91–100 of 104 posts
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The "Start me up" campaign from Microsoft with the launch of Windows 95 was both really good and hip for the time. That is, however, the only example of good marketing from Microsoft that I can remember.
I personally thought the LSD-inspired Zune commercials were decent. Otherwise, I agree.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
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Nokia 6303 eh? - MicroSD card - 3.5mm headphone jack - basic camera - basic video recorder - FM Radio Perhaps an Orange Rio or Rio2 would do instead? ZTE with orange branding and Java based apps. Reasonable alpha keyboard and quite cheap in UK.
Good suggestion, but unfortunately I have banana fingers so can't use qwerty phones that well. T9 still works for me though :)
Look, this is a class example of media-generated hype. Yesterday, some other tech news site declared something like Microsoft's "DroidRage" campaign EXPLODES in their face. In their article, they quote over a half dozen tweets. So I go onto Twitter and do a search for DroidRage and this "explosion" is actually more like a dozen or two people having fun with Microsoft. Anyway, after the publishing of yesterday's artic…
Many times, a story is important not for the reasons that people perceive it to be important. Ironically, I view it as important for exactly the reason you view it as unimportant. Why on earth does Microsoft feel the need to resort to such a pathetic advertising campaign?
Because building mobile operating systems people want to buy isn't exactly working for them.
I'm not sure why, but in all my exchanges with Microsoft supporters (employees or just fans) I felt a huge sense of entitlement and a rather bizarre perplexity about why they fail so completely on mobile and completely dominating the desktop.
I think somebody should study how MS marketing works, make it a case-study. Every time they try to be "hip", they end up looking like fools. Remember that weird Seinfeld ad? The spooky over-polished family for Windows 7? The competition on "speed-of-opening-apps" on WP7 where nobody was allowed to win? When they stick to the basics, they usually manage to be half-decent, like for the Windows 8 campaign: safe, complet…
You've forgotten the crown jewel: the video for Vista SP1, "Rockin' Our Sales."[1] I realize it was meant for internal use only, but good lord, somebody put a lot of work into this thing. It makes me so uncomfortable to watch, and to imagine the culture that might well have embraced this. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPv8PPl7ANU
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This is a good point - making fun of users of a product is a strange way to tempt them over. Samsung's advert making fun of a queue of iPhone buyers is similar in this respect. Notably, Apple adverts don't usually (ever? I have a distant memory of a failed apple campaign that did?) make fun of users of a competing product.
What were the "Mac vs PC" commercials but making fun of PCs?
That said, I'm not sure this Microsoft campaign mocked anyone either. It didn't have any humor to it, and that's part of why it was such a lame effort. At least Apple's ads had a bit of self deprecation to them in how they depicted the Mac.
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This is a good point - making fun of users of a product is a strange way to tempt them over. Samsung's advert making fun of a queue of iPhone buyers is similar in this respect. Notably, Apple adverts don't usually (ever? I have a distant memory of a failed apple campaign that did?) make fun of users of a competing product.
What were the "Mac vs PC" commercials but making fun of PCs?
The Samsung ads however directly target the users as the thing to be lampooned. Rather ad hominem, and not all that appealing of a way to sway me over marketingwise.
Look, this is a class example of media-generated hype. Yesterday, some other tech news site declared something like Microsoft's "DroidRage" campaign EXPLODES in their face. In their article, they quote over a half dozen tweets. So I go onto Twitter and do a search for DroidRage and this "explosion" is actually more like a dozen or two people having fun with Microsoft. Anyway, after the publishing of yesterday's artic…
This is one of the largest tech companies in the US running a media campaign to attack one of the other largest public tech company's products. That alone makes it newsworthy. The fact it was such a lame attempt at a time it's crucial for Microsoft to have some marketing success in mobile also makes it newsworthy.
That it was picked up by niche press and turned into a viral wave doesn't negate that. I'm sure (a large) part of Microsoft's intent in this campaign was for it to turn viral and get picked up by media outlets. If it had gone according to their plan and turned into a tidal wave of complaining about Android, I expect they would have hoped for media coverage as part of that.
I'm afraid I don't keep myself well-informed on the mobile space, and I've heard reference to malware in Android several times recently. Could someone fill me in? Is there fear of malicious software at the system level? Or is this just FUD about spammy apps? edit: Also - it's unfortunate that only yesterday was I reading about the Scroogle campaign. Not to single out Microsoft as the only company that advertises like…
It's just spammy apps. There are very few apps that actively exploit open bugs to elevate their rights, and then mostly to facilitate jailbreaking :) The problem of course is the screwed up rights system. Instead of presenting a big list of permissions for every app on install, how about you just ask me directly if the app is about to send a text to some number not in my contact list?
After all these years, Microsoft still needs to get on the Cluetrain. With worldwide instantaneous one-to-many, one-to-one, and many-to-one communication available to the masses, business these days has to be a conversation, not a monolog. http://www.cluetrain.com/ "A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding s…
I think somebody should study how MS marketing works, make it a case-study. Every time they try to be "hip", they end up looking like fools. Remember that weird Seinfeld ad? The spooky over-polished family for Windows 7? The competition on "speed-of-opening-apps" on WP7 where nobody was allowed to win? When they stick to the basics, they usually manage to be half-decent, like for the Windows 8 campaign: safe, complet…
Internet Explorer karaoke wasn't bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD9FAOPBiDk