Seth Summarizes So Succinctly: Microsoft Ad Campaign
Posted: September 20th, 2008 | Author: Tom Lewis | Filed under: Microsoft | Tags: Apple, Brandbuilder, Mac, Microsoft, PC, Seth Godin | 2 Comments »Thanks Seth Godin for boiling the problem I have with Microsoft’s new ad campaign down to the basics.
I blathered on, as I tend to do, over at The Brandbuilder, but Godin got it down in just a couple sentences.
I’ve been to Redmond several times and I have yet to run into the “passion” he describes. Yes, a PC is cheap or “cost-effective”, but the telling thing is that the most expensive PC will not run as well as your average Mac and a cheap PC is next to useless for anything other than your most basic word processing but they won’t even surf the web well – you might as well get a Mac Mini.
For those that bemoan how expensive Macs are, they are just toting the party line – they kind of sound like Republicans ruminating about how Democrats aren’t any good at national security. They should check out resources like The Low End Mac among others.
I’ve seen the passion, man. It’s there.
If you’re a small business owner, you can buy 2-3 PCs for what it would cost to buy one Mac. And for better or for worse, Outlook, Excel, Word and Powerpoint are the most commonly used office tools these days.
For me, a big reason why I jumped from Mac to PC is the fact that a) My Microsoft laptops do everything I need them to do extremely well. I haven’t lost any functionality or potential by making the switch. b) Easier to integrate into my home network. c) The convenience of being able to swap files more easily from PC to PC. d) Opportunity cost: Less $$$ per computer = more $$$ for other things… like other business-critical investments, travel, entertainment, triathlon entry fees, coffee, etc.
For many of us, the choice is indeed an economic one. For others, it’s a purely choice of convenience. Also bear in mind that loads of folks (like my wife) build their own custom computers. Easier to do with a PC than a Mac.
Give Microsoft and CP+B some time to start showing the passion that I have discovered in Redmond, Bellevue and around the world. It’s there. (Next time you’re in Redmond, check out the House of the Future and the IW of the Future interactive tours. Pretty incredible.
Cheers,
O.
O – I don’t dispute that there are some PC users that are passionate. What is clear, however, is that the passionate core of PC users is a tiny percentage of the overall whole as compared to passionate Mac users. Apple builds the passion into their products whereas Microsoft has to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help identify this passion. I’ve been on the Redmond tours you mention and they’re cool, and they make you wonder why Microsoft isn’t making the technology available.
Also, if cost were everything, why aren’t you driving a Kia or riding a Huffy?