We’ve lived through the disastrous, albeit brief, string of Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld commercials–advertisements that were truly about nothing.
We watched as Microsoft desperately tried to fend off the damning Apple “Mac vs. PC” commercials with the “I’m a PC” spot, which many people responded, “I don’t care.”
And we’ve watched Megan and San Palo roam through electronic stores looking to buy affordable Windows-based machines that meet their specific requirements–only to realize that the laptops they bought really didn’t do everything they wanted (see more about the “Laptop Hunter” campaign below).
To say Microsoft has had a long string of lackluster marketing efforts would be kind. Long gone are the days when Microsoft shot off fireworks over the Sydney Opera House to launch a new operating system. In recent years, Microsoft marketing has been boring and ineffective when compared with the humorous and memorable Apple spots. Unless you’re being parodied by South Park, it simply isn’t good.
Microsoft has finally come up with something worth watching. In a pseudo-Hollywood action film trailer, Microsoft teases the coming release of Office 2010. The 2-minute clip is uncharacteristic of Microsoft, which has adopted more staid messaging in recent years.
This video is more like a Jerry Bruckheimer or Ridley Scott flick than anything that’s previously come out Redmond. It has everything you would never think about for a productivity software ad: rogue fonts, the murder of “Clippy,” and the surprise twist of integration with PowerPoint, Communicator and OneNote.
The video is posted on Microsoft’s site, but requires SilverLight. The YouTube version is here for you.
So, to be fair to Microsoft, the Laptop Hunter campaign, mentioned above, hasn’t been a total failure. Microsoft claims to have gotten some lift out of it by showing how much more affordable notebooks running Windows are compared with Macs. At the Worldwide Partner Conference this week, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner claimed to have scored a major victory through this campaign. He told partners at the conference that Microsoft received a call from Apple’s legal department complaining about the unfair price comparison.
Since the campaign started running, Apple lowered the prices of its entry-level machines below $1,000. Despite this price change, Microsoft is still running the ads–including one that says directly that you can’t buy an Apple for under a grand.