So the tech and geek crowd is a little underwhelmed by the new $300 million Microsoft advertising campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld that kicked off tonight. It’s mostly content free, with just one mention of Microsoft near the end. It’s a far cry from the brilliant Microsoft v. mac ads that Apple has run over the years.
So what’s the deal? In an email we’ve obtained from Microsoft SVP Bill Veghte to all employees, he talks about the goals of the campaign. The overall goal is to inspire consumers and “tell the story of how Windows enables a billion people around the globe to do more with their lives today.” This first phase, he says, “is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity.”
The ads are just an icebreaker, he ads, to reintroduce Microsoft to consumers. Later this month they’ll do a deeper dive, which I assume means talking about features.
One thing’s for sure – the ads have sparked conversation. Full text of email is below:
From: Bill Veghte
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 5:37 PM
To: Microsoft – All Employees (QBDG)
Subject: Telling the story of Windows
Since it first launched nearly 25 years ago, Windows has been one of the most successful products in the history of the high tech industry. As we set our sights on the next 25 years, it is essential that we deliver incredible offerings on a great platform. We must also tell the story of how Windows enables a billion people around the globe to do more with their lives today. We must inspire consumers with the promise of what Windows uniquely makes possible across the PC, phone and web.
Telling our story means making significant investments to improve the way consumers experience Windows. To that end, we are focused on making improvements at practically every consumer touch point, from the moment they hear about the Windows brand in our advertising to how they learn more about Windows products online; from how they view Windows and try it at retail to how they use the entire range of Windows offerings – Windows Vista, Windows Mobile and Windows Live – across their whole life.
Today, we are kicking off a highly visible advertising campaign. The first phase of this campaign is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity. The first in this series of television ads airs initially in the U.S., and it aims to re-ignite consumer excitement about the broader value of Windows. The first television spot aired on NBC during the opening game of the NFL season and will be seen throughout the evening on various primetime programs. Worldwide, you can view this first TV spot at http://msw.
This first set of ads features Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Think of these ads as an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context. Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we’ll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go. At that time, I’ll be back to share more information about our plans to further strengthen the bond between consumers and Windows – one of the most amazing products, businesses and brands of all time, and, with the right tenacity, passion and agility from all of us, a story that has many great chapters to come.
The picture of him on the ID card is a cropped version of his mugshot from when he was a MITS New Mexico.
http://images.g...%20gates%20jail
That should read “at MITS in New Mexico”.
The way Bill pulls in people like the Napoleon dynamite character and Jerry Seinfeld and forcibly makes them promote his product and star in videos with him is downright creepy.
It’s like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons on crack.
Forcibly? Who’s he forcing to do anything?
These people are so out of context in corporate videos. That’s what I should have written. At least Bill doesn’t have Scoble Smithers at his side anymore.
Chris, ur so way of the mark on many points
chris, you are weird!
His mugshot inspired the poster for “Forty Year Old Virgin”
i thought that ad was very good, it creates that homely, friendly feeling. and by the way, i’m a mac guy and have been since os 9. Mac because its a better system, but I’ve always hated the elitism surrounding it, especially from those ‘genius’ bars and the whole look of those we’re-better-than-you apple stores. get over it guys. and Mr. Mike’s drooling, loved-up comment “those brilliant mac ads” is just so sickenly gay. They’re not that good.
Good ad, and yes Vista is ok but a resource hog, stop being so pedantic
also, i think this style of humour is new to u ameri-can-do’s. it’s much more british, not take urself so seriously, ironic, etc. U were introduced to it with your US version of The Office, and Seinfeld (to a small extent).
It is good, just don’t take it so seriously, like the characters in the ad. Those Apple switch ad’s are all about elitism and just make apple look like they’re jealous. (mac guy here)
I concur
i saw a “mojave project” ad for windows vista last nite a couple times. it made absolutely no sense to me and i work in redmond. what the heck?
u work in redmond? what as, a city councillor, a street sweeper. whats that got to do with ur ability to to make sense of an ms project. my god, you people, redmond is not microsoft, cupertino is not apple. foolish man
Apple Does Cheap Business Promotion with those Ads, If they offer quality products why not show the advantages of using Apple Products rather than comparing them openly with their biggest competitor.
http://www.yout...h?v=0qNVe024RvI
Because it’s their choice. They can do anything they want. They pay for the ads. They could recreate office space and beat the crap out of a PC instead of a fax machine if they wanted to.
That’s why. When you pay for the ads you can do it however you want.
because they only have very limited time, and an audience that is only watching the ad because its come in on the ad break while watching other TV
Because jerry was never funny in the first place?
Amit….its called marketing! That is one of the ways how you highlight the benefits of using your product
I was less then impressed with these ads. How can you make an ad with Seinfeld ‘unfunny’?
easily, very easily.
Your asking for too much from just one advert. Give ALL the adverts time to unravel.
This is the only way MS could of fought back from Apples adverts, blank shots at Apple would of been so predictable.
Nice work and I can’t wait to see it all unravel!
Um, the Apple ads make sense by themselves. M$ needs to fire their Ad agency and hire a new one. Unless they did these themselves. Then they should can that person.
When you have to explain an ad to someone…it probably isn’t a very good one.
Ugh. I hate the Britishism “advert.” Can’t you just say “ad”?
could it be the ads aren’t targeted to you? from the posts and comments i’ve read here throughout the years you’ve never struck me as a msft fan. so maybe that bias is coming through in your take on this ad. an ad which i personally thought was pretty good.
Tasteless.
“The first in this series of television ads… aims to re-ignite consumer excitement about the broader value of Windows. ”
I don’t think the word “excitement” and that commercial have any thing to do with each other. Aim again.
“The first in this series of television ads… aims to re-ignite consumer excitement about the broader value of Windows. ”
I don’t think the word “excitement” and that commercial have any thing to do with each other. Aim again.
Agreed. ZZzzzzzz. Come on, that is the best they could do? I forced myself to finish it.
no matter what kind of campaign c & b develops for msft, the sv tech geek set will (largely) hate it. but who cares?
Bill is always bill!
MS taking the high road and not making fun of Apple, mature. Boring, but mature. I guess the Mac target market is a little different.
Mac: Hi I am a Mac
PC: HI I am a PC
Mac: I can’t do that
PC: I can
Bill: Hi I am Bill
Steve : Hi I am Steve
Bill: I donate millions to help children in our US schools.
Steve: I spend millions to make a rocket go into space. Weeeeeeeee
totally agree! Bill has done more for society than Steve can and will ever do.
brad, I believe you’re missing the point here so I’m reposting my comment just for you my friend.
The Apple ads are funny but they don’t appeal to the masses. They create lots of noise but they by now alienate people more than anything else. They’re about being sophisticated and “better” than someone else. But the average person in Ohio or Texas doesn’t necessarily want to be walking around with a hip iPhone. He or she is probably closer to the PC boy and hates the fact that like in high-school, they’re referred to as nerds. Most people don’t want to feel that they’re better than other people but that’s all that the Apple ads are about. Funny enough, Apple Macs are primarily used by geeks who want to think they’re not geeks. So Apple comes around and tells them, you’re not geeks, you’re cool. And then they buy a Mac or an iPhone.
The Microsoft ad, in contrast, is not saying much about Microsoft products because it’s not about MS products. It’s about creating some cosy feeling and making you feel good about something you’ve been using for twenty years, whether it’s Windows or Office or IE and reminding you that you’re not a dork/nerd/geek. You’re just one of 80%-85%-90% who chose the same software but for different means.
If Microsoft is about Windows then Apple is about Walls. And people ultimately hate Walls.
I can’t wait to see the next wave of ads.
@TCCritic
It’s amazing that you think that people in Ohio don’t want to be cool. They’re human like people on the more obnoxious east and west coasts…
Macs are not used primarily by geeks, they’re a small vocal subset of this conversation.
I’m writing this from an old G4 because my new Dell just died.
I use both Apple and PC everyday… I have come to this realization. The Mac OS works better because it doesn’t have to work with a thousand different hardware configurations just a handful. I think we all know that.
The MAIN reason Windows has 80-85% market share is because the 90’s was when the majority of companies and households purchased their first desktop computers. PC’s manufacturers, being in a competitive market, were forced to lower prices, and thus sold more computers than Apple, who out of poor leadership decided to continue manufacturing their own hardware.
PS… Windows works on Apple computers. So the ad campaign isn’t about how cool the hardware is, it is about what OS is better.
@TCCritic Wow, that’s about the most clueless and ill-informed statement I’ve read in a while.
Apple is #1 in laptops, #2-3 in desktops depending on the source. 80% of new college students are buying what? Macs. The iPhone has outsold all other smartphones for AT&T combined. The iPhone has broken all kinds of industry records for sales.
Apple has not only solidified their relationship w/current customers, but has doubled their market share in the last couple of years. Apple’s market share is growing, while the other’s are losing.
But you’re right, nobody wants a Mac.
@TCCritic
Your post was well written and portrays thoughtful insight into both the Apple and Mircosoft advertising campaigns, and I agree that Apple alienates a large number of its customers through their advertising campaign. Their marketing showcases their consumer-focused products and encourages their loyal fanbase to purchase each new-generation iPod, iPhone and iMac. This advertising campaign works tremendously well when the economy is booming because there are a higher percentage of consumers with disposable income to buy new hardware every six months. But a myriad of reasons has lead to a sluggish economy with unemplyment exceeding 6.1% and the percentage of consumers who have disposable income to spend on flashy Apple hardware is diminishing. When Joe Consumer is sitting home because his disposable income has diminished, it is unlikely that he will rush to purchased the Apple-du-jour.
TCCritic…lets just both agree on your high level of ignorance and move on. Your argument is hollow, misinformed and quite elitist in and of itself. Before you begin to stereotype the people of Texas and Ohio you might want to educate yourself on what kind of people they really are. Because somebody is from Ohio or Texas that don’t want an Apple product? Huh. It renders the rest of your argument mute.And I would like you to be the one to tell half the college students out there that they are geeks using their Apple products. And over 80% of the music player market that they are geeks.
And Brad and Adam…are you really trying to answer the Mac vs PC argument by saying who donates more. Seriously! Very childish. He is a billionaire, he should donate money, it doesnt make Microsoft better.
ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz one of my friends commented that that would work if this was the 1990’s but it seems they have missed the date slightly. Seinfield was a show “about nothing” I assume that they will somehow try and build something out of a series of these ads.. I was gonna say it will be interesting to see how they do that cause I sure cant see it but it probably wont be interesting to watch at all.. Then again maybe they will surprise me and a few other people so ill wait till they have popped 2-3 of these out to see if there is in fact something that they will manage to grab us with. The wow begins now was certainly a different approach to this one. The other thing did anyopne else loose interest at about 15 secs in? From an advertisers standpoint the first 15-30 second floats or sinks your boat… This one is firmlu on the bottom of the ocean and I always liked Seinfeild. I wonder what the younger set will think of these i am a young middle aged person so how would I know.
I thought it was funny. Tacky, but you know, don’t take it too seriously–they are meant to be caricatures of themselves.
That said, this kind of ad would have no (conscious) impact on my perception of PCs. I’d prefer they fix the error on my Vista premium that makes it so my mouse click focus is at the tip of the cursor and not the bottom as it sometimes occurs.
clearly in the minority here, but i actually found the ad subtle and funny. seems like it could be a very effective lead in to a more robust campaign.
I watched it three times already…. and,.. uhm.. I think… wait, let me watch it again,.. be right back.
still don’t get it. what a waste of time…. luckily not my money.
i laughed
interesting commerical. Jerry should racked up the bucks from Microsoft.
It cracked me up. I get that it is a teaser and I think the ad was hillarious.
good.
A conversation is going to cost them a lot
I observed this ad tonight. I had Adult Swim on while reading and at first I thought I was hearing a Robot Chicken skit in the background until I looked up because it was not funny. How sad is that?
Why don’t they “reintroduce” themselves to us with an actual promise that they’ll FIX the operating system. Would $300 Million even cover that?
When its cheaper to do marketing to “fix” your product than it is to actually fix it, you need to re-evaluate your core competency.
Fix?? What is broken? last I checked any MS OS installed on any PC that Cost half as much as a MAC will run 90% more software titles reliably.
You mean the 90% of crapware applications that the Windows platform offers, because it’s too hard to make elegant apps for Wintendo? Reliably? Where the hell do you get that from?
Quality costs money. MS is saying, don’t shell out the money, stick with your old shoes.
teaser is simply hillarious…..
they could have invested some more time in making IE a better browser…:x
I found another shoe clown card member !!!!!!!!!!! …. http://www.goth...te.blogspot.com
I don’t care what all say but the fact is that I like the ad and the fact that it is not a direct counter attack on all those Mac VS PC ads.
This has a very “british” feel – understated (not laugh out loud) – look forward to the next …
I got a story to tell: My winbloze PC is infested with virus, trojan horses, and 50 tracking cookies.
Need to be a little more careful where you go then.
Is there any blogger that likes Microsoft anymore? Seems like everyone is afraid the of the MAC fanboys. Honestly I don’t see what makes a MAC any better than a windows machine. And if your PC is infected thats your own damn fault for clicking on shit you shouldn’t.
well … i’m using windows ..so i’m a clown ???
If you look at the video, look out for the sign that reads
WHY
PAY MORE
on large white letters on a red background. Notice the lack of a question mark at the end, this is important.
In advertising circles, this is a subconscious command, to “pay more”, and not the question “why should i spend more money”. For three or four times that we see the sign, it is cropped – we don’t see the “WHY”. (Seinfeld also says it right at the beginning)
The aim of this campaign is to tell consumers that they have to pay more to Microsoft. Eating, delicious, feeling wet, sensuous – all to make a consumer feel good about the brand of Microsoft with the command to Pay More.
Wow – that is a reach, and “swing and a miss” I might add.
Wow. What a contrast! MSFT, a company that already blew billions on live.com and was about to shell out $40B on YHOO, wastes another fortune on, quite literally, an advertising campain about ‘nothing’.
GOOG, on the other hand, soft releases a new browser with a piece of art: a Scott McCloud graphic novella, that is already becoming a cult hit. And Chrome? It’s 10x faster in HTML & DOM script rendering. That translates into higher page view productivity and more direct revenue. Old fashioned methods of scientific business management. On the cheap. And open source. Not to mention the V8 virtual machine which powers the javascript engine on Chrome runs on ARM-based mobile devices and can be extended way beyond simple DOM scripting.
To put it in terms even a Costanza would understand, GOOG is showing up to the party with a delicious Chocolate Babka, while MSFT delivers yesterday’s stale marble rye.
ALSO: Micheal, any comment on JP Morgan internet analyst Imran Khan’s lowering his online ad spend forecast on the rising dollar/global contraction?
Come on people – Jerry’s a god. I prefer it to the geek sterotype painted by the Apple ads. I don’t wear sneakers, I shave and I don’t wear $15 t-shirts festooned with uber cool / ‘underground’ designs on them – does that mean I can’t use Apple products?
Yes, it does.
If you have to explain a jokey ad with a letter to a tech publication…you have a problem.
The train is off the rails and the story is off the topic. Jokey ads are never memorable for the product or brand that they are trying to reinforce. This has been proven countless times in myriad campaigns.
The joke may remain, but the perception of problems and /or deficiencies remains after the laughs are over.
http://www.ithelpdesk.net
I would not describe the Apple Mac v. PC ads as brilliant. While they had some strong initial appeal, I think overtime they have alienated a lot of viewers and recently become somewhat stale and predictable. Being the political season, I would liken them, at best, to attack ads. Dare I say…Mac has become the McCain of the PC world.
The whole time I saw that ad last night, I was like – “And THIS is what they’re spending 300 million on?!”
I remembered that FastCompany article on Crispin + Bogusky (the ad company that got that massive contract to “reinvent” Microsoft in order to compete with Apple). I have to wonder where all that hype about Bogusky came from…
Seinfeld???? Great. Get one guy with a career that peaked 10 years ago to promote a company that peaked at about that same time.
Lame….
That was a terrible ad. If they can’t make a simple advertisement extolling the virtues of their product maybe it’s time to redesign the product.
“It’s a far cry from the brilliant Microsoft v. mac ads that Apple has run over the years.”
Brilliant? or do you mean Arrogant?
Personally I liked the ad, it wasn’t up in your face trying to sell you something, unlike all other advertising out there.
It’s easy to make fun of or bash the competitor, hence why they become so “popular”. It’s interesting because I over and over that even a lot of Apple product owners don’t even like the Apple ads because it makes them look smug.
People give MS a hard time for being this so called “Evil” company, yet they rarely bash their competitors and typically come off rude in any of their advertising.
Wow I can’t write today…
“because I “hear” over and over…
MS Rarely come off rude in their advertising.
Why is it “making fun of” the competition to point out where Apple has an advantage? Oh, they should stick to just saying how they cost more? NOT talking about how much easier they are to set up, how they work right out of the box without a ton of crappy sponsor software loaded onto them….NOT talking about how you can run many of the same kinds of programs FASTER on an Apple…NOT talking about how you can run every piece of software a PC can run (even the crap ones mentioned earlier if they appeal to you) by using Boot Camp or Parallels or VM Ware Fusion….yeah, we should just be quiet about how the Apple works. If Windows is such a great OS, why is it they’re already thinking about “Windows 7″?? Hmmmm….
It’s making fun of the compeition because they mention the competition in their ads, they could just as easily talk about the stuff that works well, what things they have to offer, why it’s good without bashing the compeition.
Look at the iPhone ads, they are clean, show off the phone and are clearly successful in advertising a quality product without making themselves look arrogant or smug. So why not do this with their OS?
The reason they are working on Windows 7 is because of a little thing called “Progress”. Just like Apple is working on Snow Leapord and probably the version after that. That is how progression works, you start working on the next thing. Hence why you probably drive a nice comfy car to work instead of riding a horse.
If I am not mistaken (and I don’t think I am) all that crappy added software is added by the PC maufacturers (Dell/HP, etc) not Microsoft. Need to lay blame where it belongs.
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Spammy idiots also read TC.
I love everything about Bill Gates. Being unabashedly a geek, vowing to destroy Netscape and then forgetting about it under oath, pursuing areas that may not pay off (Zune), but that are innovative. On the other hand, I think they have foolishly neglected the company’s image with Vista. Why now? What made them finally realize consumers are finally switching in larger quantities?
The commercial is entertaining enough, but I don’t know how it will change anything. If people are going to buy a new computer, Seinfeld and Billy aren’t going to convince them to buy Windows machine over Apple. MSFT still has a big price advantage.
Apple not only has the best OS and applications as far as software goes but they also have the best product line available (HP is good too). Microsoft can’t even produce a decent OS, and … zune is laughable.
I’m 10.5, or 11 if they run tight.
Microsoftnchewy !
I think most people have been introduced to windows. The ones who do “celebrate” the features probably don’t need the commercials. I’m not sure running commercials featuring a former TV star and former Microsoft employee really help. John Hodgman is funny…these guys are sort of awkward.
oh, and uh. http://msw isn’t really a URL.
Funny how my PC never crashes. Oh wait that is because i don’t deal with retail pc’s and i custom build my own. Something that apple can only dream of allowing. Funny how you people bash about Microsoft but yet apple allows you to run windows ON A MAC LOL!
At least Microsoft does not care which hardware it runs on. what happen when you try to run Mac OS X on a non apple hardware???. Steve jobs is going after your LOL. Other thing Apple are so not worth the price. I like to be able to run any piece of code on my machine in anyway i want it.
With that said, curious how these ads will turn out, because quite frankly the apple ads are getting boring.
I will say this: I was riveted when the ad came on. Bill Gates acting goofy in a TV ad with Jerry Seinfeld? Shoes? Churros? Computer cake? It was awesome, and it was so completely un-Microsoft that you have admire their balls. They knew most people would rip on it, but they would all be saying, “Hey, what was up with that Microsoft ad? How random was that?”
Even people that still say they hate it watched it 4 times. You’d never eat four turd sandwiches unless you were a little intrigued by the first one.
Jerry Seinfeld is very funny. Enjoyed their series. I can totally see these ads revealing why apple cost soo much. That is if Microsoft was to go against apple but this does not seem to be the case.
Jerry Seinfeld would be perfect for these ads. Dude i can truly picture this now.
You can look at it this way.
Apple ads: Clean (sometimes gay lol) hardly funny and just states how their products “just works”
Microsoft ads” Very blunt in yo face and i can see jerry saying something like “this what you pay apple for???” LOL
Great, an ad about “nothing” just like Seinfeld’s series. And without a laugh track you’re forced to witness just how un-funny Seinfeld is, especially in this, and presumably future ads. Doesn’t help M$ a bit and I’ll give a week before the Apple ads make fun of this too. This is so sad and pathetic.
Mac needs to make fun of Microsoft, it’s all they have. If they didn’t have the iPod they would be out of business. How many Windows based systems are out there? Many, many, many more than Mac’s.