There is lots of “I told you so” going on across the web, especially the blogosphere and Twitter. The vocal opposition to Microsoft’s Jerry Seinfeld ads seem to be involved in one giant self-congratulatory pat on the back. What they proved is that Microsoft is the big, conservative, sensitive giant that they are portrayed as, and I think it’s sad. Microsoft and Crispin Porter + Bogusky were on the right track with the latest Windows/Microsoft ad campaign, despite the fact that much of the public response was confusion (or puzzlement.) Why do I think this was succeeding in spite of the fact that the public reaction wasn’t considered wildly enthusiastic?
1. People were talking about Microsoft again. And many of the people doing the talking were Mac users.
2. It didn’t seem anyone had a significantly “negative” reaction, except some bloggers (many of whom are generally negative anyway. I think the appropriate term is “haters.”)
3. Microsoft wasn’t trying to “outcool” Apple, and they weren’t trying to directly respond either. They were directing their own message, and it was basically - “Hey, we’re people too.”
I referred to it as “Personification of Brand” before, and I stand behind my assessment that Microsoft could succeed by giving their brand a humanity that is lacking in big companies. There is this brand impression left over from the “Pirates of Silicon Valley” days where Microsoft was viewed as manipulative and monopolistic, whose business practices were unfair. But it’s 2008, not 1998 and now Microsoft is fighting against Google and Apple and no longer destroying the Netscapes of the world. This ad campaign wasn’t about Windows, and it shouldn’t have been. The ads were going to get people talking about Microsoft in non-negative ways, and open the door for a more personal connection to the brand again.
The smart strategy would be to butter people up by reminding them that Bill Gates is just this goofy programmer than happened to make the biggest OS in the world at the right time, and he’s human. Because the average person (at least the one who knows who Bill Gates is) probably uses Microsoft and isn’t emotionally connected because his PC is really “personal” the way Mac users PCs are “personal.” Once the brand was human again, and people were paying attention - the strategy should have been to establish how Microsoft was open to the unique needs of a lot of people, rather than the elitist attitude of Macs (and Mac users).
I recall the movie “Antitrust” with Ryan Phillipe about a young computer genius who gets wooed into joining the big Seattle software company that just happens to be eliminating upstart software companies to absorb their IP and clear the path for dominance. As ridiculous and sensational as this movie was, it was possible because of the opinion many had of Microsoft. This impression still lingers with people, although it’s diminished, and Microsoft needs to put a bullet in it once and for all. This ad campaign was on the right path, and I think it would have worked. Instead, Microsoft showed it has no confidence in it’s ability to weather a storm and take the brand in a new direction. They are in fact, a big, conservative software company that makes too many decisions by committee and should have let the creative professionals help.
Microsoft gave up, and it’s too bad because despite being a longtime Mac fanboy and anti-Windows guy, I was rooting for them.
