Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Avro — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:28:18 GMT

The Apple adverts promote security, iLife, consumer apps, home networking, easy set-up, easy back-up, popularity with students. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Certainly Vista has been low hanging fruit but Microsoft could have done a lot better at both promotion and execution. But I don't think Vista is anywhere near as bad as it is perceived.

Microsoft needs to pay a lot more attention to consumers and their needs.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

subzerohitman721 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:29:18 GMT

Paul

I think a change in culture might be inorder for MS to be cool. Instead of some of the bland names of apps in Windows, spice it up. Come up with creative names that are catchy and make sense. Commericials that get the consumers attention and are honest. A lil poking at Apple wouldn't be a bad thing. Just not the blatent dishonesty in the Switcher/Get A Mac commericials. A non-tech Enthusiast group sponsored by Microsoft would go a long way. Killing the DRM and broadcast flags in their respective programs would be wonderful. On the same note, perhaps Apple and Microsoft should show some greater respect and do more to kill the beef between the communities.

I do agree that MS does have too much of a "me too" mentality. But then again, like Steve Jobs is fond of saying, "Good artists copy, Great Artists Steal." Yet Apple copies the Xerox Star OS and from Microsoft all the time. I think I like this quote from Gates, "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose."

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re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Dude1313 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:15:50 GMT

Make that 9 if you count the ability to emulate OS9 through Sheepshaver.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Joe08 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:53:45 GMT

Joe08

Disagree with Apple not adding nothing new ala Microsoft.

The ability to run 3 OSes on the same laptop is a great value to me...Dude1313

June 18, 2008 10:45 AM

I don't have a need to run three OS's, and most likely the majority of people who are usually non tech types are the same way.

Though if you have ever wanted a Mac and would prefer to stay with Windows or Vice Versa than that could be a way to go.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Dude1313 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:45:17 GMT

Joe08

Disagree with Apple not adding nothing new ala Microsoft.

The ability to run 3 OSes on the same laptop is a great value to me.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Joe08 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:02:39 GMT

They as the great purveyor of mediocre, "me-too technology", especially this decade. They are seen as a lumbering behemoth that has done untold sins and left numerous companies in their wake through a variety of tactics, most underhanded and some borderline illegal, and in even some cases illegal. They are seen as rudderless and devoid of leadership. If I was a MS stockholder I would be outraged. Sure they made great profit since they went public, (what was that 22 years ago?). What have the done lately with the profits? Answer: squandered it chasing every perceived threat on the face of the planet to their Windows/Office empire, thats what. For company that is so massive and so powerful they are nothing but reactionary, rather then innovative. X-box, Zune, Surface, Live Search (or whatever its called, doesn't matter no one uses it), these have to do with their core businesses? Dude1313

Yet Apple has done the same and their fans don't see it that way, once again the message, I see through that and haven't fallen for Apples pitch.

it still doesn't change the fact that they have a wonderful branding machine in action and should be used as an example to Microsoft on how to get the message out.

I've alway been amazed how some people will pay 30 to 50 percent more for a notebook that doesn't deliver anymore features or value than the PC side can give you, once again the branding and the message have a powerful effect on some consumers.

I see it on the hardware side, hp and Dell seem to have woken up, hp's Voodoo products are a perfect case of Apples philosophy, some people want value and some want sexy and them some of us want both

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Joe08 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:50:06 GMT

That said... as a brand guy, I don't think Microsoft's agency is the problem. It's their products and strategy. Apple's advertising work is among the most conceptually simple stuff on TV. They aren't pulling razzle-dazzle theatrics like the Vista "wow" campaign. They speak in simple language and either demonstrate the product, talk about real features, or in the case of PC vs. Mac, amplify and personify simple value propositions..johnpapola

You're right in some respects, Apples branding and message are consistent and they have a wonderful add agency that rises up to the challenge.

Microsoft makes a quality product and has a bigger hill to climb thanks to their business model.

But I've always been amazed at their poor image branding, they employ add agencies that constantly under deliver, the Vista Wow is now a perfect example.

Office 2007 is a big success for them but outside of the tech biz you would never know it.

Vista has sold well and will pick up even more business, but all you here is the bad press because Microsoft doesn't try to counter anything that's real or not based in fact.

As for Paul's opinion that the company needs to be broken up, wrong again, their are plenty of successful companies that market multiple brands, Toyota and Honda being a small example.

Honda has the most well conceived commercials, their head and shoulders above what the domestics and even Toyota have done, a simple consistent message year after year. And the public has it memorized.

Redmond s saving grace is that they have plenty of brilliant people working there, unfortunately technologists are usually not great evangelists and that job has to be given to the right people.

The coming add campaigns will be interesting.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

tayme — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:26:23 GMT

@jp - "They speak in simple language and either demonstrate the product, talk about real features, or in the case of PC vs. Mac, amplify and personify simple value propositions."

I don't think that I have seen a Mac commercial that demonstrates the OS. Have they done one of those? All I have seen are the Mac vs PC commercials...which is an attempt-which has been fairly successful, mind you-to turn perception into reality. The only ads that I have seen from Apple that do that are for the iPhone.

That said, I went out last night and bought a Mac Book Pro...like I've said before, I already have a G5 iMac...and have wanted to mess with an Intel based Mac as well. I am planning to use BootCamp and install Vista on it in order to provide me with the best of both worlds...as I believe there are truly good things about both OS's. I have to say that the guys at the Apple Store were generally not very educated about the products that they were selling other than the iPods, though. I have never been to impressed with the "Geniuses" in the past.

--tayme

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Dude1313 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:08:09 GMT

Mircosoft's problems are legion.

However, I will go against the grain and say its not their image that is the issue, rather its their entire business approach that reflects their image that is the issue. While some see them as the the darling of the tech world, many do not. This isn't because of a competitor making funny, clever commercials, the issues are real and entirely of Microsoft's making.

This also goes beyond "the A-List Bloggers dislking them". Are you kidding me? MS is now reaping what they sowed in th 90's. They stomped on everyone and were supposed to feel sorry for them? Cry me a river.

And no, money isn't always the bottom line, No, market share isn't the point of this discussion. Microsoft as a case study has shown for bad image has shown that. MS isn't going away anytime soon, but the cracks in the armor are there. No one fears them, no sees them as anything but "just there".

MS won't face a rebellion from the entrenched base, (i.e. the Windows/Exchange Price lock-in/highway robbery) prevents that at large corporations. The change will be from the bottom up; there is no compelling reason that any small to medium business needs to have any MS product as a "must have" to start up let alone survive. Even larger companies are starting to question the sometimes quadruple tax of windows (Windows, Exchange/Cal license/ Office license/ Software Assurance).

And the home user? The reason anyone needs Microsoft Office at home is........... I'll answer: Not a one. All the while to have the threat of Windows being turned off through WGA if the servers have a bad day in the server farm? Many people are wondering "just why am I buying a PC"? MS took the home user as a given that the money would always roll in, I doubt that is the case now or will be in the future.

Business's could care less about image, the consumer market which continues to befuddle MS does. Its as if MS automatically assumes that it will dominate anything it does, simply because of who they are, but in reality and image it is far from so.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

lotsamystuff — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:26:47 GMT

So to burnish their image, Microsoft hired the team that gave us the creepy Burger King guy?

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

johnpapola — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:21:40 GMT

I haven't read the article yet, though the fact that it quotes heavily from Rob Hackerle isn't a good sign. Fast Company is also a well established Apple-bashing publication that has posted outright fiction about the company in their lengthy and ludicrous articles.

This is isn't high-concept art here, but it is artfully crafted. Paul has spoken at length in the podcast about the mess that is Microsoft's consumer products and strategy. And it is a total mess. The products are the brand, people. Apple's products embody a consistent vision of beauty, high-technology and simplicity. Every single one. You can feel the design vision in everything Apple does. This isn't something their agency does for them. It's at the core of their whole process.

Microsoft's first effort needs to be to right the ship on the consumer products if they're going to right the ship on consumer perception. And, no, I'm not saying "Vista sucks" even though Gates sure seems to think it's a problem from the way he's laughed about it.

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

Joe08 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:59:13 GMT

Sorry Paul but you're off base, Apples greatest strength is in convincing their fans that they are the original innovators for everything they do.

The i phone was the first touch screen phone in this country but not original elsewhere.

Where Apple has succeeded and Microsoft has failed is in the message,the message is important and has to be delivered in an appealing and constant manor.

This works in all walks of life from business to government, deliver the message enough times and it can become gospel to the public.

But the biggest mistake that Microsoft has made is allowing Apple to run commercials that are misleading. I'm actually stunned that Gates would have even allowed this to happen.

Vista is a great OS that had early teething problems like the bad teething Problems in OSX leopard.

The only difference is that Apple made sure that everyone thought otherwise.

If this new marketing campaign is successful and done properly they can change the perception and undue any damage that their complacency has cost them.

I'm in the business, and weather it be Shell or Exxon or a standing president if you start getting the message out their the tide can turn, but you have to do it over and over and over.

Just ask Apple

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

mikegalos@msn.com — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:20:22 GMT

@daveinla

FYI: Jobs is older than Gates or Ballmer. Guess it doesn't take young...

re: Making Microsoft cool ... Is it even possible?

daveinla — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:45:54 GMT

If MS wants to change their culture and the image they give to the world and the Tech press in general, they will have to start with overhauling things way up there, with the one that symbolizes these MS traits and and the guardians of that culture: Gates the Geek obsessed with Windows and Office (arguably as they are MS cash cow), 2 products not sexy at all; and finally Ballmer the Bully, the Business psychopath. These are the poster childs of the MS culture and image in the tech enthusiast world (the PC guy of the Apple ads is actually a good mix of them both !!!).

The day some cool, young and ballsy guys will make decisions and keynotes for MS, things will change, till then it's downhill for MS...