So What Is The Deal With The Beachball?
August 21, 2008
Today I read in the Wall Street Journal Online that Microsoft has hired Jerry Seinfeld to star in a series of advertisements for the firm. Seinfeld will reportedly be paid $10 million for the spots, which are part of a 300 million dollar campaign aspiring to reposition Microsoft as forward thinking, customer friendly, people savvy technology company. The campaign is being launched in large part as a response to the growing popularity of Apple and the increased adoption of open source operating systems like Ubuntu Linux.
While I think Seinfeld is hilarious, I question the wisdom of this decision. Certainly there are plenty of exceptionally bright people at Microsoft. I am quite sure they have good reason to believe that Jerry can help to change people’s perceptions of the company. I do believe that whatever he does will probably be entertaining. For $10 million it should be. The problem is that people don’t need Microsoft to entertain them, they need Microsoft to care about them - or at least appear to care.
Microsoft should have invested that 300 million in making their products more reliable and useful, and in offering unparalleled service to its customers. With the resources at its disposal, surely the company could offer support services so remarkable that no one in the world could compete with them. “Vista not working right? - We’re on it.” “Spreadsheet locked up? - No worries because you are with Microsoft.” “Need help with that flyer? - we’ll create a portal for you and walk you through it.” “We are Microsoft.” “We are here to help you do more.” “We know that you have choices when it comes to software, and we want you to choose us.” “That is why we work to earn your trust and keep your business.” Can you imagine the buzz this would generate? It would be huge.
Microsoft could create a community of users supporting one another and leveraging technology to do it. They could tap into the collective wisdom of the crowd to make improvements and to drive innovation. They could build loyalty and trust. They could exploit the weakness of other providers which is the perception of risk by removing risk from their own products. If Microsoft was the safe, secure, trusted choice in the mind of the consumer, then the consumer would be willing to pay a premium.
They could have stores, mobile help, seminars, online support, help lines, surveys, blogs, and more… instead they will have very funny commercials.
Apple has had success because of innovative products, beautiful design, and smart campaigns geared to exploit the perceived weaknesses of Microsoft. It is not that Apple is without flaw. They have a very closed system. They don’t always play nice with consumers. They are expensive. Recently they have had some high profile mistakes with the iPhone and Me.com. They are not perfect, but they are smart.
It is my opinion that the smart thing for Microsoft to do would be to invest in the consumer and not the endorsement of a celebrity - even if it is Seinfeld. Maybe they will get Lloyd Braun to sell some software from Mr. Costanza’s garage. SERENITY NOW!
What do you think? Is hiring Seinfeld a brilliant idea or big waste of time?
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3 Responses to “So What Is The Deal With The Beachball?”
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I think they should hire Art Vandelay!
Wow David. Microsoft has stores, on line help, portals and assistance ad nauseum. You can’t really believe that apple spends any less on marketing.
Your well meaning and cute post exhibits a lack of understanding of the real world, one I have seen in other posts on this site including those that state there is no difference between Oracle and MS SQL (until you look at the price tag).
i guess if you are a Microsoft customer (and aren’t we all?) I’d stay away from Lucrum.
If anyone needs help with the real world there are plenty of people out there who can help you
Teresa,
Perhaps Microsoft should have paid you to endorse their products. You seem to be very passionate about them, which is great. This is the real world passion that seems to be lacking in their marketing initiatives. Unfortunately many in the marketplace do not share that passion nor your worldview - which is what my post was about.
The perception exists that Microsoft lacks a focus on the wants and needs of the user. You don’t have to go far to find someone who believes this - true or not. Thus your comment actually supports my point. You tell me that they have all these resources, yet the uncaring, negative perception remains. Thus instead of hiring a celebrity, I hold that they should focus on delivering a unique and incredible user experience.
We strive to help all of our customers use technology to solve “real world” business problems - those who choose to use Microsoft products and those who choose to use others.