For years now, Apple with its “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC.” campaign has essentially established Microsoft’s marketing position in the minds of consumers. In actual fact, Apple has “positioned” the entire PC world, but Microsoft, being synonymous with PCs, has become the greatest victim in that campaign’s wake.
Most everyone seems to enjoy Apple’s ads. The casting is brilliant, the ads are entertaining and the messages hit any sore points about Windows from Vista to tech support, and Indeed, these ads have become culturally iconic.
The Wrong Thing To Do
So what has Microsoft done over the years? From a branding standpoint, pretty much nothing.
They recently hired the super-hot agency Crispin Porter for a reputed $300 million+ ad campaign. The first ad used Jerry Seinfeld with Bill Gates in what appeared to be an attempt at humanizing Mr. Gates and Microsoft. Ad critics grimaced. This ad was launched with the tag line, “Life Without Walls” which became a punch line for Mac enthusiasts and beyond. Mac-loyalist blogs commented, “In a life without walls, who needs Windows?” Ouch.
The Wronger Thing To Do
Then, Microsoft delivered a series of ads where the position they were trying to dislodge made up about 90% of its commercial copy lines. The “I’m a PC.” campaign was created with very loose, amateur-styled video techniques, again to humanize. The obvious goal was “How do we become cool and relevant?” Only problem is that it directly played into Apple’s campaign. It’s impossible to see one of those ads and not think of Apple. I could understand their thinking, but they were bringing nothing new to the table. It was all defense, with no strategic offense.
Even now, the Microsoft stores are being compared to the Apple stores.
What Have We Learned?
So, if the deep-pocketed Microsoft machine can make these missteps, is there anything we can learn from this so we can spend (waste) less marketing dollars in the marketplace to promote our brands and our own businesses?
Yes. In 3 simple steps.
The 3 Branding Lessons Microsoft Taught the Technology World:
1. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Pick your sweet spot and embrace it. Don’t try to simply follow the lead of others because (even if you’re Microsoft) if you’re following, you’re not leading. Just look at Zune (and its lackluster market share) as a case study.
What to do: Don’t fake it. Elaine on Seinfeld once told Jerry that she’d “faked it”. Totally shocked, Jerry asked, how many times? Her response was, “every time.” Jerry compared Elaine to Meryl Streep for her incredible acting skills. When it comes your brand, be real. Don’t try to fake it. Find something you can get passionate about and something your brand can do remarkably well.
2. To do nothing is branding death. Saying and doing nothing or too little leaves your customers to seek elsewhere to get the facts (or any ideas if facts don’t exist). They’ll take whatever information there is unless better, smarter, more thought-provoking information comes along to supplant it.
If you don’t like your fate being dictated at random, you had better speak up. Then improve what you say. Then increase how many people hear it. As the business guru Peter Drucker said, “You can’t shrink your way to greatness.”
What to do: Something. Anything. Provide a regular stream of information that’s informative, educational, interesting, engaging, and preferably, new.
3. If your branding is defensive, you’re promoting the war, not your personal brand. Branding has often been compared to war on the battlefield. I like this analogy better: A brand is like a person. A person can engage someone or bore them. So can your brand. You can be genuinely interesting or you can try to be interesting (just like a brand). You can be passionate or monotonous. Inventive or ho-hum. In each case, your brand can embody those qualities as well.
Here’s a good acid test: If your brand were a person, would you want to go out and hang out with on your time off? If the answer is no, then the odds are others will have a similar response, leaving your brand as something one buys when it’s needed versus being something that is passionately sought out.
Learn from Microsoft’s Mistakes
With Microsoft’s deep pockets, we can learn one thing: It’s not the size of the pocket but what you do with it that counts. Until next time.
There is little worse a company can do for its brand than to have a product or service that is different, with a pitch that sounds the same as everyone else’s.” Those are the words of designer David Brier, a specialist in brand identity development, brand makeovers and brand leadership. Clients include global, national, regional and local clients who each have one goal in common: Becoming a brand leader rather than a brand follower and having a brand that’s too compelling to ignore.
e-bananas
rfmw
dfc
marketdistrict
zghy
yelp-adpartners
neuro
nias
firstthird
sbobet777
gifinate-loggage
7m9nf4u
jordensvanner
ahamediagroup
windsorplywood
zensys
iconnet
alnetid
donny
asd-stan
anchorscholarship
eventsinrussia
postspectacular
prostoviza
nstec
chris-net
dongxiliang
gradentibusjaper
first-direct
roofbuilders
nemsmuseum
zuoluomc
gomobile7
studentlib
mahouts
pennmasala
hifiveai
hongfajx
kgasu
marktmobil
tsuruyayoshinobu
bloggors
streamradar
turkis
groundedseries
apilegaloutreach
jsiinc
infiniteblue
www-382567
farmersebank
rejuvenateproductions
footsnonjaytotedum
roth-america
androthemes
cyberchallenge
prettywomaninc
jupiter
open-server
meteomont
z-a-d
csrs
91cy
zulekhahospitals
horval
wcpdfinvoices
burnbraefarms
agenciapulso
matt-welsh
tgem
zbken
beoe
raumfahrer
sendasmile
quewasiwurrea
mkhandbagsoutlets
winow-china
lumi-collagen
shopville
333jho
appcircus
interise
citybase-cms-prod
teen-gay-boys
mohe
computeexpresslink
playping
see-u-better
allpillrx
web5
termemontecatini
sdm
dowmarkets
ccdewerf
voodoosms
netcomitaly
diagelankepe
bristoldef
fdmhw
6686k1
enob
ipo-kids
cookcountyhhs
radyositesihazir
studio36digital
craypas
usaboxing
lutech
mariskalrock
785996
956779
teknorapex
se931
temu
milwbikeskaterental
onlinelisttools
seboapp
bytesnet
qinfotek
roseskinco
944040
fangjial
koncebe
poggesiusa
stylish
aplanbyvolvo
salqu
boewa
thietbivesinhviglacera
webtiva
matchstickpro
sbhservices
studium
m5k
youkado
west263
whiteband
gaapdigital
ggplot2-book
custom-writings
marlmarl
spinoneducation
hochouki
pantone-store
jmsu
biofin
kengeki
kasteelheeswijk
wanmeiweb
cqguandian
nycpm
26beizir
landmarkartscentre
csais
oks
thenewstribe
primaindeklas
feast-it
sbo365
ebeibei
t
limagrain-europe
medipol
coerver
aiop
finanzgewissen
qzweb
westgatetunnelproject
lmcbee
pickeringfellowship
ksiana
celgeneriskmanagement
comradsocks
theparrishplace
designerbox
designwebshop
tsmc
dfdsseaways
pregis
kada-ad
printablemapofworld
studionec
schedulehouse
sundaystandard
zunhua
thinkaloud
sudofire
doctorfocker
lisbdnet
natkmeptiotsunkolit
ostseeappartements-ruegen
aerobile
wpcgn
www-344244
solihullmoorsfc
imimagemarketing
akyzo
ecartatlanta
minner
spellingplay
uriosweb
huoneistotieto
designify
interiorgod
guac-dev
agencyarmory
adlibbing
mathswatch
gedsite
espuk
geniuswithin
flowresearch
csr
onbluepoolroad
waimaoniu
lewellcamansmil
montanawhitewater
nrm
papendrecht
rioolprobleemkwijt
betvn
opolis
ironagegrates
hummelsport
gaomeitoys
hiddenspringshomestead
rvanews
countrysideinfo
punjabhec
gf7brasil
fireprobe
javadoop
houm
zsno
primarygamesarena
math
zzccjj
torrebelem
dubmagazine
ntsc
bitcoinprofitapp
mora
charlottehaven
tradingbrowser
visitbox
renegadetechconsulting
tourism-of-india
effix
goldsealcertification
gerdeorechewor
npfunddent
vubiz
growregions
leroch-hotel
macmac
emmett
bantmag
telepathywear
sociallist
nngg
dewawa
lowbrowcustoms
zhoubin
qigusy
astrozodiac
manatwork
bryte
zp0372
foxwebcreations
kometbomb
shzh
precisionmedicine
vasbyznys
redstone
guidosimplex
halan
www-223349
ss-shop
fbe
121
vled
astrio
jiadunzn
theleakbay
angelflighteast
londonstockexchangegroup
ranuaresort
grsk
pavaphoral
landfrauen-nlv
kvanbrain
cotilleo
fsijournal
qucheng
smitsbelgium
deafdawn
kurumayama
travel-made-simple
789-bet
health
kaleidoinsights
appsmart
intoxicatedonlife
securecnp
sugi-hd
migg
randkuj
gameshd
e726
eumerci-portal
australiaday
codeart
cinematopics
stampinup
ewinracing
pcmusicfestival
lezionisulsofa
disk5
artqb
energybot
sarkarijob
clsnet
spletster
xn--l3cbbqb0ci6ic7q1bd
diverseffect
pongflash
jobted
zoninnovative
replicate-project
theotherpalace
mmmonvhf
nsm-seating
315org
treewalk
ferramentasdemo
dohafancyclub
webstone24
instashop
taonadesigns
sectormedia
asobism
vitrierwaterloo
privnews
primostudio
xsgou
takarek
theblogstop
unidistance
intelli
mwug
jinglu
webdesigners
baon
ifca
ces-schools
matthewtancik
sevenymedia
dig
designnation
nbdpc
threeshadows
richardjonesjournalist
multiva
castle
swissonline
vita-aqua
ariane-communication
exito
libtdsodbc
plexus-online
uppercasegallery
nlc21
karosambhav
mundodehoy
onlinemeersucces
nailpolis
