The cultural differences of both companies are reflected in their current commercials. Who’s getting more momentum out of the campaigns?
Apple and Microsoft are constantly throwing adverts at their users not showing cool product features but promoting their company image. While Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign tries to present the mac as progressive and cool, the PC as conservative and boring, Microsoft is using various types of spots to answer Apple’s commercials.
Apple relies on proven structures and employs the same actors time and again. Microsoft attempts different things in their 300 million dollar campaign: Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates in two TV-Spots, a hysteric Steve Ballmer freaking out and real users doing excentric stuff in front of the camera. In another short video Microsoft turned 180 degrees and directly attacked Apple.
Meanwhile Microsoft has an even more aggressive approach. The company put a booth in front of Apple stores where people can record their own “I’m a PC” spot. A handful of those clips are also aired on TV.
Next to TV spots the companies are mostly embracing viral marketing. Visible measures analysed how effective the videos of both companies are on the web. A comparison of the first seven days of the campaigns revealed Apple achieving 70 % of Microsoft’s views. However Apple videos were linked twice as much from hard working fans on their or other websites.
More interestingly is that the Seinfeld-Gates campaign significantly outperformed the new “I’m a PC” and “Get a mac” clips. While the Gates-Seinfeld campaign brought 3,2 million views in the first 1 1/2 weeks, “I’m a PC” only performed half of that. I wonder why Microsoft has kicked the series after only two episodes!?
What will the marketing strategy for Windows 7 be?