I have said again and again that Microsoft will be unable to revive the dead
vista. Vista is just too stupid to be saved. Here is an article that
speculates about this subject
http://keznews.com/4637_Can_There_Be...sta_Marketing?
Yesterday's Microsoft marketing bravado is just too funny. So now, 17 months
after general availability, Microsoft will promote Windows Vista? Get a
life.
The big talk and promises came from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner
Conference, in Houston, where Brad Brooks fessed up about Vista marketing
mistakes and promised there would be response to Apple's "Get a Mac" ads.
They say that confession is good for the corporate soul. I say that it's not
good enough.
Microsoft should never have abandoned the original "Wow" Windows Vista
marketing campaign. It brought new meaning to the term "marketing blitz."
The campaign flashed by before anybody could blink and say, "Wow." Even if
Microsoft executives loathed the ads, better to keep them than have nothing.
I remain convinced that the Vista marketing campaign could have been very
effective. The TV commercials were aspirational, potentially creating
positive feelings about the then-mysterious Windows Vista.
Products don't sell themselves. There are good reasons why companies market
their stuff. Products must be sold. The best sales pitch is life betterment.
Why are people waiting a week in line to buy Apple's iPhone 3G? Because they
believe the device will make better their puny little lives. Apple iPhone TV
commercials run during most popular primetime programs. The marketing works.
There has been nobody out there saying how good is Windows Vista. But there
are plenty of voices, including Apple's "Get a Mac" ads, shouting about how
bad is the operating system. It's disgusting that Microsoft showed so little
Vista marketing concern for so long. Any ad would be better than none.
Suddenly, there's bravado. Microsoft is making promises about real Vista
marketing. Earth to Microsoft, it's going to be too little too late. Windows
Vista is the high school outcast. It has got a bad reputation, and people
won't easily forget. Marketing damage control is better than nothing, but it
could have been avoided. Microsoft should never have given up on "Wow."
Whatever Microsoft does next can't be much worse than nothing. Still, the
new marketing campaign, presumably for Windows Vista plus Windows Live, has
got to have punch. The marketing must be creative, funny and
aspirational-why your life will be better for buying a Windows Vista PC.
Microsoft has to make people want Vista.
I grew up in Northern Maine about 16 kilometers from the Canadian border.
The local CBC TV station, out of Saint John, New Brunswick, ran these crazy
shampoo commercials. The theme: An American would try to smuggle the shampoo
into the United States, only to be repeatedly caught by Canadian Customs.
The shampoo was only sold in Canada, but was so good Americans would risk
going to jail for smuggling out the hair contraband. The ads tapped into
feelings about Canadian pride, American disdain and the product's value. You
wanted to buy that shampoo.
To repeat: Microsoft marketing has to make people want to buy Windows Vista.
The marketing will fail if it's about features or appeals to the intellect.
Most purchasing decisions are emotional. Featuring people in ads is one of
the most effective ways of generating good feelings about products. After
all, people can connect to other human beings-there is common base-and
people use the products. Apple's "Get a Mac" ads are effective because of
how well they use people as metaphors for conveying typically complicated
technological gobbledygook.
This afternoon, I drank some coffee to fire up the synapses, pondering what
kind of commercials could be effective. I humbly offer up a couple, starting
with response to "Get a Mac" anti-Vista propaganda. Microsoft shouldn't
directly attack Apple. Better: Parody the "Get a Mac" ads, making a subtle
but important point about Windows PCs. For this one, viral video would be
better than commercial broadcast.
Here's what I'd do: The video opens with two guys standing against a white
background, just like Apple's commercials. The viewer hears the familiar
"Hello, I'm a Mac." "And I'm a PC." Then another guy appears, "And I'm a
PC." Another and another and another appears, with popping sounds, each
saying, "And I'm a PC." This goes on for about 10 seconds, with hundreds of
PC people from different races and cultural attire popping up to overlapping
choruses of "And I'm a PC." Then there is silence. The Mac guy looks at the
thousands of PC people and mutters, "Wow." Across the screen flashes text:
"You can be alone. Or you can have friends." The Windows Vista logo flashes.
Video ends.
Everybody knows that there are more Windows PCs than Macs, right? The
commercial would play on connotations of safety in numbers, community and
fear of being alone. Human beings are social creatures, after all.
Here's another idea, and the last one. I'm not an advertising expert. These
concepts are tough for me to think up: The scene opens on a park playground,
with a woman facing us; she taps on a notebook resting in her lap. The
camera zooms in as her friend walks up pushing a baby carriage. The woman
immediately closes the lid, and her friend reacts with surprise. "Jane, what
was that for? What are you hiding?" There is short silence, and the woman
flips the lid to show the Vista desktop. "It's Windows Vista. I've heard so
many bad things, I'm a little embarrassed about using it. But I really like
Windows Vista. It's simply amazing." The friend shakes her head and smiles.
She reaches into her tote bag, pulls out a laptop and flips the lid. It's
Windows Vista. Both women laugh.
There are lots of ways Microsoft could wrap up the commercial; I'm more
anxious to blog this post than make suggestions. I can't imagine Microsoft
ever airing such a concept, though. But Microsoft needs something this
aggressive-that hits hard at the Vista negativity and appeals to people that
like the operating system. The commercial could easily feature two teens
instead of mothers. Kids understand about being ostracized, as do many
parents of middle or high school students.
How will Microsoft really market Windows Vista? We may soon find out.
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