With its pride shattered by the latest Mac vs. Vista commercials, Microsoft has big plans of reviving
the consumers’ love for PCs. For that, they thought that hiring a popular and
appreciated comedian like Jerry Seinfeld was enough.
The software giant’s new advertising campaign is worth about
$300 million and it was devised by a newly hired advertising agency, the
Miami-based “Crispin Porter + Bogusky.” It’s the same ad agency that helped change
Burger King’s fortunes.
According to The Wall Street
Journal, Seinfeld will appear in ads together with Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates and will receive about $10 million for his work in the campaign.
Seinfeld’s representatives were not available for comment,
while Microsoft declined to comment on the matter.
But the source close to the campaign said the goal of the
new commercials is to convince the public that Windows Vista, Microsoft’s
latest PC operating system is not difficult to use compared with similar
products from Apple Inc. Another objective is to improve the public’s general
opinion about Windows.
The new ads will involve variations of the slogan “Windows,
Not Walls” and will imply removing barriers that prevent people and ideas from
connecting. They will begin appearing September 4.
The commercials, directed by Michel Gondry, the French
director of “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” were shot in several
locations, including the Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect
Park and parts of the neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, which were all closed during
the filming.
It is believed that other comedians, such as Will Ferrell or
Chris Rock, will join Seinfeld in this campaign, but nothing is for sure yet.
The Apple ads that managed to upset Microsoft featured a
human PC, impersonated by a guy that vaguely resembles Bill Gates, and a human
Mac, impersonated by young and cool-looking Justin Long. Unfortunately for
Microsoft, the Apple ads managed to smartly promote Mac’s beautiful, functional
and fun technology and to reinforce criticism about Vista’s
performance and lack of support for other software and devices such as
printers.
Microsoft sold more than 180 million Vista
licenses since its launch in 2007, and the company tried to convince the users
that the initial problems with the operating system have been solved, but the
release is still receiving criticism. Even though Microsoft still leads on the
software market, Apple’s sales have been steadily rising.
Microsoft definitely needs to change the public’s perception
of Windows Vista, as the company derives 28 percent of its revenue from this
product. The company’s main mistake is that it let itself be perceived as
old-fashioned, while Apple did its best to be “cool.” So it was about time
things changed. Still, many critics do not think Seinfeld can do much to help
the software giant. Maybe he will draw a few laughs, but not convince people
they can rely on PCs. Also, many have said 54-year-old Seinfeld might not be
the right person to promote technological “coolness” among youngsters. But this
remains to be seen. As Daily Tech informs, the marketing company Davie-Brown
Entertainment is convinced that Seinfeld still has a lot of appeal among public
of all ages and he also ranks 41st of 1,900 celebrities in terms of
brand appeal.
