Finally a Microsoft spot I can get behind. I am a devoted Mac user since the beginning. I was even interviewed by CNN.com about it for their article on the 25th anniversary of the Macintosh launch. I have an iPod, an iPhone and if I could, I'd have a iBrain. It would certainly have a better UI than the one I was born with. On the other hand, like most of my kind, I am not a fan of Microsoft. Their ad agency, though, ROCKS. Crispin, Porter + Bogusky is responsible for some of the most innovative work in recent history for clients like Burger King, Volkswagen and Geek Squad. Look up "Whopper Freakout" on YouTube and witness some great shit.
By comparison, CP+B's first attempts at rebranding their new tech client were astonishingly unimpressive. Jerry Seinfeld bonding with Bill Gates over buying cheap shoes. Not funny, not appealing and not effective branding of anything other than geeky old men. Then there was the Mojave Experiment. Not sure how involved the agency was in the development of the concept, but they at least handled the commercials. Still yawning at this point.
It's an interesting assignment. Microsoft competes with Apple, yet they make software only, whereas Apple makes soft and hardware. People who buy Apple products think in terms of the hardware they are choosing — not so much the operating system. What has made Apple so incredibly successful, to a large extent, is the the melding of the two to create and impeccable brand experience. Even their stores are a branded experience. So now Microsoft has employed CP+B to improve the Q rating of their PR-challenged OS, Vista. It's an interesting challenge because to sell the software, one must sell the hardware. The PC experience is not a cohesive brand in the Apple sense. When all is right in the world of personal computing, the operating system is invisible. It is the infrastructure that you can — and should — take for granted, not unlike the plumbing in your house. Having to sell what should be a behind-the-scenes automatic support system, means bringing consciousness to something that should just happen.
On Friday, my colleague —a confessed Alex Bogusky groupie — sent me a link to the latest Microsoft commercial. Finally, I think they've got it. In spite of myself, I love this spot (partly because Lauren reminds me of girl crush Claire Fisher of Six Feet Under)! C,P+B is finally approaching the product as part of the larger experience, and they do it cleverly. I am wondering if HP chipped in. They get a shout out. If I were going to move to the land of the previously unhip, I would definitely look into those fab looking bright orange laptops.
I like the point about the operating system being invisible. It is a "feature" that many of us geeks forget about.
I also liked the commercial because unlike the preceding ads (Seinfeld and Mojave) it finally addressed a real value: VALUE. While this isn't a reason for me to unload my Macbook Pro, the low cost of the hardware is compelling.
Never mind that I'd probably install Linux and forget about Windows altogether.
Posted by: Matt | March 29, 2009 at 10:49 PM