Interestingly when you look at the adverts for both companies you find an interesting pattern.
Often a leading brand / product doesn't need to reference it's competition, it just goes along with "We're awesome, and everyone knows it" The second fiddle is often comparing it's self to the market leader. What we have is Apple constantly comparing themselves to PC (even though an Apple is a PC and what they really mean is windows) Then Apple's adverts were so successful that they put Microsoft on the defensive and they produced a bunch of laptop hunter adverts that mention Apple's expensive laptops, unusual strategy for a market leader. but then the dynamic is kinda odd since Microsoft is a software company and Apple is a hardware company. so it's not like they're competing... not really. But you'll notice that every advert reforces a set of ideas: 1) That there is such a thing as a Mac and it's not a PC. 2) That a PC is Windows and nothing else. 3) That there are only two choices. 4) That you have to pay one way or another. 5) No one need worry about control when they get fancy features. It's interesting that we don't play on our strengths of pointing this out, getting people to go "Oh hey there is something else, oh it can be installed on any PC, even Apple PCs, oh it's free and I get to OWN it, control it, give it to my friends and even get involved with real people who make it, not just marketing departments. There is a whole bunch of stuff we could focus on in very clever ways. But what I see a lot of here is tail chasing... lets copy them because they've spent money on those adverts. That just sounds like the adverts were successful in telling their story and we want our story to be Microsoft's or Apple's. but why do we want to tell the same story when we've a completely different narrative that's run our communities for years. Martin, On Sun, 2010-02-07 at 16:38 -0600, John Vilsack wrote: > The advertisements you are referring to are being shown worldwide, > with regional influences dictating which ads are shown predominantly > in those regions. > > > The idea behind the campaign is for Microsoft to place emphasis on > their response to customer feedback and how they claim it has been > directly integrated into the changes in their latest operating system. > > > The basic premise behind many of these commercials is the same: A > "Joe" or "Jane" every person begins explaining how they had a moment > where they had a revelation of doing something in Windows a little bit > easier. The scene changes to a re-enactment of the moment featuring a > significantly more attractive model playing the character of "Joe" or > "Jane". They then go on to say how they contacted Microsoft and boom, > they are responsible for why Windows 7 is great. > > > The campaign was designed to be a counter-attack to the largely > successful "I'm a Mac" ads Apple has been running for the past several > years. Half of the ads target families shown at home or about the > house which emphasizes Microsoft's personal push to identify more with > families than with hipsters. The other half target younger > professionals that are attractive and ambitious without having to > resort to an Apple tax to prove it. > > > The past 12 months of Microsoft's advertising have been largely > successful but its also because they are able to put these ads in > front of eyes that it can make a difference on > ( > http://theappleblog.com/2009/05/22/microsoft-ads-winning-over-more-consumers-than-apples/ > ). > > > Keep in mind that Microsoft and Windows are household names with > almost 30 years of market dominance, they spent hundreds of millions > of dollars in failed campaigns up to this point, and it still took > them years to find a message they could use on a global scale to > counter the damage Apple did with their ads. > > John Vilsack > > > On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Paul Schulz <p...@mawsonlakes.org> > wrote: > Greetings, > > In Australia we are seeing the "I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my > idea" advertisement campaign, where people (actors?) are put > in fron of the camera to explain that they had a feature that > that they wanted their computer to do, which Windows Vista > didn't do, and which is now included in Windows 7. The ad. > ends with "I'm a PC and Windows 7 was my Idea". > > After a quick browse on YouTube I suspect that we are only > seeing a selected portion on the Ads, or they were pulled, as > we certainly haven't seen all of them. > > but.. this got me thinking. How could this idea be applied to > the Ubuntu community? We could actually create a video if the > developers themselves and say "I'm Ubuntu and <feature blah> > was my Idea", or get Mark saying "I'm Ubuntu and Ubuntu was my > Idea". > > How else can we play to our strengths. > > On another note..I feel that these ads. are somehow missing > the point, as I don't really understand what they are trying > to achieve. Are they trying to position Windows 7 as a > competitor to Ubuntu? "Ubuntu might give you <blah> but > remember we gave you what you wanted last time when you asked > for it?.. so why not stick with Windows". > > Just my $0.02 worth.. > Regards, > Paul > > > > On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 2:51 AM, markusmu...@yahoo.co.uk > <markusmu...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > > Couldn't agree more Jared, this assumption is one I > get really sick of: "yes, but how CAN it be better if > no one wants to fleece me for it?" The profile of > this type is a man; 30something; who "knows > computers" (windoze) because he can use one at work; > drives a frequently modded car with hundreds of > expensive extras he doesn't need and who wears last > season's designer everything. He has entrenched small > "c" conservative views and would have defended Vista > all the way up to the release of 7. He is > emphatically NOT about early uptake of new tech unless > produced by established companies with a lot of > existing market-presence. > I s'pose he's basically the bad parts of both > characters in the "i'm a PC/Mac" ads. > > Is he really the guy we want to reach? He's not going > to be an Ubuntu user until it is SOLD to him in the > traditional sense of the word, money and all. Unless > the landscape changes around him and he sees other > people getting more from their machines for less. I > was thinking we need to work out, say five specific > types of users we want to aim at and make specific ads > that are tailored for them. Any ideas? > --- On Sun, 7/2/10, > ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com > <ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com> wrote: > > From: > ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com > <ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com> > Subject: ubuntu-marketing Digest, Vol 50, > Issue 6 > To: ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com > Date: Sunday, 7 February, 2010, 12:00 > > Send ubuntu-marketing mailing list submissions > to > ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide > Web, visit > > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing > or, via email, send a message with subject or > body 'help' to > ubuntu-marketing-requ...@lists.ubuntu.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > ubuntu-marketing-ow...@lists.ubuntu.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line > so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of ubuntu-marketing > digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Creating Viral Videos - Who's > interested? (jared) > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:12:28 -0700 > From: jared <ubduc...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [ubuntu-marketing] Creating Viral > Videos - Who's > interested? > To: alan c <aecl...@candt.waitrose.com> > Cc: ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com > Message-ID: > <1265472748.31645.18.ca...@krypton> > Content-Type: text/plain > > The problem with some people is that they > might think "It's so good it > cannot be free". > > So possibly part of the message may need to be > HOW something so good can > be free. Maybe highlight the volunteers > around the globe. > > Speaking of globe, it might also be good to > highlight that it's not just > the OS that is so good, it's the global > movement that users get to be a > part of that's also good. > > Jared > > > > On Wed, 2010-02-03 at 18:36 +0000, alan c > wrote: > > > > Make a humorous fantasy advert for a > computer system, so good it > > cannot be true. > > (But in fact it is true it is Ubuntu!) > > > > -- > > alan cocks > > Ubuntu user > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > -- > ubuntu-marketing mailing list > ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing > > > End of ubuntu-marketing Digest, Vol 50, Issue > 6 > *********************************************** > > > > > -- > > ubuntu-marketing mailing list > ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing > > > > > -- > ubuntu-marketing mailing list > ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing > > > -- ubuntu-marketing mailing list ubuntu-marketing@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-marketing
