Now it’s all beginning to make sense. The Gates Seinfeld ads were just a teaser to get people buzzing with its quirky humor and purposeful lack of Microsoft-related content. Negative or positive, it did. Create an environment of high awareness for the brand, then launch the real campaign as people are curious and thirsty to find out what’s next. Well, what’s next is “I’m a PC” ad campaign that embraces Apple’s negative reference to Microsoft in its campaign, and turns it around to show that PC users aren’t the sterotype depicted in the Apple campaign. Instead, they are people of all walks of life, from teachers to architects, artists to programmers, celebrities to ultimate fighters. I’m impressed. From this first set of commercials, I think the ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky is on to something. Regular PC users can also go to the Microsoft website and upload a video or picture of themselves, which will be profiled on the site, can be shared with others, and could be featured in future Microsoft ads as well as appear on the big screen in New York’s Time Square. It’s an audacious campaign and one that will be very hard to ignore.Check out the article in the New York Times that details the Microsoft campaign.
5 Comments
September 21, 2008 at 3:22 p
good topic
September 21, 2008 at 7:54 p
Wow, Earl Scheib would be proud of the craftsmanship but upset at the 300 million dollar price tag.
The phrase lipstick on a pig comes to mind.
September 22, 2008 at 8:58 p
Marketing seems so simple…with a budget.
October 13, 2008 at 4:07 p
Loved it! The commercial works and is great and helps combat the mac attack!
October 22, 2008 at 5:15 p
Straight to the raw center of things.
They might also used subtitles and let people speak their native languages.
It could have cost less if they decided to shoot it with cheap handy camera, from the hand, shaky and documentary like, adding some drama to the mix.