Microsoft, in a campaign intended to recover their brand from the damage it incurred via Apple's ads over the last couple of years, has released a series of teaser ads involving former CEO and founder Bill Gates with comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The commercials are a response to Apple's successful ad campaign which personified the PC as a slower, bumbling (although well intentioned) competitor to Apple's sleek and youth oriented Mac System.
The teaser ads are only a preliminary to the actual campaign, which is set to begin appearing in magazines and on commercials as early as tonight, and consumers can now access new content on Microsoft's microsite lifewithoutwalls.com. The campaign theme "life without walls" is meant to reflect the ability of a PC user to "remove the walls in [their] life, now and in the future."
The teaser ads are only a preliminary to the actual campaign, which is set to begin appearing in magazines and on commercials as early as tonight, and consumers can now access new content on Microsoft's microsite lifewithoutwalls.com. The campaign theme "life without walls" is meant to reflect the ability of a PC user to "remove the walls in [their] life, now and in the future."
These commercials are fairly interesting, though pretty weird. At one point early in the commercial I'm posting with this blog, Jerry says "there's gum in my roll" and his comment goes unanswered as the mother replies that they bought mustard with white wine in it "like the kind you get at a fancy restaurant" for Jerry and Bill who are apparently their trying to reconnect with the common man.
The ads do a good job of lightening the mystique around Bill Gates. However, I think they are geared toward a slightly older audience than the Mac commercials, and therefore are less of a rebuttal to the tarnishing image their smaller competitor has given them and more of a platform for ascent of their current agenda.
As the new commercials rollout we will see if they continue to entertain and reestablish the brand identity Microsoft desires. If they are as unique as their teasers, there is a good possibility they will be as well received and buzz around them will help bolster consumer perception.
Leave a comment