New Microsoft Marketing Campaign: Another Failure
Hey, What’s The Deal With Microsoft?
That’s right, Microsoft has enlisted the help of Jerry Seinfeld for it’s next round of Ad campaigns against their arch-nemesis Apple. Check the details of this new alliance at WSJ, some good information here.
Why The Microsoft Marketing Team Needs To Be Shot
Nothing says 90’s relevance like Jerry Seinfeld. Instead rebranding themselves as forward-thinking and futuristic, they have relegated themselves back to 90’s when Microsoft was king and Apple had yet to break through with the iPod. The days of yore.
Of course Seinfeld is going to be just one of the many celebrities promoting Microsoft, but if this is any indication of where this $300 million dollar campaign is headed, then Microsoft is about to piss away a fortune and end up in worse shape than they already are.
This is a stroke of less brilliance and more trying to capture a middle-aged/Boomer market that has drifted to Apple in the past 5 years.
Why It’s Going To Fail (Just Like Everything Microsoft Does Lately)
There’s no innovation whatsoever. They’ve always been a johnny-come-lately (i.e. search engine algorithms, AdCenter, Live Maps, etc.) , and they will always be. They are continually five or more years behind the curve on just about everything they do, outside of their Office Suite. (Which, by the way, is quite possibly the only thing Microsoft does well)
Microsoft reads the focus group reports, crunches the numbers, and come up with a strategy on that. They are always, always aiming for the where bar is TODAY not where they want the bar to be TOMORROW. That’s the problem. Apple has the market cornered on the “satirical” ads between the two, and to green-light this marketing strategy, is just another example of today-thinking, not tomorrow-thinking.