In the second installation of the new Microsoft advertising campaign, Seinfeld and Gates’ antics slowly begin to make sense. In retrospect it is clear that Crispin Porter + Bogusky clearly designed the first advert to be a perplexing teaser to do nothing more than generate interest and buzz around the brand. The second advert, depicting Seinfeld and Gates trying to live with an average American suburban family, begins to build a prevalent campaign theme: “Microsoft – perpetually connecting with real people”.
As Seinfeld says to Gates, “You and I are a little out of it. You’re living in some kinda moon house hovering over Seattle like the mother ship. I’ve got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic. We need to connect with real people.”
“Real people” – am I the only one amused by this? I think the ad agency watched one too many “Simple Life” episodes when brainstorming this one. In saying “real people”, the advert distinguishes between the two groups (i.e. “celebrity” and “real”). Surely by creating distinctions you are not identifying or connecting with anyone?
Having said that though, the humor is more typical of Seinfeld, and the advert is at least somewhat entertaining. The ad uses two celebrities in desperate need of an image revamp to parody Microsoft’s uncool brand perception. And, presumably, the celebrities’ attempts to connect with “real people” is very much what Microsoft are trying to do with this campaign.
Has this been achieved? Well, the advertising agency has certainly secured some good media coverage. According to a Microsoft spokesman, the next advert is going to be more “Windows orientated”. Having secured the attention, the advertising agency will probably move from brand image building to more product focused advertising. The question is: is the objective to convert Mac users to PC or are Microsoft merely trying to retain the market share they risk losing?
From what I’ve seen so far, I think it may be the latter. After $300 million of Microsoft adspend, Vista users may just have a slightly warmer feeling when they wait 10 minutes for their PC to start up…
Tags: Apple, Apple Mac OS X, Bill Gates, connecting with real people, Jerry Seinfeld, Mac, Microsoft, microsoft advert, microsoft advertising campaign, Microsoft Windows, technology, Vista, Windows
