by Michelle Lentz
In our house, we’ve got 3 PCs and two Macs. I’m a Mac person, but there are just some things I do – such as creating Windows Help files – that don’t take to a Mac. Still, if I had to choose, I’d pick a Mac over a PC anyday.
I was surprised at myself, then, to find out that I really like the new Microsoft commercial. It has a “random consumer” searching for an affordable computer. Lauren, our intrepid consumer, visits an Apple store and can’t find what she wants: a laptop with a 17″ screen for under $1000. She visits Best Buy, where she has a boatload of laptops from which to choose. For $900 she brings home a printer and a laptop. Point made.
According to the Wall Street Journal,
For the commercials, Microsoft’s advertising agency, Crispin Porter + Boguksy, recruited prospective computer shoppers in the Los Angeles area through Craigslist and other sites, with a tantalizing offer to give them between $700 and $2,000 to purchase a new PC.
According to Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows consumer product marketing at Microsoft, the agency told recruits it was a market research firm and didn’t mention it was working with Microsoft. The recruits were told they could keep whatever money they didn’t spend on a PC so they had incentives to look for good values.
Here’s the thing: I never “got” the Microsoft Bill Gates/Seinfeld commercials at all. They were strange, and a little creepy. I also never connected to any of their other recent ad campaigns. I think this campaign may finally hit it out of the ballpark for them, connecting with economy-crushed, cost-conscious consumers.
What do you think of the new campaign?
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