Microsoft’s ego is so large that they fail to acknowledge the principles that have helped make Apple a successful lifestyle products company and are increasingly losing market share in the computer space. Since Steve Jobs has come on board, he has shown Apple as a simple design company by using young and fresh technology, and their ads have always reflected this. Microsoft’s new Vista strategy is to do the opposite with a 54-year old comedian. Really?
I have always loved Seinfeld and Apple. I don’t hate Microsoft at all, but I feel as though the only reason I keep a copy of their OS (Windows) on my MacBook Pro is because I have to do so, and I rarely use it. I assume that most Windows users feel the same. More and more people are asking me if they can buy a Mac and still do “A, B or C” on the Mac like they do Windows. 95% of the time, I answer, “Yes.”
Since Apple switched from Apple Computer, they have run their “Windows versus Mac” ads that use Justin Long to illustrate Leopard’s superiority over Windows. Apple has always had a high cool factor, but the ads are genius because they bring the idea of switching to consumers in a simple fashion.
Microsoft wants to attract a new generation of users by targeting young people. According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is about to unveil a “Seinfeld Campus Tour” around the country where Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates do a series of commercials. Seinfeld is one of the most popular celebrities in the world, but his show ended in 1998; and although you can find it on TBS every night, I don’t see him as the cool person to help Microsoft push their latest message.
College is a time when most kids go nuts and discover new things. Listening to parents is not a commonly practiced pastime of college students and that seems the premise behind the campaign. I have a feeling the next generation of Apple ads will be about Apple making fun of Microsoft ads being irrelevant.
