new microsoft tv ads - microsoft concedes it ain't cool but its cheap

can't find the actual ad on youtube yet, but here is the write up on microsoft's new tv ads. based on the article, the new microsoft ad continue to copy the apple/mac ad line and ad campaign of "i'm a pc" which microsoft already used in their 2nd round ad cammpaign after the failed gates/seinfeld ad campaign.

the ad positions the microsoft/windows/pc as a cheap in price brand, a value brand. it's a good message to put across given the recession that's eroding the US economy and as more US consumers get hit by it. it's also a good strategy given the fact that macs continue to be at a premium pricing. the cheap brand positioning separates microsoft/windows/pc from macs.

good value positioning can be relevant in times of economic hardships. we just don't know if good value positioning works well on computers. good value positioning may work well for food products, but it might not work for high priced lifestyle products like computers.

the part that is unusual is that the ad concedes microsoft/windows/pc is not a cool brand/product. the ad is about real people (not talents) who were asked to buy computers (read details on article) and that was the conclusion of the woman in the ad who went into an apple store but was unable to find a mac that fit her budget and her needs. in one of the ads, a woman leaves an apple store unable to buy a mac and says: "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person."

a brand not being cool may be the truth for some brands (like microsoft/windows/pc?) but its not necessary to admit that in the advertising. to admit outright a computer brand (or any product) is not cool may mean the death of that brand. people who buy computers will hardly admit they are not cool. in fact people who own computers think they are cool given the fact that they own a computer. being cool is part and parcel of buying a computer, it's a key mindset.

the basic idea behind advertising is you put your best foot forward for consumers to admire and appreciate the brand and from there you get them to buy the brand. positive motivation from the product quality and performance is what works best in advertising. you intentionally leave out the negatives or weaknesses of your brand. weaknesses are exposed by competitors, is what apple did to windows vista in their "i'm a mac" ad campaign. this one does not hide it at all, it declared the brand's weakness.

it's a weird thing to do for an ad.

the other school of thought, which microsoft's ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, seem to like to do (this ad agency has done this before for other clients) is to admit the fault or weakness of the brand outright and get the consumers to decide if they can get over the negative and buy the product just the same.

so now we have microsoft/windows/pcs saying they are cheap and they are not cool. it's a brand character that is neither here nor there. in fact, it can be seen as negative or unlikeable brand character.

at minimum, that kind of positioning can be polarizing - some people will love it but some people will hate it. it's always risky to release an ad that has the potential to polarize your target audience. the thinking is you release the best ad you can make and that usually entails you are 100% the ad is perfect and will be loved by your target audieence. the risk you take in releasing polarizing ads is that the negative might eventually overpower the negative and you end up more people disliking the ad and brand being advertised than liking it.

the other weakness of this ad is the continuing use of the "I'm a PC" line microsoft copied from the apple/mac ads. we have not seen the tv ad but it appears that is the case based on this article.

microsoft should have just developed their own, unique advertising line. it does not serve the microsoft brand well if they keep reminding people it is copying something from apple in their own tv ads. those apple ads where microsoft copied were the ads that hurt the windows brand badly and has caused it's deterioration in stature. why remind the people of it further?

what is the point of reminding people tiny apple was able to beat giant microsoft in the advertising war? what? further increase windows users inferiority complex?

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I'm a PC, and this time Microsoft's buying

By Jessica Mintz, Associated Press


SEATTLE — Apple's Macintosh computers may be cool, but Windows PCs are easier on the wallet.

That's the recession-sensitive message Microsoft is pushing in a new series of commercials that debuted Thursday. The ads also continue Microsoft's work to reclaim the "I'm a PC" catchphrase from Apple Inc. and undo the stodgy image its competitor has bestowed on the Windows operating system.

To shoot the ads, Microsoft's agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, recruited unwitting subjects by posing as a market research firm studying laptop purchasing decisions.

It picked 10 people who answered a call for volunteers on Craigslist and other websites and sent them out with a camera crew and budgets ranging from $700 to $2,000. If they found a computer that fit their criteria, they could keep it.

In the first 60-second spot, a red-haired recent college grad named Lauren is on the hunt for a speedy laptop with a 17-inch screen and a "comfortable" keyboard, all for less than $1,000. She strides into an Apple store; then, the scene jumps to her walking out empty-handed, telling the camera that the only laptop in her price range has a 13-inch screen.

Back in the car, she sighs and says, "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person."

read in full here: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/software/2009-03-26-microsoft-ad_N.htm?csp=usat.me

new apple vs microsoft battle looms - microsoft ceo steve ballmer's promise of "best windows ever" for windows 7

at the CES in las vegas, microsoft ceo streve ballmer made a solemn promise - windows 7 will be microsoft's best ever windows. windows beta is now online for downloading by curious cats to try it out. it's launch to the public was delayed by a day at least when according to microsoft, interest in downloading it was underestimated and the throng overwhelmed the microsoft servers. they had to pull it out of the download site to give them time to fix the problem.

we're hoping the screw up during the day 1 launch of windows 7 beta is not a preview of things to come for the best windows ever. it better not be for microsoft's sake. put plainly, microsoft cannot afford another screw up on this one coming from the total screw up on vista.

vista is possibly the most maligned windows in microsoft's history. and the market share shows it - to this date, windows XP still has 60% market share compared to vista's dismal 20% share. that means consumers would rather stay with the oldie XP than venture into a whole lot of headache and potential failures in using vista.

windows 7 have very difficult challenges ahead of it. vista needs to :

- to be better than XP
- avoid the failures of vista
- be demonstrably better than vista
- match if not be better than the mac OS leopard
- turn around the microsoft's maligned brand image

the screw ups and mud pies thrown at vista is world famous, google it and hundreds of complaints will pop up. and it this kind of screw up that apple exploited with their exacting and biting ads against vista. microsoft marketing executives have admitted as much that the apple ads have hurt window's brand image.

with the announcement that windows 7 will be the best windows ever, it is sure apple is preparing a new set of ads to do battle with windows 7. here is one of the many ads from apple that hurt vista. we can expect more of the same when windows 7 is launched.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer touts 'best Windows ever' at International
Consumer Electronics Show

LAS VEGAS - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday with an impassioned endorsement of PCs and a sneak peek at the company's future Windows 7 operating system.

As expected, Ballmer announced that Microsoft is releasing a beta version of Windows 7, which will be available for download beginning Friday. The news suggests the world's largest software maker may be giving up efforts to rehabilitate its often-maligned Vista operating system, which was released worldwide in January 2007.

''We are on track to deliver the best version of Windows ever,'' Ballmer told an audience of several thousand tech professionals and journalists inside a cavernous ballroom at the Venetian Hotel. ''We're working hard to get it right and get it ready.''

read in full here : http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/01/08/2009-01-08_microsoft_ceo_steve_ballmer_touts_best_w-4.html

apple exploits a product failure and bad consumer experience on microsoft vista

good ads are those that use the most simple of words and delivers the most simple of thoughts. combine those to a powerful message and it can be magic.

this apple ad will most likely not win awards, but the ad uses simple words, simple thoughts and a very competitive message and that combination means it can be very effective. add to that list - relevance and meaningfullness as the consumer experience on vista's product failures that are being told in the ad are actual consumer experiences.

classic marketing dilemma : funds for advertising or product improvements, apple's bite on vista

the apple brand management and advertising people are simply having the best time of their lives with these "i am a mac, i am a pc" tv ad campaign. they're simply out there to exploit any, small or big, weakness that microsoft gives them.

this is one is really tiny, with really little to do with brand building, but its damn irritating to watch if you are from microsoft. well, okay, it has some redeeming advertising value - it casts doubt on vista's performance. it makes would be consumers think twice on whether vista's product failures have been fixed or not.

we concede that that alone may be a big factor. well, it is possible, we just don't know how probable it is. macs have been receiving great reviews and strong interests lately with increased market share and vista has been humbled to product failure jail - add to that a consumer doubt and those who are about to plunk down $1,000+ for a new computer just might decide in favor of macs on the basis of doubt.

it's really just casting doubt - microsioft has the largest R&D budget in the world, so it is not true that microsoft is not spending enough in product improvements. and it's hard to believe microsoft has stopped fixing the problems on vista. perhaps microsoft may not be moving fast enough to fix all problems but just the same apple is exploiting every centimeter of opening it can see.

this apple ad is a marketing classic - will the brand spend its money on product improvement or on advertising to convince it's users the product is a good one?

microsoft's ads is trying the latter. that's really great -- $350M worth of ads. the first one was a failure, the latest one might do it. but with so much talk about windows 7, that i think leaves further doubt on vista and this time courtesy of microsoft itself.

this loud talk about windows 7 seem to confirm vista is a dead brand. they even announced when windows 7 will be made available. what the hell will pc owners with vista do till then? and from now till last quarter 2009 when they launch vista, why will i buy a pc with vista?

apple must be just so happy to have microsoft as a competitor! tsk tsk

microsoft's new dirty word : v#$@!$&!

well, yeah, come to think of it - microsoft's "i am a pc" ads do not mention v(blip) by name. in fact they just say "pc", not even windows. its strange because all of these is being caused by v(blip)'s failure to impress users and gain the market share they wanted it to do. i suppose microsoft is just hoping these ads will give a halo effect on v(blip).

and now, apple makes use of that omission in its ads. we are impressed with apple - they are able to see even small things such as the omission of a brand name in an ad.



which makes us wonder even more - why did microsoft omit v(blip) in its tv spots? is that word so dirty that they are afraid if they mentioned it in the ad, people will automatically tune off? that it's mention in their ad might weaken the ad?


read other posts on this topic here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/i%20am%20mac%20i%20am%20pc

apple computers : marketing magic and top quality sells

apple has for decades been a great marketing success study, it was then and in recent years it is once again that. apple's story is that of fairy tale quality, except that of course it actually happened for real. it's how one man's marketing brilliance and unwavering passion and obsession for excellence in concept and design took the brand from nothing to greatness. then kicked out of the company he made into a giant corporation, only to be restored back into position and a second time takes the company to greatness behind of all things this tiny little gadget called the ipod.

the ipod's insane success worldwide, behind the same brilliance and obsession that built the mac is being credited for reviving the company. this tiny product's excellence bar none is now propelling it's big brother the mac computer to leadership, at least in the high priced segment.

the lesson here is that marketing magic and top quality product design can not only demand a high price (and therefore high margins), it can also gain dominant leadership. i am not a fan of it, but in the ipod and mac's case, i am awed by the power called "halo effect".




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Report: Apple’s market share of PCs over $1,000 hits 66%

Here’s a new way to slice Apple’s growing share of the computer market. Last March, the NPD Group reported that Apple’s retail market share — its cut of the computers sold in brick-and-mortar stores — had climbed to 14%, a figure that’s roughly double its overall share of the U.S. market and reflects the power of the Apple Store to draw customers and move product. What NPD didn’t report at the time was the huge growth in Apple’s share of the so-called “premium” computer market — machines that cost more than $1,000.

To some extent, Apple’s (AAPL) share of this market is growing by default. Companies like HP (HPQ), Dell (DELL) and Lenovo ship enormous quantities of PCs at price points between $500 and $750, whereas no Macintosh (with the exception of the Mini) sells for less than $1,000.
Still, Apple’s share of the $1,000-plus retail market was less than 18% in January 2006 according to NPD. By September 2007, it had grown to more than 57%. And in the first quarter of 2008 it hit a record 66%.

This nugget of retail data comes from Joe Willcox, who writes the Apple Watch column for eWeek (see here). He extracted it from an interview last Friday with Stephen Baker, NPD’s vice president of industry analysis.

“Apple has got better distribution than it’s had in the last 15 years,” Baker told Willcox. They’re in the right spot right now.” It doesn’t hurt Apple that once you’re in its store, you can’t buy any computer with a screen for less than a grand. “If you don’t give people a choice,” Baker said, “people will spend more.”

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/19/report-apples-market-share-of-pcs-over-1000-hits-66/?source=yahoo_quote

apple macintosh - breakout ad that made advertising history

this apple tv ad started it all for the brand. it was aired only once, during the super bowl sand it was big hit. it was so well receivedved that practically all media outlets featured it and talked about the ad day after it was aired. this add created so much buzz for apple that its credited for setting apple on the way to success as a brand. a very clear case that confirms ads do work!

airing great ads at the super bowl have become a tradition in the US where many companies choose launch new ads at the super bowl. many companies even produce ads that are very specific to the super bowl. US audiences have come to expect to see the most entertaining and the most poweful ads during the super bowl.





from the you tube write up:

The classic Apple commercial released in 1984. By far, one of the best and most famous commercials in this generation.

1984 is a television commercial launched by Apple Inc. in 1984 to promote the Macintosh personal computer in the United States. Directed by Ridley Scott, the commercial first
aired on January 22, 1984 during a break in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. The ad showed an unnamed heroine (played by Anya Major) wearing red shorts, red running shoes, and a white tank top with a Picasso-style picture of Apple's Macintosh computer, running through an Orwellian world to throw a sledgehammer at a TV image of Big Brother — an implied representation of IBM — played by David Graham. This was followed by an on-screen message and accompanying voice over by actor Edward Grover: "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984." At the end, the Apple "rainbow bitten apple" logo is shown on a black background.

The 60-second film was created by the advertising agency Chiat/Day, with copy written by Steve Hayden and direction by Ridley Scott (who had just finished filming Blade Runner the year prior).