Will Microsoft’s new Ad Anger PC Makers?
If you haven't seen Microsoft's latest ad consider yourself lucky, it isn't a very good piece of work. You're treated to someone shopping for a new computer. The catch? They can't spend more than a thousand bucks and they have to get a 17" laptop. Good concept so far, you're thinking: "Hey, Dell's about to bring the heat!" Then things go wrong. The actress tries to find the computer at the Apple store (yes, you see the logo) and fails. She tells us that they only have one laptop for under a thousand bucks! Then she heads to Best Buy and picks one up for $699. At this point you're thinking "that's a strong ad, Gateway is really showing the companies low end prowess." Good analysis, it is a great ad for a second tier hardware maker. Here's the kicker, it's a Windows commercial.
Let's run through why the ad fails so miserably. Where does the girl head first? The Apple Store. There's only one MacBook for under a thousand bucks. Congrats, you just told the world her first choice was a Mac. Problem number two: You just told the world that Apple has a laptop for under a grand. And that the 1,000 dollar latop is the size most people want. Who wants a frickin' 17" laptop anyway? So far, the ad has established that people's first choice is a Mac and that Apple has a laptop at a price point most people are comfortable with. People know Macs cost more (which isn't always true) but they think that they cost way more than a thousand bucks. In essence, this is like a $5 dollar foot long commercial for Subway but instead of just telling everyone you can get a foot long for $5 half the commercial is spent at Mellow Mushroom where the sandwiches are $7.95. Who knew you could get a great sandwich for 8 bucks at Mellow Mushroom? Thanks for the info Subway!
Who knows, the ad may work. Microsoft might siphon off some Mac sales (which won't really help Microsoft) but it won't stop the mass of people buying netbooks or the iPhone. Worst of all, if you're Microsoft, the ad might really piss off your hardware partners. While Microsoft is trying to tell everyone price is everything Dell is trying like hell to sell the Adamo. The Adamo is a slick looking, really expensive, laptop made by Dell. It looks like a geeks wet dream (which is part of the problem) but other than the styling there isn't much, spec wise, to differentiate the Adamo from a much cheaper Dell laptop. That's okay, people are willing to pay for style alone (there's a reason not all kids are clad in Toughskins and shoes from Payless) but an ad like Microsoft's mocks the very concept of paying extra for an Adamo. At least Macs are perceived as being different.
One imagines the whole thing might chafe Michael Dell a bit. One further imagines he might fire off a call to Steve Ballmer expressing his concerns. The oxygen deprived like me imagine the conversation would go a little like this:
Secretary: Mr. Ballmer, call on line 2.
Ballmer: is it a developer?
Secretary: It's Michael Dell
Ballmer: Mikey? That old silicon pusher? Put him on!
Ballmer: I'm a PC woooooo!
M. Dell: Uh, yeah, hey Steve I was wondering if we could chat for a minute...
Ballmer: About developers? Developers, Developers, Developers?
M. Dell: No, I wanted to talk about...
Ballmer: (interrupting): Are you calling to bust my balls about the Zune. Where is the Dell DJ! We (expletive) owned you! Wooooo!
M. Dell: Not at all Steve. See we've got this new product out...
Ballmer: Are you partnering with Google on this? (Chair slams) I've buried companies before and I'll do it again!
M. Dell: (long sigh) No, it's not that. It's something completely different. We're not partnering with anyone on this...
Ballmer: Oh, that phone thing you made that sucked? Shoulda gone with Android. Ha, I'm kidding. You know the only Mobile OS that matters is the one we make. It's called Two free phones with Activation I think.
M. Dell: No Steve, it isn't about that either. Listen carefully. We've just come out with a high end, beautiful laptop. It's really nice. We invested over $85 in industrial design and the profits on each one sold are huge.
Ballmer: Pretty ritzy huh? I know something about that.
M. Dell: Listen you great sack of pus, that commercial is killing us. You're telling everyone that it is all about price. Where's the huge Microsoft library? The legacy support? Where's the "Macs can't" moment?
Ballmer: I don't get what you're saying. Is this some kind of tech speak? Are you trying to jargon me? Look we're sticking it to Apple! If we can't beat XP we can beat the crap out of Apple!
M. Dell: That's great. texas Instruments makes some nice calculators, you going after them too? Okay, here's the rub. Hold on, I think there is something wrong with my phone. It's leaking or something....
Ballmer: That's not your phone baby! Wooo. That's Windows 7! I got the preview off the Pirate Bay. It's so cool that when I sweat it makes your phone sweat!
M. Dell: I'm putting this on speaker (aside: Fetch me a mop dammit)...
Ballmer: I'm gonna rock Apple's world! I'm focused like a laser beam!
M. Dell: You should get out more. Say, is Bill around? Does he ever come in anymore?
Ballmer: All the time. He just sits in his office with his head in his hands repeating a Jimmy Buffet lyric over and over. Kinda weird really.
M. Dell: What he sings Magartiville all day?
Ballmer: Nope, he just keeps saying: Invest in a business even an idiot can run because one day one will.
M. Dell: that's not a Jimmy Buffet lyric, that's a Warren Buffet adage. In fact, I'm not really sure he ever said it. I think it is a misquote.
Ballmer: Oh, an old wise tale eh? Anyway, I'm not leaving for awhile. That guy is like a chess master thinking five moves ahead or something.
M. Dell: Maybe you could just focus on making an OS that people want more than XP. Ballmer: I can do that. Let me put you on hold and make a quick call. (switches lines)
M. Dell: Hello
Ballmer: Hey Mikey, I've got this complete tool on the other line who doesn't get it. If we come out with a new OS can you guys bundle it on your machines so everyone uses it?
M. Dell: Sure.
Ballmer: (switching lines) Hey there Dello, just talked to Mikey and getting the new OS adopted worldwide is no problem.
M. Dell: Great, great. Look I'm going to run. It has been great talking to you but we've got some kind of executive emergency only I can handle. Something about TPS cover sheets or something.
Ballmer: Happens all the time here. Jiggle the handle.
M. Dell: yeah. See ya.
At least that is how one imagines such a conversation might go. The lucky thing is that if such an exchange ever happens it will end up on youtube with the worst comments in the history of the world. On the other hand, perhaps Microsoft's Apple comparison commercial was approved after watching the Songsmith ad. Because compared to that the latest effort is pure gold.
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she actually bought an HP laptop…
My interpretation of the “Mac store” portion is that she’s going there because of all the hype. But that “I’m not cool enough for a Mac.” The message: “The Mac is a pricey computer for wealthy elites. The PC is the computer for the rest of us.”
I actually think that part of the ad is pretty true. It is, after all, the Mac enthusiasts themselves who argue that the Mac is for the more educated user, while PCs are for the ignorant masses too stupid to buy a Mac. We could track down on this site alone the dozens if not hundreds of analogies that state that the Mac is a BMW to the PC’s hobo wheelbarrow. This ad plays up that aspect to no doubt capitalize on the economic downturn.
I agree with everything you say Beeb. But I wonder about how the ad serves Microsoft in any meaningful way.
Suppose the ad was so successful it put apple out of the computer business. Has Microsoft really gained anything? Sure, there’s one less competitor who was never going to win the desktop battle anyway and Ballmer can run around and scream “We’re back to 97%, woo” but other than that what is the point?
Even in that scenario the impact on the bottom line would be negligible. So whatt is the point of the ad? Well other than making Apple a legitimate competitor to Microsoft in the eyes of the public?
I think the ads where the kids stitch together photos are actually much more effective. I’m sure you can do that with XP but I don’t know how. You can def do it with OS X but the method I would use is involved.
You have to wonder why Microsoft is beating up on Macs when they should be showing off Vista or Windows 7. Maybe Vista is just a lost cause, maybe this ad is the most bang for the buck, maybe Microsoft thinks they are losing the battle for new users.
Nothing against Microsoft, they crank out some nice stuff, but what are they trying to get at here?
If Apple’s market share is on the rise, that would mean they’re taking it from somewhere. Even with 80-90% of market share, it’s safe to say that MS still hates to lose ground. So they want to regain that ground. And they, like Apple, aren’t fighting for the whole of the computer buying public, they are fighting for that soft middle of the road user that could go either way but for whom price is still a factor (which is why they wouldn’t be worried about potential Adamo buyers).
Their message appears to be: Macs are cool but they are expensive. In these trying economic times you will get more bang for your buck with a PC; it may not be cool but it’s more economically sound.
So basically getting people to choose a PC and making them feel okay with that choice.
It IS a bit puzzling that a software company would be hitting the hardware angle, but when buying a PC basically means buying Windows, then it makes a little more sense.
Personally, I agree with you that I’d focus more on doing things in Windows that customers can relate to, but that typically means third-party software like Picassa or Skype, free but incredibly useful stuff that runs in Windows. Those also run in OS X, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to find some Windows-only stuff.
Chris, I think you’re just about completely wrong on your points here. I think you completely misinterpreted the ad. The ad is really about the choice and the lack thereof in the Mac universe. If you just want a “desktop replacement” size 17” notebook, you are pretty much stuck with spending $2800+ to get a lot of things you may not necessarily want. (This point was made apparent to me to the various criticisms of the ad elsewhere—but the computer has no ‘N’ wifi, no bluetooth, no gigabit eth. etc. I actually realized that *I* don’t make use of those features on *my* notebook. My broadband connection can’t even come close to saturating a 100Mbit eth. port!) This ad was a direct shot at how segmented the selection is at the Mac Universe. To get a 17” computer, you have to buy a lot of extra costly features you may not want. Or if you are on a budget, you may wind up having to sacrifice the thing you really want (that 17” screen) for a lot of nice things that you don’t care for. This is apparently what causes all of these spec/price wars that lead PC and Mac defenders to call each other fools. Price it as find a Mac and compare it to like PC, you find that Macs are competitively priced. But do it as “find the least you have to pay to get this important feature”, you discover that damn, why is Apple “ripping me off?”! For forever the feature would have been the SuperDrive (aka DVD writer) or type of Firewire port. Fortunately now, Apple has finally standardized on that, but now it seems to be screen size or RAM (or for the Mac only segmentation, whether or not you get a Firewire port or [so help me God] a non-glossy display.)
Now, I can’t really understand your response to Beeb. Do you not see why Microsoft would run this ad? They have been beaten up fairly and unfairly by Apple’s ads and the press. Apple has been brilliantly successful in negatively branding Microsoft as dorky and uncool. Left unchecked, this could turn Windows into IE (the former monopoly that is now bleeding useageshare at what must seem to them to be an alarming rate). Apple has the buzz, the mindshare, the hearts and minds of the trendsetters. Curiously, this ad looks to be their attempt to (as they say in politics) attack Apple’s strength. Apple is self-assuredly cool. The flip side of that is smugness. That one little twist of a phrase from Lauren DeLong ("I’m not cool enough to be a Mac person.") turns that smugness into a liability by connecting cool into affluence-snobbery. (I suppose everyone has those stories about the cliques in HS would judge everyone on how much the clothes they wear cost, whether it be Abercrombie & Fitch preppy wear, or the $300 basketball-star sneakers.) In this framing, Apple is no longer the underdog, but the envied/reviled overdog. FoxNews even called it a red-state/blue-state ad, though I think the war it is stirring up will never be seen by those normal people outside of the PC/Mac battlefields.
Amazingly, I forgot about the one bit of idiotic segmenting that hits me personally. Running a 64-bit version of Windows. Every single Mac currently produced have 64-bit processors, but you only get official support and bootcamp drivers if you have purchased a Mac Pro or a MacBook Pro. There is absolutely no good reason for that, except as a cash grab! Especially given you can upgrade a iMac to use up to 8GB of RAM.
“Curiously, this ad looks to be their attempt to (as they say in politics) attack Apple’s strength.”
And it does so in a way that Mac fanatics can’t really rail against, effectively using their own argument against them. It’s an elite product for the elite set, the BMW of computers. This is the Mac argument, so they’re really in no position to dispute what they themselves have been saying for years.
But like so many Hummer dealers going out of business, now is not the time to be in the luxury car vehicle. The MS ad is basically saying that it’s okay, and even makes sense these days, to go with the less expensive sensible car.
That should say “luxury car business.”
“now is not the time to be in the luxury car business”
Hmmm? must quote that in the article I’m writing, beeb.
Love what you’ve said Sterling about choice.
Bad times is a good time to shore up your business against the elitist intruder. As I’ve been harping on for over a month now, Macs are becoming unaffordable to me. And it’s both those reasons - i.e. they’re more expensive and there’s a lack of choice.
I do find it curious that we’ve had two ads now and both times the computer of choice is a HP. Now that might be upsetting the other PC manufacturers.
I also find it curious that Lauren was after a cheap 17” laptop. That flies in the face of the suppposed current obsession with netbooks. I’m reckoning those are a fad, of which I shall also write soon.