Microsoft, cont.

Alright, so I was highly disappointed by the new Seinfeld/Gates spot--at 4 minutes and 30 seconds, it did very little to keep my attention. I'm not sure if it was intended for online or if it bought an entire block of commercial time (which is at the very least an interesting media buy,) but either way, I was bored and I don't see Seinfeld and Gates "connecting" with people by being kicked out of the house by the family. It just didn't feel thought through. I liked the first teaser spot, but this didn't seem to know where it was headed.

On the flip side, I enjoyed the new "I'm a PC" ads. At first, when I read about their existence, I thought it was a pretty terrible idea. You often come off like an angry, spurned lover if you respond directly to competitors ads (Evidence- much of the bad political advertising out there.) However, these were tastefully done for the most part, and in an industry where Microsoft has the majority share of market but none of the buzz, it was good to be reminded that there are still people out there using PCs. When I watch the Apple ads, I think, "Yeah, that seems about right." But watching these ads, these people felt believable too. I think Microsoft covered a lot of ground with these ads, coming from a pretty lame reputation to a believable, every-day-person reputation. Some of them were even pretty cool (SHARKS!)

So, good job this time around guys, but please, follow-through on your strategies, and maybe keep it to just ONE strategy. (That may be my lack of experience talking, but at least for now, the Seinfeld/Gates pieces don't feel cohesive with the rest of the campaign, and I don't see the pieces coming being able to come together anytime soon, and consumers aren't very patient.)

EDIT: I haven't figured out yet how to pull videos off youtube to embed in my blog, but here's a link to the spot-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWPf1BWtkw