What is Digg?189 Comments
- K4Lic0, on 09/18/2008, -11/+97Wait, does this mean no more Gates/Seinfeld commercials? or is this just a commercial for a different Microsoft product? I may be in the minority, but I thought those were great commercials, I wanna see the next one!
- thegamingguy, on 09/18/2008, -5/+56I love the stereotype caption below the photo, it is so true.
- Refrag, on 09/18/2008, -9/+58Is targeting the beloved John Hodgman a good idea?
- HarChim, on 09/18/2008, -5/+46Gates doing the robot was ***** awesome.
- totorototoro, on 09/18/2008, -5/+45I was actually curious as to where they were going with the Gates/Seinfeld sketches-kinda disappointed they gave up on them so easily. (and don't believe for a second that this change in direction was "planned")
- seabass10, on 09/18/2008, -3/+40Does this mean no more free pizza?
- David513, on 09/18/2008, -4/+35What people don't seem to understand is that it's a HUGE win for Apple to have Microsoft attempt to respond to their commercials. Here's why. Microsoft is the 800-lb. gorilla here. It has more than 90 percent of the market. Apple has something like 5 percent (a number which can fluctuate up or down depending on which market segment you're talking about). But Microsoft has become sufficiently irritated by a pesky tiny competitor that it's directly responding, violating one of the cardinal rules of brand marketing. They're giving Apple legitimacy by responding. In the minds of the viewers, there is the sub-conscious thought that Apple MUST be a legitimate threat to Microsoft, because the company wouldn't be responding if it didn't consider the Apple message a threat.
Microsoft was in a terrible position, but they were put there because they had done such a horrible job of managing their brand. Apple took the most popular operating system and defined it -- in a way that irritated the heck out of Microsoft. If Microsoft had been doing its marketing job (defining what Windows meant to people) in an effective way, the Apple ads wouldn't have been so effective. (And they HAVE been effective. The fact that some geeks here don't like them doesn't say anything about their effect in the real world.) But after Apple took the offensive, Microsoft could continue to let Apple talk about them in a vacuum (bad choice) or responded in a way that gives Apple legitimacy (worse choice). I guarantee you that the marketing and advertising people involved with the Apple account are thrilled with this turn of events.
I've worked in marketing (mostly for politicians) for most of the last 20 years, so I'm giving an opinion based on how positioning really works, not based on my biases about the companies involved. I'm a Mac user, but I appreciate smart marketing strategy wherever it comes from. Based on tonight's turn of events, it does NOT appear that Microsoft is headed in a smart direction.
Based on how Microsoft's marketing people have abandoned their responsibilities to position their products well, their only hope, IMO, is to start from scratch to define who they are as a company and what their products represent. If they were just doing that (instead of trying to "respond" to Apple), I would have felt much differently about it. - Niallgriff, on 09/18/2008, -5/+34A commercial from either side with honest attacks against the other would be a neat idea. There are plenty of things to criticize both MS and Apple over.
- bonk2k, on 09/18/2008, -0/+29I don't care what you think about the mac ads, but John Hodgman is ***** hilarious. read "areas of my expertise" and you'll know what I am talking about.
- PhillyMJS, on 09/18/2008, -1/+29FTFA: 'Apple executives have been “using a lot of their money to de-position our brand and tell people what we stand for,” said David Webster, general manager for brand marketing at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash. “They’ve made a caricature out of the PC,” he added...'
And you let them do it for YEARS before responding. You're doing a "heckuva job" of managing that brand marketing, Dave! - btschul, on 09/18/2008, -0/+24*Message box* "Shark would like to enter cage. Block or allow?"
Diver: "Yeah, yeah allow. NO, I MEAN BLOCK!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" - TheFinaleofSeem, on 09/18/2008, -6/+28Diver in a shark cage is a PC? Better hope that's not an MS shark cage or he's gonna lose a limb or two...
- sauron256, on 09/18/2008, -1/+18Yeah, we could certainly use more attack ads on TV right now!
- chambana, on 09/18/2008, -3/+19Apple has successfully gotten into Microsoft's head. These ads only accentuate that Apple sets the terms of the debate. It's as if Apple is the one with 90% share. Microsoft should grow a pair and come up with something original.
- gringer, on 09/18/2008, -1/+17Q: If you get rid of the walls, what do you also get rid of?
A: Doors and _______ - NathanielJ, on 09/18/2008, -0/+16According to the Apple ads, PC *is* Microsoft's brand, so make up your mind.
- sklter84, on 09/18/2008, -2/+17This new campaign sounds like it's playing into Apple's hands.
- xcvbn, on 09/18/2008, -12/+27hope this "next phase" drives a better point than than the gates/seinfeld campaign that have been out so far
- neuromachine, on 09/18/2008, -6/+20Nice job of getting affected by marketing.
- batmanz, on 09/18/2008, -2/+15They aren't 'targeting' John Hodgman, they are targeting the ads.
- Ebue1, on 09/18/2008, -0/+12Cable boy? Cable boy! What have you done to my little cable boy?
- deadbaby, on 09/18/2008, -0/+12I don't think it's a very good idea to copy Apple's ads with a fake Hodgman. He's iconic as PC. Even an excellent impersonator is going to look lame and unoriginal by comparison. There's no way this ad campaign can end well for Microsoft.
- Rikushix, on 09/18/2008, -0/+11Next patch of Windows Defender will come with a spear-gun.
- Rupan, on 09/18/2008, -1/+11No No No. Microsoft you were doing so good. Please don't acknowledge in anyway the Apple commercials. I love my Mac but I also love MS in every regard besides Windows. I have a feeling this is going to wash away all the joy Ive had over their great ad campaign so far. Sigh, I guess its true what they say. All good things...
- roxgod666, on 09/18/2008, -2/+12@nard3456
Wow good job changing your line after you realized what a dumbass line that was. The original was something like "i have no clue what these ads have to do with vista" - roxgod666, on 09/18/2008, -5/+14They don't...did you even take the slightest glance at the article? It talked how they will begin their "actual" campaign after 2 weeks of TEASERS. Those commercials weren't meant for anything really besides an introduction to the campaign
- D3koy, on 09/18/2008, -1/+10Mac paints the picture of Mac vs PC, and while most of us here on the internet know it is more complicated than that, some people don't. So rather than make the distinction between "PC" and "Windows" Microsoft has decided to use the name given to them in the Apple commercials and defend it.
- hangman16, on 09/18/2008, -1/+9I don't really believe that ending this 'seinfeld' thing was planned. Even so, it will be interesting to see how Apple responds to the new Microsoft ads we will begin seeing. Apple has a very good advertising agency. Microsoft will need to be careful not to give Apple anything they can twist around and use back against them.
- Tim101010, on 09/18/2008, -8/+16I think Microsoft got sick of Apple and their pretentious commercials and decided to try and correct/counter a lot of the bs that these mac commercials have been spreading
- f4nt0m4s, on 09/18/2008, -5/+13Apple ad:
"Hi, I'm a PC and I am a moron and so is anyone who uses a PC."
"I'm a Mac, I am superior to PCs and all the morons who use them so buy me!"
shouldn't be that hard to combat.... - gquaglia, on 09/18/2008, -1/+8No, the next phase commercials will be boring and safe. Just like the PC.
- ArthurSucks, on 09/18/2008, -1/+8I want this to unfold to a badass battle of the Operating Systems. I want them both to come out swinging and fighting. Let's not stop there, I want them to start dropping the prices of their flagship products. I want it cause such a surge in the tech world people develop HUGE lines outside of their favorite brick and mortar computer shops. I want to see Apple.com and Dell.com have so many service requests that their servers burn out and have to be replace by out sourced web hosting until they meet demand. I call this the Computer Burger war, and it is delicious! Maybe, just maybe it might help our economy... Go capitalism!
- jwdav, on 09/18/2008, -1/+8How would Microsoft doing an original ad be "admitting defeat"?
I would say that using a "similar ad scheme" as you put it, is admitting defeat. What they are "tapping into" is reinforcing the effectiveness and validity of the Apple ads. - kebinusan, on 09/18/2008, -0/+6The Sienfeld adverts havent made me want to go out and buy copies of Vista, but I have a new pair of shoes and a freezer full of churros
- jasmus, on 09/18/2008, -1/+7How about a commercial that gives the viewer a reason to buy their product that's not "our crap doesn't smell as bad as their crap".
- KingGorilla, on 09/18/2008, -1/+7glory holes
- twiztidsinz, on 09/18/2008, -2/+8I believe you have some pokemans that need capturing...
why don't you make yourself useful and get lost. - GhostToon, on 09/18/2008, -1/+6I am going to go out on a limb here and guess you're an apple user.
- FasmTrout, on 09/18/2008, -0/+5I agree. Call me a consumer whore but I enjoy ads if they have some sort of direction, even if it takes a few spots to get to the point. I was hoping to see a lot more of these. Come to think of it, for some reason I remember reading that they shot quite a few of these ahead of time. Maybe that was just my wishful thinking.
- hectord27, on 09/18/2008, -10/+14I want more seinfield and gate commercials. Their randomness is what intrigued me the most.
In my house we have 2 macs and 2 PCs. Macs are good computers that have a good OS but for some reason I keep on going back to my XP. I even do a lot of graphic design and I still enjoy using XP better. Maybe its the fact that I've used PC most of my life that I just cant get around to using a Mac no matter how "pretty" and "easy" it is. - PiRATE7, on 09/18/2008, -0/+4I agree, I didnt like them at first, but now I love the subtle humor in them. Plus I like how Microsoft doesnt target Apple. Its like there being the bigger person in the Apple vs Windows debate.
- spammishking, on 09/18/2008, -1/+5no they don't, all it proves is that apple has finally gotten off its ass to create some competition. If anything the apple commercials prove apple is second fiddle by comparing itself to the dominant OS. Notice Microsoft isn't comparing itself to apple.
Besides Windows, Mac, & Linux are pretty much adopting each others UI. Soon it will be impossible to tell them apart. - jasmus, on 09/18/2008, -0/+4Entertaining to the people that Apple wants as customers. Not necessarily people who know a lot about either platform, but normal, everyday people that use "the computer", not windows or osx. So many people tell me they love those ads when they see my macbook, while I personally don't like them much at all.
- Shugii, on 09/18/2008, -5/+9Entertaining? To who exactly? It just made Apple users look like arrogant pricks. Was not entertaining what so ever. It sounds like you take your computer platform a bit too seriously.
- mikesly, on 09/18/2008, -1/+5Haven't you seen my movies? "Juice" That was a good one! "Deep Blue Sea" They ate me! A ***** shark ate me! Drink up, bitch!
That caption? - Hoogs, on 09/18/2008, -7/+11I actually think this new series of commercials is quite funny. I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud at the end of that one where Bill Gates does the robot. Much better than those snoody Mac ones.
- adaire, on 09/18/2008, -1/+4Article about a commercial with no video... lame
- isuisorisuaint, on 09/18/2008, -0/+3link to the ***** video?
- rblancarte, on 09/18/2008, -0/+3You know, if you have to analyze the comercial THAT much, then the Microsoft marketing dept is doing something HORRIBLY wrong.
Today's consumer needs to be hit with the message quickly and efficiently. They don't want to have to watch a commercial 30 times just to get part of the message, then start analyzing like when they read The Scarlet Letter in high school.
Case in point is the Sham-Wow infomercial. The short ones - they are showing you - drys stuff FAST. And they hammer you with it. They serve the hook, pull it, and then hit you with a cheap price.
If they are getting name recognition, they are in the wrong market. That is food mostly. Bud Light, Coke, etc. Things that I go to buy all the time, and I might think "Catchy jingle, I will go with Hot Pockets today."
Computers are a once every 5 years type purchase. They need to demonstrate that their computer does more than the Apple. That you might have a great experience w/ an Apple computer, but other that web surf and look at home movies, the system lacks any substance. Deep messages, etc aren't going to do it. When it comes down to it - all I saw was a condensed Seinfield episode with no Kramer, George or Elaine. I still remember "Hello, I'm a Mac" and how that kid punks the PC every time. - Smegzor, on 09/18/2008, -0/+3I already got rid of the Windows, and now they want me to remove the walls too?
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