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I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

mattmaroon.com

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Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#3

Post by aneesh »

[deleted] wrote: post #2

[deleted]

EDIT: It seems the parent deleted its post ... maybe because it had the facts wrong.

And what is that "CNN article" based on? Random bloggers of course! Read its second sentence:

"Bloggers and online media have suggested that the Redmond, Washington-based company yanked the Seinfeld ads after they were poorly received"

Also, where in that article did "Microsoft admit the ads were a dud"?

"The notion that we're doing some quick thing to cancel (the Seinfeld ads) is actually preposterous," Mathews [MSFT VP] said. "Today was always the day. ... Media buying is something you have to do months in advance."

Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#4

Post by aneesh »

Matt's right. A "Vista rocks" ad wouldn't be talked about this much. Case in point: see Mojave experiment a month ago -- all Vista, limited success.

Even more than fixing Vista's problems, Microsoft needs to get back mindshare & brand that it has been losing to "cooler" competitors like Apple & Google. Microsoft wants to be talked about. And that takes a lot more guts than saying "Vista rocks". To their credit, they recognize that.

Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#5

Post by icey »

aneesh wrote: post #3
[deleted] wrote: post #2

[deleted]

EDIT: It seems the parent deleted its post ... maybe because it had the facts wrong. And what is that "CNN article" based on? Random bloggers of course! Read its second sentence: "Bloggers and online media have suggested that the Redmond, Washington-based company yanked the Seinfeld ads after they were poorly received" Also, where in that article did " Microsoft admit the ads were a dud"? "The notion that we're doing…

It was my post, and my facts were wrong, so I deleted it.

However, this seems to back up the thrust of my point: http://valleywag.com/5051860/microsoft-ad-agency-confirms-ne...

Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#6

Post by cstejerean »

"Most of the people counting them out aren’t the target audience."

Microsoft kept dismissing people switching to Linux and OS X as not being in their target audience. But I think PG said it best in http://www.paulgraham.com/mac.html

"Who cares if hackers like Apple again? How big is the hacker market, after all?

Quite small, but important out of proportion to its size. When it comes to computers, what hackers are doing now, everyone will be doing in ten years."

Unfortunately I didn't read that essay back in 2005.

http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chd...

Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#7

Post by jcl »

You can’t simply start making five ads with Jerry Seinfeld, start airing them, decide you don’t like them after a week, film a new ad, and switch the old one out and the new one in within 7 days.

I'm pretty sure you can. Most advertising agencies present multiple options to their clients and variations thereon, so Microsoft likely had half a dozen half-fleshed-out ideas they could have followed in addition to the Seinfeld one. And, yes, producing an ad could take a long time, but it could also take a very short time, depending on what is needed and how much money you are willing to throw at it. Every day, news networks come up with hours of professionally produced graphics, interviews, and reports, with lead times varying from a few days to a matter of minutes.

Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#8

Post by raganwald »

I think there’s a very good chance that we’re seeing the sort of marketing campaign that will be studied in universities for years to come. I’m not sure which way it will go. It might be looked back upon as the spark that ignited a massive resurgence and a prime example of one of the all time great ad agencies at the peak of their game. Or it might go down as act of hubris on par with Gigli but with ten times the budget

Matt, I think you may be onto something there. Things in front of us always seem bigger than they really are, but when they went from M$10 on Jerry Seinfeld to directly responding to the "I'm a PC" commercials, this went from being another M$300 ad spend to a very high stakes gamble.

When they were doing the Seinfeld thing, it could have been a defensive move. They solidify their support with their core market, and Apple's ads solidify their support with Apple's core market. It stops and further switching, but creates a stable stalemate with Microsoft maintaining huge market share and continuing to farm its customers for upgrade revenue.

But directly responding to the Apple ads changes things. Now it's a kind of winner-take-all strategy. If they succeed, they could reverse the trend and win customers and mind share back. But if they fail, they accelerate the defection and actually get their own customers talking about Apple's advertising!

If Microsoft spends any serious money on this "I'm a PC" series, I don't see this ending in a stable stalemate. One or the other is going to win out. It "I'm a PC" flops, Microsoft looks very, very bad and validates Apple's advertising. Of course, if it succeeds it could undermine everything Apple has worked on and claw back their gains.

So... I would have to say that before canning Jerry this was not going to be a B-School case study. But now that the #1 player with 90+% of the market is breaking all the rules by referencing a competitor's advertising...

Yeah, I see this as a B-School case study no matter how it plays out.

Re: I’m a PC, and I Write Blog Entries

#10

Post by unalone »

It's not exactly fair to call John Gruber a "Mac fanboy" and dismiss him at that. He's got a point with his postings: Microsoft touted Seinfeld for a LONG time and then dropped him after two weeks. They announced this not from the ad firm they hired but from their PR department, which is indicative of the fact that this wasn't a decision straight from the firm. That all leads to the conclusion that Microsoft is slightly panicking. Considering how adamant Gruber is AGAINST things that Apple does that he DOESN'T like, I think it's fair to say that he has a reputation for being fair-minded. And, you know, if a ton of fair-minded people like one product (Apple), perhaps there's a logic behind their liking it. You never know. It's possible. ;-)

As for your saying that this is good because it can't be understood: I'm going to call BS. Being deliberately vague never works for anybody. The ads WERE understandable (hey, guys, Bill Gates is pretty cool, and we're not a faceless empire!), so your point doesn't quite work, but things that you can't understand are either things you can LEARN to understand or they're poorly done. Simple as that.

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