Microsoft Makes a Cool Ad

[David Tucker]

<p><em>&ldquo;Thanks to a tip from reader Sajith, Seattle&rsquo;s creative agency Digital Kitchen has worked with Microsoft to create what they call &ldquo;Raw Deluxe&rdquo; which they describe as &ldquo;a product-driven video combining rich still photography and video to personify the raw-deluxe style of the Microsoft Zune&rdquo;.&rdquo;</em> <br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x_pH5ZoBSm8&amp;rel=1" width="425" height="355" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></p><p>But they make sure not to show it to anyone! Heaven forbid they show the world they&rsquo;re capable of producing an ad that makes their product look like something people would want. This video is only for promotional Microsoft&nbsp;events. This needs to be a Super Bowl ad.</p><p>(Thanks <a href="http://www.istartedsomething.com/20071208/zune-raw-deluxe/#comment-44724">I Started Something</a> for spotting it!)</p>

[randalllewis]

As a freqent ranter about the importance of marketing, I agree that this is a nice ad and that it should be shown to more than captive audiences. That said, I am generally impressed with Microsoft's marketing efforts for the Zune to date. The two sucked-into-the-machine ads are nicely done and are playing a lot on a variety of channels. I've seen them on everything from Comedy Central to old Law and Order reruns. The initial ads have been joined by a shorter version that only shows the Zune while music plays in the background and on screen text tauts the features. It too is nicely done, but none of the spots to date have used as catchy a song as Feith's 1234. iPod spots still vastly outnumber Zune ads in frequency but the Zune is far and away number two among MP3 players. I'd use the Apple model and spend little on production value and more on repetition, which is why I was pleased to see the new Zune spot. If Microsoft wants to reach its goal of having the Zune be the solid number 2 MP3 player, it will need to continue to market, refreshing the spots and keeping the repetition going. Point of sale maketing is also important and is currently pretty meager.