Microsoft's $300 million ad campaign tumbles downhill with new PC ads

24567

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 140
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    I actually agree here, but I think it is more because by Microsoft embracing the "I'm a PC" message it makes Apple have to stop.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    If Apple was smart they'd move to a different ad campaign. It would make MS look like they are behind the curve and aiming at ghosts.



  • Reply 22 of 140
    I was going to post this in the thread after the first Seinfeld/Gates ad, but now after all this jerking around and kicking here and there and pointing in first one direction and then another, it's much more appropriate now:



    Sweet, Fancy Moses!!!
  • Reply 23 of 140
    I think it's a well-made ad, like the Seinfeld ones were. It shows that you can do a variety of things with a computer.



    It doesn't, however, show why you wouldn't do those same things BETTER on a Mac.



    And it doesn't make any point about walls, since a Mac CAN run Microsoft Windows, if this is central to your fish peddling.



    Thus, I'd say, it preaches to the choir. Which is OK but not that useful I predict.



    "I'm a Mac" ads aren't aimed at dedicated Mac fans (who tend to hate them like I do) nor at Windows die-hards (whose own insecurities make them read all kinds of insults into them). "I'm a Mac" ads are aimed at all those masses of people in the middle, who might be persuaded to CONSIDER something other than Windows. And they work! People are considering Macs--they are now on the radar at last, and when people start looking into Macs, they like what they find--the product itself is compelling in a way Windows is not.



    These MS ads shouldn't be targeted at Windows die-hards either, but I bet that's who will like them. For the rest of the consumer masses, the idea that "computers can do lots of things and all kinds of people use them" is ancient news and not very moving. Nor is the style of the ad memorable. A series of customer faces--it's been done a thousand times. As for the "walls" theme--all those masses of consumers who could be swayed either way probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about Windows OR Mac in terms of being proprietary and limiting. It's we tech-heads who dwell on those issues.



    Now, I realize that nothing is going to make a Microsoft as look persuasive to we who know Macs well and use them every day. But an ad COULD inspire lots of OTHER people to stop considering non-Microsoft products. I don't think this ad achieves that, but we'll see where the campaign goes. (At this rate, it will have a whole NEW theme by next week )
  • Reply 24 of 140
    After Microsoft uses the "i am a PC" line.. they already lost. It just shows that they have given in to Apple... Its kinda like promoting Apple's commercials.. since they are the ones that came up with that oh so famous line



    "hi, im a pc" and " im a mac"



    Sorry microsoft, it appears that $300 mil is a waste of money. But i think it helps the US economy more than microsoft..
  • Reply 25 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jbcaro View Post


    I'm a person who just happens to use a PC and a Mac. I am not a PC or a Mac. I just use what works for me.



    So you are a human doing?
  • Reply 26 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ros3ntan View Post


    After Microsoft uses the "i am a PC" line.. they already lost. It just shows that they have given in to Apple... Its kinda like promoting Apple's commercials.. since they are the ones that came up with that oh so famous line



    "hi, im a pc" and " im a mac"



    Sorry microsoft, it appears that $300 mil is a waste of money. But i think it helps the US economy more than microsoft..



    I think most people will associate PC with any computer.. could be a Mac, DELL, HP they are All a Personal Computer..



    I love my MAC and I wear Glasses...
  • Reply 27 of 140
    From the ad...



    "Hello I'm a PC and a human being"



    Yes, are there other kinds of PC users? Are the ducks finally taking that evolutionary step from floating around in ponds to blue screens of death?



    Well at least the Bill and Jerry ads were on to something but this....
  • Reply 28 of 140
    s10s10 Posts: 107member
    The new ads are funny... but they are just an echo to the Mac?PC ads...meaning more free advertising for Apple.
  • Reply 29 of 140
    If Microsoft was going to reference Apple, they should have just said "whether you get a Dell, HP or even an Apple -- Windows is the most popular OS out there, and it is for a reason..." It would have been cheaper and more effective.
  • Reply 30 of 140
    So Jerry Seinfeld made (use Dr. Evil voice) 10 MILLION dollars to make three ads, one of which is not even airing? Wow, it must be nice to be able to throw money around like that!!



    It is funny that MS if starting to freak out so much in regards to Apple in regards to its recent growth. Why should they be worried. Apple is not going to gain much of the market share as Apple doesn't seem interested in the enterprise side of things. Nor is Apple going to allow the install of OS X on a non-Mac system. These things will limit how far Apple can grow overall. Do they need to grow that much? Not really, considering they have a ton of money just sitting in the bank. They must be doing something right.



    MS will continue to hold the majority of the market share for the foreseeable future, unless something DRASTIC happens.....meteor from space, etc. This is all about trying to put a positive, cool, etc. face on MS. They would be better served spending that 300 million on making a better product.
  • Reply 31 of 140
    Is it just me or is Microsoft completely missing the mark?



    To me the I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC commercials show Long and Hodgman as the personification of the actual hardware not as users, not belonging a group. So when PC says, "I'm a PC" it really means "I AM a PC". It's about how your experience using a Mac is better because your computer won't be besieged by all the crap you have to deal with on windows.





    After watching the commercial this is the impression I'm left with: "I'm a PC rawwwrrr!! I wear glasses!!!! and have a beard rawwwwrr!!!"



    I anticipate this will have zero impact on how successful Apple's campaign is.
  • Reply 32 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    did someone say Bogus-ky



    That's totally BOGUS



    The amount of waste in this country has gotten totally out of hand. Unbridled greed and speculation, billion dollar government bailouts, and THE stupidest and most expensive marketing campaigns from THE largest US tech company. WTF has happed to this country???? Has EVERYONE lost their sense of what's real and what's not, what's good and what's bad???? Sheese, I need an Advil....\
  • Reply 33 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by beg View Post


    Is it just me or is Microsoft completely missing the mark?



    I anticipate this will have zero impact on how successful Apple's campaign is.



    Actually it will have an impact, it makes Apple look EVEN BETTER!
  • Reply 34 of 140
    Well OK, you got me there.
  • Reply 35 of 140
    citycity Posts: 522member
    Bill Gates has been enormously generous with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ( www.gatesfoundation.org ). It does great things. If he wants everyone to know that he's a good guy, he should exploit that aspect. Maybe with a "we donate x% of profits" to it
  • Reply 36 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by monosound View Post


    From the ad...



    "Hello I'm a PC and a human being"



    Yes, are there other kinds of PC users? Are the ducks finally taking that evolutionary step from floating around in ponds to blue screens of death?



    Well at least the Bill and Jerry ads were on to something but this....



    Yes there are PC users other than human beings, watch the ending of the second Seinfeld ad, I think they had frogs in there as possible PC users.
  • Reply 37 of 140
    And I don't mean Sarah Palin!
  • Reply 38 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pt123 View Post


    If Microsoft was going to reference Apple, they should have just said "whether you get a Dell, HP or even an Apple -- Windows is the most popular OS out there, and it is for a reason..." It would have been cheaper and more effective.



    Exactly. They have accepted Apple as their biggest competitor. How can this be, when Microsoft 'just' makes software, while Apple makes primarily hardware, and doesn't even want their OS to be installed on Windows boxes?
  • Reply 39 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PFR View Post


    And I don't mean Sarah Palin!



    And neither did Obama, if you listen to the entire sentence he spoke.



    But back to the ad:



    I think this is a huge opening for Apple in conjunction with new hardware it's about to roll out.

    Picture this:



    Hodgman stands on the screen at the outset (just like this ad) and spouts the famous "I'm a PC" line.



    Then ordinary user after ordinary user (like those in this ad) walk in, each holding an open, new MacBook in their hands. Each MacBook screen randomly has either a Windows or Apple logo prominently displayed, and each user says (correspondingly) "I'm a Mac" or "I'm a PC".



    Once a couple dozen of them are assembled onscreen, in unison they all say "And we all run perfectly on the new MacBook!"



    A (as always) cute Mac Genius then says "Available today at your Apple Store or online at apple.com."

  • Reply 40 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pt123 View Post


    If Microsoft was going to reference Apple, they should have just said "whether you get a Dell, HP or even an Apple -- Windows is the most popular OS out there, and it is for a reason..." It would have been cheaper and more effective.



    Good point. Microsoft could say "we let you install our OS on ANY computer--even a Mac. No walls." Something like that. Maybe raise the question of why some people are running BOTH Windows and OS X on one Mac, if OS X is so great.



    In the end, though it might have the same old problem: the ads could help Apple even more than they help Microsoft!



    Microsoft's message needs to be "Windows is the only REAL choice. Nothing else is worth considering." That's tough to pull off, but it's an idea lingering in people's minds and I bet they could play on that. It's the idea Apple has been successfully dispelling, and Microsoft needs to bring that "fear of the unknown" back (or, start rapidly cranking out amazing and innovative products).



    The "no walls" metaphor COULD work in the direction of "Windows is the only sensible choice," but only if people really think hard about the phrase (which ad viewers don't do). And only if people forget that Microsoft themselves loves putting up walls--and they do so without the consumer-beneficial results of Apple's "closed" systems. (The benefit: things work great together because they're designed together. Whereas with Microsoft the benefit of their "closed" aspects is merely more cash for Microsoft and less need to bother innovating.)



    I think most people see the "no walls" thing and it goes right over their head--just more happy-sounding ad blather, like "looking to the future" or "quality first" or "your world."



    EDIT: To put in perspective what Microsoft is up against--even though they're already the desktop/office monopoly worldwide... imagine walking up to any random stranger and giving them a gift bag. Tell them there's an Apple product inside. Or tell them there's a Microsoft product inside. Which one's going to get them more excited? Apple's mindshare is based on people actually WANTING the stuff. Microsof't mindshare is more like "this exists and I'm so used to it I don't think about it."



    Of course, selling to IT (who will conservatively stick with what they always have used) is easier than selling to consumers. But these ads don't seem to be aimed at keeping IT on board with Microsoft.
Sign In or Register to comment.