Microsoft Strikes Back: The Battle for PC Pride in the Digital Age

Microsoft, once the laughed-at producer of unintuitive software, is trying to redefine its image with an unprecedented marketing campaign. The move comes after years of withering criticism from Apple's popular "Get a Mac" ads that portrayed Windows users as clueless. The new campaign, launched in the second half of 2008, is characterized by an emphasis on Microsoft's vast user base and attempts to humanize Windows customers, much like Apple's successful personification of Mac lovers. Central to the new strategy is the campaign's usage of real people, rather than fictional characters, in their advertisements.

Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft has launched a campaign to showcase the diversity of its user base, featuring real people like Sean Siler, a 39-year-old former U.S. Navy officer who appeared in a commercial for the Windows division's adoption of new Internet connectivity software.
• The campaign's goal is to humanize Windows users and redefine the PC's image, which has long been seen as inferior to Apple's sleek, user-friendly machines.
• The ads, created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, aim to show that Windows users aren't all clueless drones, but rather individuals with a wide variety of needs and preferences.
• Microsoft's new campaign has already made a splash, with over 702,000 views on YouTube for a video of Sean Siler discussing his role in the campaign, and constant interruptions at work as his colleagues recognize him as the PC guy.
• Despite initial success, Microsoft has faced challenges, including a decline in year-over-year operating income for the quarter and criticism from analysts that the campaign may have failed.

Statistics:

• Microsoft spent $163 million on television ads in the first six months of 2009, more than twice the amount spent by Apple ($71 million) in the same period (TNS Media Intelligence statistics).
• According to IDC, Mac shipments in the United States plummeted 20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 versus the previous quarter, while those of PCs manufactured by Dell and H.P. fell only 13 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
• The introduction of Windows 7, which will coincide with another Crispin Porter ad blitz, may undo much of the company's self-inflicted damage from Vista.
• Since May 2006, Apple's stock price has risen 142 percent, while Microsoft's has barely budged, with Apple's share of the computer desktop market in the United States more than doubling since 2006 (IDC research firm).

Sources:

• Crispin Porter & Bogusky (Crispin Porter ad agency)
• TNS Media Intelligence (statistics on Apple's ad spending)
• IDC (research firm, statistics on Mac shipments and Windows 7)
• Public Broadcasting Service (NerdTV, Robert X. Cringely's comments)
• Representative of Apple (declined to be interviewed)
• Representative of TBWA/Chiat/Day (declined to be interviewed)