Microsoft ad taking a bite out of Apple


After decades of crappy ads, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) seems to finally have struck gold with its new ad campaign playing upon the price difference between the PC and similar Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) products. In an interview in Brandweek, the general manager of brand marketing at Microsoft, David Webster, states that recent Microsoft marketing has enjoyed a recent 10% lift in preference for Windows PCs over Apple computers.

The clever ads follow 'real consumers' who are given $1,000 to buy a laptop, with the understanding that they can pocket any money left over. Since the Mac starts at $999, the results were preordained. More troubling for Apple, as pointed out by Daniel Lyons in Newsweek, is that one ad in particular undercuts the hip image of the Mac user. Lauren is an appealing, very cool young lady who opines, "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person." This message resonates particularly well in contrast to Apple's long-running "I'm a PC" ad campaign.



Another ad, featuring a young man named Giampaolo, reaches out to computer geekdom with less success. Techies who have drunk the Apple Kool-aid are über-loyal.

Lauren has been outed as an actress, causing many to suspect the ad was scripted. Microsoft denies this. Regardless, the ad's price-centric message may play well in the face of the recession. The company is already benefiting from the boom in netbooks, most of which use Windows. Apple has yet to join that party. It's not like Steve Jobs to miss such a trend.

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