Okay, so... this is the vaunted "Seinfeld" ad campaign Microsoft is launching?
Um... what?
Seriously: this is not any kind of new tactic for Microsoft's advertising. All the TV ads I can remember for Windows and Microsoft in the last few years have all been nebulous, grandiose, and full of vague promises of awesomeness with a befuddling lack of specifics. Clever, sure: the ads where someone acting out his dreams gets overlaid by white lines that illustrate the full-scale realization of those dreams were always well-done and genuinely inspiring. But the message was always: Microsoft is good. Not Here is a cool feature of Windows, or Here is a piece of software that Jimmy can use to turn his lemonade stand into a global drink brand. Just something more like If you succeed, there's probably a Microsoft product somewhere in your career trajectory. Which I guess is a fine message to send, but only if your primary interest in Microsoft has to do with their stock price. Otherwise, they might as well be telling you: Ubiquity means never having to ask who makes your tools.
This ad is more of the same sort of stuff. Microsoft is going to do cool vague things. Uh, okay. They've been saying that since 1995. And, well, I guess they've delivered. Delivered lots of cool vague things. Somewhat cool, but mostly vague.
Apple's ads—particuarly the iPhone ads—are a stark contrast, in that all they do is show you features. Sure, the demos might be tarted-up and unrealistic; but they're so simple in concept that nobody else in the industry could have come up with them. No sweeping visual metaphors. No blaring music or lifestyle fantasies. No chocolate sauce pouring over shiny phones or armies of phone company employees following you around. Just some guy going "Hey, look what this thing can do".
I'm not saying that method is inherently better—I mean, it's not like Apple doesn't do nebulous vague brand-oriented advertising (we've got seven years of iPod ads to tell us that). But is anybody going to buy more Microsoft products because Bill Gates slyly shook his ass in the parking lot?
Brian Tiemann
