[Apple - Get a Mac Surgery, running time 0:30]
And is Alex Boguski the new iPod killer? These are some of the questions suggested by the comments to a post by Spike Jones at Brains on Fire a couple of weeks ago. I found myself reading in fascination and remembering that article in Fast Company magazine. My thinking is that Microsoft can make itself cool by making products that individuals want and by discovering what the company (and brand) wants to be when it grows up.
As we discussed here in a post not long ago, there is opportunity for the software giant to begin to ride a different image, a window of opportunity, that is, if you'll pardon the pun. Microsoft hired the agency famous for testing the edges of brand boundaries for the likes of Volkswagen, Virgin Atlantic, and BMW's Mini Cooper. Crispin, Porter + Boguski is to run its new $300M consumer-branding campaign.
Taking a Bite out of the Apple?
As someone who just switched a lifetime of personal computing use to Mac, I appreciate the enormous challenge that making people switch the other way around would present. It would take almost an act of the gods, if not one of hubris, to insist on comparing - the two operating systems alone are such different experiences. In the end, experience is what counts, isn't it?
It happens to the best of companies. As they get bigger and their businesses become more diversified, they lose their edge, their focus. But here's my question to you, has Microsoft lost its focus? Or is this simply a case of going for one in the first place?
The Spoofs are Popular Because they Reflect Experience
Not the other way around. The deciding factor in my switch, in addition to three system crashes all on PC, was one look at Vista. I posted one of the many commercials you will find on YouTube if you search "Mac vs. PC." The message is quite simple, but the reason for its popularity is that it matches experience. It's not that people who buy Macs don't ever encounter problems. They (we) do.
The main point of connection with an Apple product, in addition to undisputed better design and usability, is the whole customer experience. From the store reps, to the online and on phone support - it's all integrated and consistent.
Are we Comparing Apple to Oranges?
It's interesting to note than Apple makes the machines and the software that runs them, while Microsoft is in the software business and relies on other companies to run it on their machines - Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. Whether it relies or banks on them is for another conversation. The final product is a joint effort on a much larger scale, one that favors the consumer on pricing.
Since we are indeed comparing Apple to a company that operates within a different model and scope, we might take a moment to ponder how it is even possible to think the two are comparable.
Microsoft should focus on the the things it does well. This may mean discovering what they are, or it may very well mean taking the credit they should take for those they already know about, as Sean Ammirati observed.
I guess we'll have to see what Boguski harvests this summer. "It's part of your job as a marketer to find the truths in a company, and you let them shine through in whatever weird way it might be," he said. Now that I am looking forward to finding out.
And is Alex Boguski the new iPod killer? These are some of the questions suggested by the comments to a post by Spike Jones at Brains on Fire a couple of weeks ago. I found myself reading in fascination and remembering that article in Fast Company magazine. My thinking is that Microsoft can make itself cool by making products that individuals want and by discovering what the company (and brand) wants to be when it grows up.
As we discussed here in a post not long ago, there is opportunity for the software giant to begin to ride a different image, a window of opportunity, that is, if you'll pardon the pun. Microsoft hired the agency famous for testing the edges of brand boundaries for the likes of Volkswagen, Virgin Atlantic, and BMW's Mini Cooper. Crispin, Porter + Boguski is to run its new $300M consumer-branding campaign.
Taking a Bite out of the Apple?
As someone who just switched a lifetime of personal computing use to Mac, I appreciate the enormous challenge that making people switch the other way around would present. It would take almost an act of the gods, if not one of hubris, to insist on comparing - the two operating systems alone are such different experiences. In the end, experience is what counts, isn't it?
It happens to the best of companies. As they get bigger and their businesses become more diversified, they lose their edge, their focus. But here's my question to you, has Microsoft lost its focus? Or is this simply a case of going for one in the first place?
The Spoofs are Popular Because they Reflect Experience
Not the other way around. The deciding factor in my switch, in addition to three system crashes all on PC, was one look at Vista. I posted one of the many commercials you will find on YouTube if you search "Mac vs. PC." The message is quite simple, but the reason for its popularity is that it matches experience. It's not that people who buy Macs don't ever encounter problems. They (we) do.
The main point of connection with an Apple product, in addition to undisputed better design and usability, is the whole customer experience. From the store reps, to the online and on phone support - it's all integrated and consistent.
Are we Comparing Apple to Oranges?
It's interesting to note than Apple makes the machines and the software that runs them, while Microsoft is in the software business and relies on other companies to run it on their machines - Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. Whether it relies or banks on them is for another conversation. The final product is a joint effort on a much larger scale, one that favors the consumer on pricing.
Since we are indeed comparing Apple to a company that operates within a different model and scope, we might take a moment to ponder how it is even possible to think the two are comparable.
Microsoft should focus on the the things it does well. This may mean discovering what they are, or it may very well mean taking the credit they should take for those they already know about, as Sean Ammirati observed.
I guess we'll have to see what Boguski harvests this summer. "It's part of your job as a marketer to find the truths in a company, and you let them shine through in whatever weird way it might be," he said. Now that I am looking forward to finding out.
Hey Valeria, I agree. There is a strong tendency to compare Apple and MS and that comparison isn't completely valid. For instance, many Vista problems are caused by the need to be compatible with a vast installed base of software (and hardware). Apple has no where near the same magnitude of issues. That's not an excuse, it's just a reality MS faces that Apple doesn't. Apple uses this to its advantage - that's good Marketing. They are directing the brand conversation atm. MS isn't.
MS needs to take back the conversation. Play to their strengths. It's appalling that Apple has got so much mileage from this campaign with no MS response.
Posted by: Paul Soldera | June 02, 2008 at 05:23 PM
"Taking back the conversation" will be easier said than done. It's not just the Vista disaster (and it is just that, an unqualified disaster): Microsoft has spent kajillions of dollars positioning themselves as the enterprise operating environment. It's tough to then pivot and say, "Oh, we're really cool, too."
Simply copying Apple's ironic hipster vibe won't work, though if anyone has the cops, it would be Boguski and his crew. They'll have to find a new message and go from there, one aspect of their business at a time.
Tell you what Microsoft *does* have that's genuinely hip to the younger audience MS seems to covet: the Xbox. It's the most vibrant gaming platform, but I doubt even its hardcore consumers think of it as a Microsoft product.
So there's the thin wedge waiting for Boguski: Xbox brand extension. Start by giving the Xbox a killer touch screen and gaming capability -- and market it as the Xbox Micro (which just happens to be a media player, too).
Next year, the Xbox Micro becomes a tablet device that will run full versions of Xbox's game library under Windows 7. Oh, yeah, it's also a portable computer that handles all of MS's flagship software. Works best if you mate it with the new Xbox Media Center on Windows 7, available free on all OEM desktops and laptops.
I know nothing about Marketing, but I'm thinking the Xbox play would deliver maximum grief to Cupertino. It would bring youth and coolness back to Microsoft without attempting to undo millions of dollars worth of existing brand impressions. Better to steer the ship than move the iceberg.
Posted by: Chris Baskind | June 02, 2008 at 06:01 PM
A touchscreen Xbox that becomes a tablet PC and runs the full range of console games under Windows 7? Last thing they need is another product that has no hope of working :).
Posted by: Paul Soldera | June 02, 2008 at 07:17 PM
@Paul - the campaign has gotten a bit ridiculous. I quite prefer when companies (and people) play to their strengths vs. against something else. It helps everyone and nobody has to be right.
@Chris - in many cases it is better to stir the ship than to move the iceberg, as you put it. However, I do wonder if putting back into the cool game all the things about MS that are seen as "uncool" would be a detriment. I'm not so sure convergence is the way to go. I do like the idea of extension products, but not in the usual MS direction.
@Paul - when someone asks me for a designed template version of Word for Windows I want to cry. It's the most unstable program on the face of the earth.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | June 02, 2008 at 08:31 PM
Valeria I think part of the success of apple has been toward the minimal approach more than the hype. The recent commercials with the mac and PC have been more poking fun.
More importantly how has the switch been for you? Are you glad?
Posted by: Austin White | June 05, 2008 at 10:02 PM
My take is design of experience. Marketing is embedded in the products. Take for example my iPod. On the back of the box it says: "Like a fine pair of jeans, iPod nano colors may vary and change over time." That is marketing!
I've had little issues with adapting to the Mac ways - the usability is *that* intuitive. And I truly love my iMac and iPhone.
Thank you for asking.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | June 05, 2008 at 10:50 PM