Vista Blind Taste Test • Hacker News Board

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#11

Post by unalone » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 4:26 AM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #9

Gotta give it to MS, this one is brilliant from an advertising perspective. As so many pointed out here, it isn't valid science, but it isn't meant to be. It points out that people expect Vista to suck from what they read, but when they try it they actually like it. Could this be the start of Microsoft finally not sucking at advertising?

Nah. It was pointed out already that this is the same idea that Gerber tried with its "real people" foods a while ago. It's a clever idea, but it doesn't spread enough via word-of-mouth to actually negate negative feelings.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#12

Post by unalone » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 4:27 AM UTC

rainface wrote: post #5

Didn't the 'blind taste testers' realize the OS was running slow as molasses?

"Slow" isn't a problem when it's a new install. Given a completely new installation, Vista looks nice. So the marketing is deceptively pointing out a deception.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#13

Post by unalone » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 4:30 AM UTC

eznet wrote: post #3

Lame. Watch the individual videos: - a lot of MS:"this is really vista." pawn:"really?" - a lot of MS:"Here, let ME show you _randomGadget_" pawn:"huh. wow." One thing I notice is what few actual pawn responses are given, seem to be coming from people who either a) have never touched or seen Vista aside from this 5-10 min DEMO or b) have never touched or seen a computer aside from this 5-10 min demo or a kiosk at the…

Precisely why this campaign is so shady. They're replacing glam for glam. It's nothing you can actually get an accurate reading from.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#14

Post by joseakle » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 6:42 AM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #9

Gotta give it to MS, this one is brilliant from an advertising perspective. As so many pointed out here, it isn't valid science, but it isn't meant to be. It points out that people expect Vista to suck from what they read, but when they try it they actually like it. Could this be the start of Microsoft finally not sucking at advertising?

Why do you consider this ad, that presents itself as a blind test but is clearly not, brilliant?

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#15

Post by mattmaroon » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 8:10 AM UTC

joseakle wrote: post #14

mattmaroon wrote: post #9

Gotta give it to MS, this one is brilliant from an advertising perspective. As so many pointed out here, it isn't valid science, but it isn't meant to be. It points out that people expect Vista to suck from what they read, but when they try it they actually like it. Could this be the start of Microsoft finally not sucking at advertising?

Why do you consider this ad, that presents itself as a blind test but is clearly not, brilliant?

Because the <1% of the population that would realize it's not valid science is entirely outside of their target demographic. The point of the ad is to make people think "maybe I've been wrong in believing the bad stuff I read about Vista" and this will accomplish that with almost all of the people who see it.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#16

Post by mattmaroon » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 8:12 AM UTC

unalone wrote: post #11

mattmaroon wrote: post #9

Gotta give it to MS, this one is brilliant from an advertising perspective. As so many pointed out here, it isn't valid science, but it isn't meant to be. It points out that people expect Vista to suck from what they read, but when they try it they actually like it. Could this be the start of Microsoft finally not sucking at advertising?

Nah. It was pointed out already that this is the same idea that Gerber tried with its "real people" foods a while ago. It's a clever idea, but it doesn't spread enough via word-of-mouth to actually negate negative feelings.

I'm guessing MS is planning on spreading this by a lot more than word of mouth. They're launching a humongous national campaign in all forms of media, on which they'll probably spend more than the entire worth of Gerber.

I can't even find any info on this Gerber Real People (though I only tried searching for that) but my guess is they have little or no similarity. And there are plenty of viral ads that actually did work, including one by Microsoft promoting Halo.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#17

Post by MoeDrippins » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 3:01 PM UTC

This is a no more a blind "taste test" than if Pepsi hadn't allowed their pawns to actually sip the cola, but just described to them how good it was. Ridiculous in the extreme.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#18

Post by unalone » Thu, Jul 31, 2008, 5:22 PM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #16

unalone wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. It was pointed out already that this is the same idea that Gerber tried with its "real people" foods a while ago. It's a clever idea, but it doesn't spread enough via word-of-mouth to actually negate negative feelings.

I'm guessing MS is planning on spreading this by a lot more than word of mouth. They're launching a humongous national campaign in all forms of media, on which they'll probably spend more than the entire worth of Gerber. I can't even find any info on this Gerber Real People (though I only tried searching for that) but my guess is they have little or no similarity. And there are plenty of viral ads that actually did w…

But that one worked because people liked the looks of Halo to begin with. You can't get around a common mentality by pointing that mentality out. People don't change that logically.

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#19

Post by joseakle » Fri, Aug 01, 2008, 6:42 AM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #15

joseakle wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you consider this ad, that presents itself as a blind test but is clearly not, brilliant?

Because the <1% of the population that would realize it's not valid science is entirely outside of their target demographic. The point of the ad is to make people think "maybe I've been wrong in believing the bad stuff I read about Vista" and this will accomplish that with almost all of the people who see it.

I just think word of mouth is usually stronger than any marketing campaign, so if people are telling their friends that they hate something, trying to convince them otherwise throught advertising looks to me like a waste of money and time.

Anyway, most people who buy a computer and don´t buy a mac can´t escape from vista, linux is not mom ready yet, so why waste time convincing people to choose vista rather than telling them they may need a new computer?

Re: Vista Blind Taste Test

#20

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 01, 2008, 3:22 PM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #9

Gotta give it to MS, this one is brilliant from an advertising perspective. As so many pointed out here, it isn't valid science, but it isn't meant to be. It points out that people expect Vista to suck from what they read, but when they try it they actually like it. Could this be the start of Microsoft finally not sucking at advertising?

[deleted]