Posts Tagged: microsoft

observatory / strategy — 14 Comments
29
Oct 09

Molecular modeling by Microsoft

You’ve probably heard that Microsoft is opening its own stores, and that they’re taking a few cues from the Apple Stores. Addendum: they’re taking a few cues, the tables and stools, the shirts, the Genius Bars, the high fives, basically everything they can copy without running up against federal cloning laws.

This video, taken at the opening of the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale, is Exhibit A. If it weren’t for the bargain-hunter-ish PCs on the tables, you’d swear you were in Appleville. And if you’ve ever seen an Apple Store opening, you’ll be aghast over the degree to which they have imitated even the Apple hoopla. This isn’t copying. It’s identity theft.

I honestly don’t know how the people responsible can look at themselves in the mirror each morning. Surely there are other ways to get into retail without copying every detail from the people you’re constantly accused of copying in the first place.

Though there is some logic in replicating a proven winner, I’ll be extremely surprised if this works. The Apple Stores have broken retail records because millions of Mac-loving and Apple-curious people literally had no place to go for knowledgeable advice, hands-on experience and service. The stores broke records because, like most of Apple’s efforts, they were inventive. Microsoft Stores are doomed for two simple reasons:

1. PC people have a zillion other places to go to touch the latest models and get technical support: electronics chains, office supply chains, warehouse chains and countless ma-and-pa shops.

2. PC customers are price-driven. Even if they visit a Microsoft Store to try things out, they’ll buy where it’s cheapest — on the Internet or at a competing retailer. Remember, Microsoft itself has been so proudly advertising the mindset of the “laptop hunters.”

It’s just hard to imagine that too many people will feel particularly motivated to visit a Microsoft Store — unless, of course, it’s to join in the merriment on opening day.

advertising / creative / strategy / technology — 10 Comments
27
Oct 09

W7: another one of your big ideas

Why Microsoft created their secret Windows 7 commercials will remain a mystery. The real campaign broke on W7 launch day, and the final marketing theme has been revealed. Basically, it’s “you asked for it.”

I may not be a Windows or Microsoft enthusiast, but as a fan of advertising I can’t help feeling that this effort is just an opportunity wasted. A huge, unmistakable, perfect-storm opportunity served up on a silver platter. Hold that thought for a minute.

The “you asked for it” strategy is valid. Not inspiring, but valid. You’ve got a billion potential customers, many of whom felt abused by Vista, and you want them to feel some ownership of Windows 7. It’s not unlike the old creative director’s trick of presenting a new campaign to a client by saying, “At our last meeting, you said something that really got us going…” I always wondered if they believed that. I also wonder if Microsoft’s customers will believe it.

Creatively, it’s another story. What we get is mass-market, feel-good, seen-it-before pap — the opposite of aspirational. There’s little authenticity here, though I empathize with the problem. Microsoft has never succeeded in creating a brand persona, so they’re stuck with the one that’s been created for them. And the good-natured benefactor we see here is definitely not it. I guess they believe that by showing us ordinary folk, they can be “one of the guys” — but it doesn’t work that way.

It’s always a risk to show real people in a campaign like this, because your viewers, consciously or subconsciously, have to ask themselves “do I really want to be like that person?” In many of the Windows 7 spots, especially the one above, the answer more than likely is “I’d rather kill myself.”

But what Microsoft did here isn’t nearly as disappointing as their failure to do more. This moment could have been historic. Any ad person who hadn’t already sold his/her soul would have gladly done so for the opportunity to introduce the technology that will be used by 90% of the planet’s computers. Having been proclaimed “the best Windows ever” by reviewers and users for months, it’s a guaranteed hit — a no-risk proposition. If ever an advertiser had permission to be bold, to be brave, to create something truly memorable — this was it. This was Microsoft’s “iPhone moment,” the magic time that exists only because of the 10-15 years that played out before, when all the world is watching. Windows 7 is the company’s core product, and this campaign could not only have presented W7 as a landmark in computing, it could have served to help create the brand personality Microsoft has been missing. It was all there for the taking, and they chose to be harmless instead.

It’s really quite a shame. Unless you’re a Mac user, of course — in which case it’s kind of like one big Windows 7 launch party.

(FYI, there are a number of spots running in this campaign now. If you’re interested, here are the links to the launch ad and another my idea spot.)

strategy — 10 Comments
22
Oct 09

Michael Dell, truth-teller

The buck starts here (but why did he allow that wrong logo to appear behind?)

Apparently he likes almost all of the products he makes



Michael Dell’s remarks at a recent Churchill Club dinner in Silicon Valley shed an interesting light on the values of his company and the state of the PC industry as a whole.

First,  he dumped on the whole idea of netbooks. “Take a user who’s used to a 15-inch notebook and then give him a 10-inch netbook,” Dell said. “He’ll say ‘Hey, this is so fantastic. It’s so cute. It’s so light. I love it. But about 36 hours later, he’s saying ‘The screen’s gonna have to go. Give me my 15-inch screen back.’” Dell also said that “a fair amount of customers” weren’t too crazy about the low performance.

It won’t exactly cause an earthquake that Michael Dell is dissing the concept of an Insprion Mini 10 at the same time he’s selling them by the truckload. But just imagine the news it would make if Steve Jobs stepped up to the mike and said, “You’ll love how thin a MacBook Air is, but once you spend a few days with it, you’ll start missing that MacBook Pro.” We do hold different companies to different standards.

But Dell wasn’t done yet. Moving on to more manly machines, he said that when you get the latest processor technology, along with Windows 7 and Office 2010, “you will love your PC again. We actually have not been able to say that for a long time.” Of course, over the last three years he’s shown no signs of moral dilemma about taking people’s money in exchange for those hard-to-love Vista computers.

Clearly there’s little danger of Michael Dell ever being confused with Steve Jobs. But Dell’s own words shine a thousand-gigawatt spotlight on the stark differences between the two — as personalities and champions of different business models. Dell lives in an ultra-competitive world that’s all about numbers. Jobs lives in an equally competitive world that’s all about innovation.

The difference between the two can be seen in every product they make. If you listen, you can also hear it in every speech they make.

strategy / technology — 9 Comments
13
Oct 09

Windows 7′s bad attitude

The fixed the product, now fix the attitude

The product is improved. The attitude, not so much.

To read the pre-release reviews of Windows 7, one would think the scourge of Vista is behind us. Even WSJ’s Walt Mossberg, long a believer in Mac OS X superiority, suddenly sees OS equality.

Well, not so fast. There may be a smaller technology gap, but I’m afraid we still have a serious philosophy gap. While Apple continues to gain share by embracing its customers, Microsoft acts more like the bully being forced to shake hands with the kid he just beat up.

You can’t win the hearts of customers unless you show a little love (see earlier post). Yet Microsoft continues to treat us like a source of cash instead of human beings. For example, Windows 7 (like Vista) comes in multiple flavors at multiple prices. There are four versions this time. It’s your job to figure out which is right and pay accordingly — with Ultimate appearing at a budget-busting $320. (That other OS comes in one flavor, all features included, at one decent price.)

Inexplicably, Microsoft is making the upgrade most difficult for its biggest group of customers: those who passed on Vista and stuck with XP (that’s over half of the world’s PC users, by the way). Vista users can upgrade with a click, but those XP laggards must be punished for their sin. They’ll need to back up their data, wipe out their hard disks, reinstall their apps, re-run the updaters and restore their data. (That other OS installs over any previous system, no problem.)

And, with full knowledge that email, calendar, contact list and video player are essential to our everyday lives — Microsoft didn’t even include them in Windows 7. They’re free, but you have to go download them online. Now that’s considerate. (That other OS comes with all these apps, ready to run.)

I’m sure the boys in Redmond are frustrated as hell that Apple basks in all this love while Microsoft fails to get the credit they so richly deserve. Actually, they’re getting exactly the credit they deserve. What people want is a little respect — and Microsoft keeps forgetting to put that in the box.

creative / technology — 19 Comments
8
Oct 09

Windows 7 as the hit of the party

When I started this blog, I knew that one day I would be tempted by the Dark Side. I might feel the urge to mercilessly slam an easy target. I might be unable to resist the lure despite the knowledge that I’d feel dirty afterward.

I do have will power, I swear. But this is like putting a fresh hunk of gazelle in front of a starved lion. If you haven’t seen this YouTube Windows 7 House Party video yet, it’s worth the too-long time it takes. It’s entertaining in ways it was never intended. Plus, if you’re a creative person, it’s a primer on how to avoid jeopardizing your future.

Rather than talk about things like the one-from-every-demographic casting and creative-brief dialogue (damn, there I go), I’d like to discuss the idea of it. Because, to be honest, the planners should be first on the posse’s list. The thinking apparently went like this: “Prior to the launch date, let’s encourage people to have Tupperware parties, using Windows 7 instead of the 10-piece set of plastics. That way, each Windows 7 enthusiast will recruit and sell a whole group of customers. That’s leverage.” Only problem: it’s also an insult to our intelligence.

Even assuming that real people will be better actors than these guys, I imagine that reasonably intelligent and sociable people might find something better to do on a Friday night. To me, what’s missing from this plan is something that often gets overlooked when putting together creative briefs and/or trying to please the client: common sense. It doesn’t take great creative genius to see that this idea (and certainly the execution of it) will generate more ridicule than it does interest.

I’m sure there are people out there who will actually do this, and in fact you can find them easily enough by searching YouTube. But will this idea scale to any kind of significant numbers? Will a nation of nerds and socially desperate people rise to make this a worthwhile investment? If you were launching Windows 7, is this the way you’d use your time, money and creative resources?

I’d write a bit more, but I’m having some friends over to show them my new hot water heater.

creative / strategy / technology — 11 Comments
29
Sep 09

A stealth campaign for Windows 7

You’re likely familiar with Microsoft’s terminally cute Windows 7 commercial featuring 4.5-year-old Kylie (see earlier post). However, an entirely different Windows 7 campaign is being held in a secret location: the Windows Videos page at YouTube. (You actually need to drill down to find the little fellas. One example is above.) It seems that Microsoft/Crispin went through all the work to conceive and produce a new crop of spots, then shuffled them off to the side while Kylie works her “magic” in prime time.

Until we get a witness under oath, we can only speculate what the plan is. I will note that some companies make a rule of producing more commercials than they end up running (much to the glee of my freelance producer friends). Intel, for example, used to take two campaigns to full finish, investing over a million bucks in a campaign that would never run. They needed to have a “backup campaign,” just in case the favorite didn’t fare well in testing. (A quick review of Intel’s last decade of creative will show you how well that worked.)

Maybe that’s the strategy here, with the added benefit that in this content-starved world, there’s no need to shelve unused ads. They can be repurposed in Microsoft’s YouTube showcase of imagination — which then, in effect, becomes sort of a home for retired creativity.

Mystery aside, are these spots any good? There’s a range of work here, most of it comfortably in the “okay” range. Some of them actually make an attempt to promote a Windows 7 feature, instead of just trying to make us feel good about Microsoft. Others, well … they just try to make us feel good about Microsoft. But at least they’re contemporary, and they don’t cynically use young children to score easy points with mainstream America. They’re not awful — but I wouldn’t start packing my bags for Cannes just yet.

advertising / creative / strategy / technology — 13 Comments
15
Sep 09

Putting the soft in Microsoft

The marketing for Windows 7 began with a new commercial last week. I suspect this will be a frequently discussed topic around here, because it involves a favorite target (Microsoft), a favorite agency (Crispin) and a few thousand opinionated people (us). Initial take: I’m kinda stunned.

The new spot is cute — but it’s the hit-me-between-the-eyes, gag-me-with-a-spoon, give-us-your-money kind of cute.

I have to say, I’m a little surprised that Crispin would go this route, even though their Laptop Hunter commercials were an indication of trouble in paradise. It’s actually a missed opportunity: with early indications that Windows 7 will not be the kryptonite that Vista was, they have license to be creatively brave. But if there is a shred of bravery in this spot, it’s extremely well hidden. Rather than blaze a new trail, they’ve reached into a very thin bag of tricks to pull out Kylie, the too-cute star of a previous Vista commercial.

Reading off a list of positive product reviews is an easy way to go. It’s just not a terribly exciting one. Apple lapses into a quotes ad now and then, and it makes me shudder every time. I guess Microsoft/Crispin thought that using the kid (emphasis on use) would take the curse off. Unfortunately, it puts a whole new curse on. There’s a joke in creative departments everywhere to the effect that all will be well if you “just throw in a baby or a puppy.” It may work to some degree, but you will burn in creative hell for it.

If you’re going to play the cuteness card, you’d better do it artfully. Otherwise it’s just transparent, a calculation, a manipulation. This spot is born of the belief that being likable is as easy as showing likable things. It isn’t.

Should Windows 7 really be this cute? Should Microsoft actually deliver “more happy” as they promise/threaten? Should they just toss in the puppy next time? Call me cold and heartless, but I have a problem getting too cuddly with my operating system.

strategy — 6 Comments
1
Sep 09

Branding: a love story

love,money,heart,graffiti,red,art,wall,creative-5275020a2f8a58b41160ba62723846bd_m

It's true

Many tons of books from many tons of experts have been written on the subject of branding. Happily, long ago one of my pithier mentors distilled it into a mere five words: brands need to be loved.

Love, as we all know, is far more powerful than money. Conveniently, it’s also a pretty good way to make money. If your customers love you, three good things will happen: they’ll keep coming back, they’ll introduce you to their friends and familes, and they won’t hold it against you when you screw up. This all translates directly into revenue. Being the perky optimist I am, I believe we’re all born into this world eager and ready to love our brands — we just don’t give it away for free. We need to be loved before we start doling it out. (Some of us are really easy and would gleefully settle for just a little respect.) As short-sighted companies inevitably discover, things don’t work out so well when you decide to skip the love part and go right for the money.

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft and Apple are good examples at opposite ends of the spectrum. Microsoft gives you four distinct Vista products, each with its own price (up to a whopping $320) and unique set of features. Apple offers only one version of Mac OS X and it gives you all the features — whether you’re a 12-year-old beginner or a Hollywood film editor. Forgetting Snow Leopard’s ridiculously low price for the moment, the all-in-one Mac OS X Leopard went for a reasonable $129. Which approach shows more love for the customer?

Now look at how the same two companies sell music. Apple sells individual songs for $.99 or $1.29. You pick your songs and pay by credit card. Done. Microsoft prices songs about the same, but first you must add Microsoft Points to your account at $.79 each, then buy the songs with your Points. You’ll be comfortably ensconced in your retirement home long before your Point balance ever returns to zero, so Microsoft will forever be playing with your float. Which shows more love for the customer?

Understanding what we like and what drives us crazy requires zero effort. It doesn’t take teams of researchers, it’s just common sense. Every consumer brand should want our love — to get it, they need only act as if our relationship is more important than money. Idealistic as it may sound, once we have the relationship, the money will follow. Honest.

strategy — 4 Comments
10
Aug 09

Microsoft & Yahoo: A bigger Also-Ran

30soft1.600There seems to be an even split of opinions on whether the Microsoft/ Yahoo agreement is a good thing or a non-thing. I put my vote firmly on the non side. Two reasons. The first is that guy on the right in this photo. He’s a windbag. I believe that when the history of his company is written, Ballmer will be known as the guy who captained the ship to exciting new depths. I honestly can’t understand why the shareholders have been so patient. The second reason is simple common sense.

People flock to innovative companies with products that raise the bar by an order of magnitude. They don’t jump ship from something they are actively loving unless the thing they love becomes less lovable — which Google shows no signs of doing. Can we be sure Google won’t somehow screw up one day and let MicroHoo in the door? Of course not. But if you look at what Google is and what they’re doing, that doesn’t seem to be a likely scenario. These guys are excruciatingly smart, open to new ideas, eager to invent and evolve. All things that Microsoft is having a tough time doing. So as a combined force, the new search powerhouse will own 28% of the market while Google cruises along with a seemingly impregnable 65%. If I were looking at those odds and comparing the two horses prepping for the race, I know where I’d put my money.

Remember, people love to be on the side of a winner, as long as the winner makes them feel happy. Google, like Apple, makes people really, really happy. They continue to attract the brainiest, most creative thinkers, they continue to devote themselves to innovation. They truly understand what we want. So they are about as likely to lose a significant share of market to MicroHoo as iPod is to lose more than 12 customers to Zune.

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