Jason Dunn
11-02-2007, 07:30 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/11/01/you-make-it-you-new-zune-ad-campaign-launches-tonight.aspx' target='_blank'>http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/11/01/you-make-it-you-new-zune-ad-campaign-launches-tonight.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><em>"Tonight, November 1, the new Zune Ad campaign kicks off. The multimillion dollar campaign, will include print, TV, online banner ads, and a new site: Zune Journey. The tagline for the new campaign is “You Make it You,” i.e., your Zune is brought to life by what you put in it: your music, pictures, videos, etc. For the new campaign, we’re partnering with T.A.G., a recently launched division of McCann Worldgroup SF, who recently worked on the Halo 3 ad campaign. Check out the first TV spot in the campaign..."</em><br /><br /><embed width="432" height="364" src="http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf" quality="high" base="http://images.soapbox.msn.com/" name="msn_soapbox" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="c=v&v=aec8c5b0-f25b-4d43-a72d-fffa0681875f&ifs=true&fr=shared&mkt=en-US"></embed><br /><br />So, what do you think? A hit? A miss? I think these ads are an improvement over some of the first generation ads, which were just way too vague and were more about making the Zune brand known rather than explaining what the product did. TV ads are more about selling the experience, the feeling of owning the device, and I think in that way this commercial succeeds. I'm far less convinced by the <a href="http://www.zunejourney.net/" target="_blank">Zune Journey.net site</a>: if someone visits that site, they've probably already got the vibe about the Zune experience. What they're looking for is probably some actual information about the product and how they'll benefit from using it (regular people look for benefits, geeks look for features). The acid-trip-Flash experience gives the user neither. They can click on "Meet Zune" to get some basic info, but the font is so ultra-small and hard to read (at least on my 24" monitor) that I can't imagine most people being able to get anything useful from it. The only good part about the Zune Journey site? The background track they picked is catchy. Other than that? Meh.<br /><br />I am curious about something though: what's the "story" that this commercial is telling? If you had to explain this commercial to someone that hadn't seen it yet, what would you tell them? Watch the video above and post your explanation in the comments. I have a Zune Thoughts micro light for the first person to truly nail it (based on my interpretation of the commercial of course).