For the record, I work in marketing and advertising, so I probably tend to pay a bit more attention to the advertisements on television than many of you. Still, it was interesting to see CNN’s Brian Kraemer scratching his head over the recent Microsoft Advertisements starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Some very clever people made a ton of money organizing this deal, but I remain confused as to precisely what it is that the software giant is trying to accomplish. The commericals certainly have some entertainment value to them thus far, but they do seem to fail in answering the one key question which every effective ad must address. What exactly are you trying to sell?
True, there have been selective ad campaigns which are rolled out in a series and the answers are only given with the end of the campaign. It’s a risky strategy, but it has paid off in a few cases. There are also campaigns run by very large corporations with deep pockets (and Microsoft certainly qualifies in that column) which never really advertise a particular product, but simply serve to positively brand the company name and seek to embed that image in the public’s mind. But, again, this isn’t something that Microsoft really seems to need. They’re in a relatively unique position in the market.
Seinfeld has a huge fan base who will likely be very excited about seeing him anywhere, but Gate isn’t exactly a ready for prime time character. I suppose I’ll keep my eyes on this campaign since it’s piqued my curiousity (thereby ruining most of my theory and proving that it’s having an effect) but thus far it’s looking like a huge money sink that’s not going to pay off much. Then again, if it’s a major revamp of Vista or a new offering to challenge Apple, it may turn out to be a winner. But I’ll still wonder why they didn’t just let us know what they want us to buy right off the bat.