Millions of people watched comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft  Chairman Bill Gates chatter about practically nothing as part of Microsoft's $300 million ad campaign. Now those lengthy "teaser ads" are relegated to the YouTube archives and Microsoft is forging ahead with the next phase of its campaign to connect with real people.
In it, you won't see Seinfeld. But you will see more celebrities -- and real, everyday people. Microsoft wants to promote the meaningfulness of the Windows platform, which includes Vista, Windows Mobile and Windows Live. The campaign, Microsoft said, will reflect the holistic approach it took when it developed these products to work together.
Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Microsoft's Online Services & Windows Business Group, described Windows is a vibrant community of individuals who are passionate about how Windows helps them express their ideas and live life on their own terms. Microsoft hopes to capture that passion in the next marketing initiatives of its "Life Without Walls" campaign.
Connecting with Real People
"At the core, Windows is about enabling each one of us, as individuals, to live our lives without walls," Veghte said. "I want to work when I want to work, I want to play when I want to play. I want to communicate and share with friends and family and coworkers."
The next campaign run aims to hit Apple square between the eyes with an "I'm a PC" series that features celebs like green architect Edouard Francois, astronaut Bernard Harris and celebrities such as Eva Longoria and Deepak Chopra. But Microsoft is hoping to keep it real by also focusing on real PC users of all ages and from all walks of life, such as teachers, cabbies, designers and fishmongers.
"One of the really fun things we've done is to create a series of ads called 'I'm a PC' -- and we're enabling every PC user to upload their own 'I'm a PC' spot," Veghte said. "So you can upload it and we'll publish it and amplify it on windows.com ... and then we'll do better than that -- we'll publish some of those 'I'm a PC' spots in places like digital billboards in Times Square."
Microsoft's Mingled Success
As a marketing professional, S. Carmel Fagan, CEO of BroadStrokes Graphic Design Group, sees Microsoft's switch from Seinfeld to other celebs as a brilliant strategy because it got America talking. (continued...)
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