shopping spree with Mr Seinfeld another misjudgment? Perhaps not. The ad appears to have set up the forthcoming campaign with an ingenious twist that its critics have missed. Its viewers, Crispin assumes, have been watching Apple’s ads, in which a nerdy, pale, chubby and hapless “PC”, played by the actor John Hodgman, talks to a hip, suave and unruffled “Mac”. Ironically, however, it is the PC who has become famous and won hearts, despite being the butt of all the jokes, whereas the Mac character is cool but smug, and would not get invited to anybody’s dinner.
Mr Gates, Crispin’s creative types must have realised, is the authentic embodiment of the PC character: geeky, awkward, dressed for a cubicle rather than a bar, unglamorous but unpretentious, able to get the job done, if not excitingly. And like the PC in Apple’s ads, the Bill Gates in Microsoft’s spot has an impish side that occasionally peeks out. One of the world’s richest men comes across as unassuming and approachable, the antithesis of Apple’s aspirational cool, which some find annoying and snooty. In a country that loves to poke fun at “elitists” (especially during elections), it would be wrong to write off Microsoft’s new campaign just yet." (extract from The Economist - Postmodern wriggle, 11th. September 2008).
Apparently, it doesn't target me, but only Americans. Maybe it's a matter of intercultural differences that I don't get the meaning of this advertisement.
In the end, I'm interested to know: did you feel anything, did anything cross your mind while watching the Microsoft commercial?
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2 comments:
First of all, whether or not it has been successful, Microsoft's 300 million advertising campaign has definitely generated a lot of buzz, given that many people have watched it since day 1 the first ad was launched. The opinions so far have been divided and I have to admit that I am among those who didn't really get the first commercial, while slightly liking the second one (both starring Bill Gates and Seinfeld). While I was thinking about my personal opinion on the two ads, I read that Microsoft just launched a series of new ads today, to continue the campaign. These new ads feature both normal people and some celebrities and focus on the idea of "I am PC", an obvious response to the "I am Mac" campaign. This made me change my initial reactions and think if we should judge each ad as a small part of the whole campaign. With the new ads launched today, it's obvious that Microsoft is trying to refresh it's corporate image and to close down on the coolness gap separating it from Apple. I think it will take a lot more than a series of ads to make Microsoft more human. One thing is clear, Microsoft is starting to fear Apple more than ever before.
Thanks adriana for your comment and that you updated me about the latest ads.
I see this "I am PC" only as a reactive advertising campaign. That is, I don't think it will give Microsoft's image a competitive edge.
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