11-28-2006, 04:30 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,111
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Work Wherever: Microsoft Introduces New Windows Mobile Ad Campaign
'Frank', Microsoft's front man for its new Windows Mobile ad campaign, gets a thorough going over by dogs, beavers and snakes, while keeping his hairdo straight and sending email. :lol: Wish I had that kind of dedication. :roll: Have a look at the outtakes at the bottom of the page, they're better than the ads.  MS has also given the Windows Mobile website a nice facelift - IMHO, the old version was a little disorganised. The new version is more tightly focused and should be of greater help to newbies.
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"A planner is a gentle man, with neither sword nor pistol.
He walks along most daintily, because his balls are crystal."
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11-28-2006, 05:37 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6,305
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Those ads are pretty weak. It's better than nothing I guess. :lol:
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11-28-2006, 07:09 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 554
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"Weak" is a weak word for those adds. I wonder, who are they target? Kindergarden children or Business Executives, and what about the rest of WM users, who is neither one of those two? :roll:
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11-29-2006, 02:37 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 23
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I think I understand. This is Microsoft's exit strategy from the mobile computing market. They hope to shame everybody who currently owns a WM device and prevent anybody from buying a new one. Ever.
Oh man, look at that Nokia over there....
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11-29-2006, 08:59 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 484
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I think you guys are a little over critical of these ads.
They get an important point across (that you can do "business stuff" anytime, anywhere) in a humorous way.
Ads can't give details or provide content for all potential markets. They need to focus on one idea and make it stick in your mind. For that, these hit the mark. When someone walks into a phone store, they won't be thinking "hey, I might have to send an email while duct taped to a streetlamp" 8O , but that image should stick in the mind and that's the point of the ads.
Here's a little test: Try to recall 10 ads from the last year and what products they were marketing. Then count how many of the 10 you remember were humorous and how many of the 10 provided valuable information about the product. I am willing to bet that the counts will be 10 and zero respectively.
PS: For those that are not familiar with what an MVP is: I don't work for Microsoft and I can say what I want about the company and its products. If you read my (infrequent) blog entries, you will see I can be quite critical of Microsoft when I feel it's warranted.
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11-29-2006, 11:34 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 57
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Love WM5 and the things you can do. But costwise I am about to switch to Blackberry :cry: Unlimited global roaming for a flat fee and no international data roaming charges can't be beat. I might change my mind if someone can tell me if similar package is available for Windows with a US carrier. Anyway switching will mean I will also go back to my 4700 which is still going strong :|
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11-30-2006, 12:13 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by daS
Ads can't give details or provide content for all potential markets. They need to focus on one idea and make it stick in your mind. For that, these hit the mark. When someone walks into a phone store, they won't be thinking "hey, I might have to send an email while duct taped to a streetlamp" 8O , but that image should stick in the mind and that's the point of the ads.
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Well, maybe. I agree with your assertions -- that ads' first point is to stick in your head, as opposed to showcasing the product in particular -- but what about having a guy duct-taped to a light pole is going to make me remember Windows Mobile?
The other possible problem is that some of the scenarios might convey negative perceptions in one's mind. You want to make sure you make the viewer walk away with a positive perception of the product/situation/ad. Again, I'm not convinced this is the case. The guy looks like a bit of a dork and the situations are at times just plain icky.
Now, I'm certainly watching it on the Internet, so perhaps it's out of context and I'll be able to better judge otherwise if I see it on TV. We'll see, I guess...
--janak
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11-30-2006, 10:31 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 459
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I think Janak is right, and here's why: Some 20 years ago I lived in Germany for a while and I still remember a TV advert playing then which involved an attractive young lady running along a beach steadily divesting herself of all of her clothing whilst dolphins cavorted in the water in the background. The product? It was an underarm deodorant (and I do remember the brand name).
So, the advert worked well on daS's terms in that I still remember it and I still remember the product. However, I would never actually buy the product (or mention the name here in case someone else is tempted to) because that was the most gratuitous, exploitative and cynical piece of advertising I have ever seen.
Whilst the these WM adverts are not in that league, they really do carry all sorts of negative baggage which may well make people less likely to buy the product even if they do remember the ads.
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