I’m a PC, and my ad campaign is failing

[Written in December, 2008]

An open letter to Bill Gates, or anyone who’ll listen at Microsoft

Dear Mr. Gates,

I’m sorry to say I was bewildered yet again by Microsoft’s most recent marketing efforts when I read about your partnership with rapper Common to launch your new line of DOS-inspired graphic tees, “Softwear by Microsoft.” This most recent stunt by your often brilliant advertising agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP&B), seems like yet another misstep in a futile attempt to go toe-to-toe with Apple on the “fun/cool” front. While I’m personally a fan of Common, Jerry Seinfeld, and even geeky MS-DOS references, this campaign isn’t resonating with me. Here are some reasons why.

First off, defensiveness. One of your recent ads responded directly to Apple’s very successful “Mac vs. PC” campaign by claiming that PC users are victims of stereotyping, showing the diversity of PC-users. I was disappointed by such unveiled defensiveness, especially given that the Apple ads are just as much an attack on PC manufacturers (e.g., Dell, Lenovo, etc.) as they are on Microsoft (in fact, many Mac users run Microsoft software). The message in your ad, basically, was that “lots of people use PCs.” I don’t think that message is news to anyone, and it certainly doesn’t present the consumer with a compelling reason to switch (or switch back) to PCs.

Secondly, whatever message you’re trying to send is being diluted by inconsistency and irrelevance. The first and second ads in your campaign featured Jerry Seinfeld, the king of irrelevance (or “nothing”). I won’t argue, as WSJ business-technology blogger Ben Worthen did, that these ads needed to mention products in order to work. Great brand ads can define a personality rather than focus on product features. But what personality is this campaign evoking? Seinfeld’s quirkiness? Common’s (not so quirky) cool? An MS-DOS t-shirt’s geekiness? There’s no through line. The resulting confusion came to a head for me when I listened to Common try to explain his partnership with Microsoft. His best explanation is that he and the company both started achieving success around 1985. There’s simply no meaningful connection between the two.

One ad briefly featured music artist Pharrell Williams. Seeing him and Common teaming up with Microsoft, a third problem started to become increasingly apparent: lack of credibility. Are we supposed to believe that artists like Pharrell and Common, not to mention clothing designers and artists, are actually using PCs instead of Macs? Before you argue that some creative types prefer PCs, keep in mind that in this case it’s not about truth—it’s about believability. And the reason consumers aren’t ready to associate Microsoft with creative offerings is because Apple has done such a thorough job of owning that position.

That fact prefaces my last (and perhaps most important) point: this campaign has not attempted to carve out or support a unique position for Microsoft. Market share and market capitalization aside, Apple is clearly winning the brand-building war, which obliges Microsoft to define points of difference rather than assert a generically superior attitude. The ads and actions behind this campaign attempt to position corporate Microsoft as a fun company that produces cool machines—in other words, a more Apple-like company producing more Mac-like products. As Apple’s brilliant rebuttal ad suggested, no amount of advertising dollars alone will allow Microsoft to strip these attributes from the very capable hands of Apple’s marketing department.

In the end, Mr. Gates—or would it fit the tone of your campaign better if I called you Bill?—you should stop trying to deny obvious perceived differences between the two brands and instead find ways to highlight those differences in ways that are beneficial to Microsoft. Focus on Microsoft’s strengths, especially when they’re associations that Apple hasn’t yet successfully captured. Business productivity comes to mind, of course. Maybe draw attention to the connections that Microsoft enables through multi-platform functionality and integrated software, not to mention massive market share. After all, Microsoft is more than software. More than a PC. And if Apple is the fun company, maybe Microsoft is actually getting all the work done. Cool versus functional. MCs versus CEOs. You might not prefer such narrow positioning options, but until your company can compete confidently in the fun/cool arena, these are simply more credible, relevant, and differentiating claims to make.

Sincerely,

Rob Meyerson