The curiously quixotic ads by Microsoft circa September 2008 that featured Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates were officially deemed a failure a few days ago. The NY Times quotes customer-loyalty researcher Brand Keys as sayings that the 1st ad in particular, called Shoe Circus, resulted in a more negative view of Microsoft among users and was thus a poor ad.
We’re not so sure, however. Shoe Circus, while a curious commercial was also somewhat compelling, and got Microsoft a boatload of publicity, admittedly not all of it good. Also, Microsoft’s guidance for 2Q09 (the 1st quarter after Shoe Circus was aired ) expects revenue to be in the range of $17.3-17.8B , an increase of almost 11% from the preceding quarter…not bad…might be due to S.C., or more likely due to increased Xbox sales, but at least the effort by ad authors Crispin Porter + Bogusky appears not to have caused a negative result.
In Campaign Wars, Apple Still Has Microsoft’s Number – New York Times, February 3 2009
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I personally enjoyed the Seinfeld/Gates ads very much. Advertising is of course very subjective, but I can’t see how those ads could be deemed a failure.
Yeah, how could an ad that hardly mentions Microsoft make people think less of Microsoft?