Microsoft Corp began its biggest advertising campaign, enlisting comedian Jerry Seinfeld to revive its Windows operating system brand.
The ads feature humorous conversations between Seinfeld and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. The initial spot made its debut last night during the season’s first National Football League game as the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 16-7.
“The Windows brand identity has gotten a little invisible,” said Brad Brooks, vice president for Windows consumer product marketing, in an interview. “We want to make sure Windows goes from being invisible to something that becomes indispensable.”
Brooks declined to specify how much Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, will spend.
Early customer difficulties in using Vista, the newest Windows product, hurt the brand, along with Apple Inc’s Mac versus PC television spots, which poke fun at Windows with claims it’s slow and difficult to use. Windows sales fell short of some analysts’ estimates in the quarter that ended in March and rebounded the following period.
“The Windows brand has gotten tarnished and Vista didn’t help,” said Sid Parakh, an analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen in Seattle. “A lot of people are negative about Windows more because of what they hear than because of what they’ve experienced and Microsoft is absolutely trying to change that.”
The first spot shows Seinfeld and Gates shopping at a discount shoe store, then leaving the store eating churros, a fried pastry. It also features the Microsoft founder adjusting his underwear and ends with the tagline “the future delicious” and the Windows logo. The conversation between the two will continue in future ads.
The multiyear ad program will also publicize improvements to personal computers and the retail experience, Brooks said.
The company is also revamping its Windows.com Web site so customers can get technical assistance without the geek-speak the site currently features. For example, the site will let customers search for help based on what they want to do with their PC, rather than the speed of their machine, the size of their hard drive and how much memory it has, Brooks said.
The new site went online last night.
The company realized it needed to connect with consumers using “humor and a light touch,” he said.
Microsoft also needs to run a continuous campaign in order to be involved with customers all the time, he said.
“This is a mind shift for us,” Brooks said. “What we have come to realize is that to be a great consumer company you need to have a continuing dialogue.”
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