No, I’m not talking about the classic rock band. I am talking about Kylie, the returning “spokestoddler” for Windows 7. She’s the adorable little girl making a slideshow in the new Windows 7 commercial. But really, Microsoft, is this the best way to market your product?
Alright, I have to pause here and confess that I am a pretty big Apple nerd and former Apple employee. As such, I probably am not the most objective person to critique a Windows advertisement, but after the release of Vista and subsequent decline of their market share, Windows could really use a credibility boost.
So is Kylie, the darling little girl, the best way to do that? Personally, I don’t think so. Here’s why:
- I am a PC and I am 4.5 years old. I’m sorry, but if I was a mid-40s computer novice in the market for a computer, I think a commercial portraying a 4-year-old editing videos on the computer would just make me feel incompetent. “I can’t even figure out how to check my email and this toddler is making slideshows?!”
- No Joking Matter. Let’s face it, the release of Windows Vista has become a punchline for pretty much all of the computing world. Windows now has the opportunity to redeem themselves by making a strong release of Windows 7 and making it everything that Vista should have been. In order to make a comeback, Microsoft specifically needs to win over the business world — especially companies that are convinced their best option is staying with XP. I’m not really convinced that cute bunnies are the best way to prove to CEOs that Windows is back and ready to go work.
- Cheap Tricks. Kylie the Windows Spokestoddler is cute (hey, she’s downright precious), but I think Windows is making the same mistake with this commercial that they made with Vista. They are focusing on creating a snazzy attention grabber but are sacrificing substance. A lot of people initially switched to Vista because it looks cool and i’s very graphical and flashy, but after the eightieth time pressing the “Allow” button it’s not so fun anymore. In my opinion, if Microsoft wants to win people over on Windows 7, they should show them why they should switch. Win them over with the features, stability and usability of the software, and not simply the adorable face of a 4-year-old.
Faith & Geekery is excited to welcome Brittany Dengerud to our stable of geeks! She’s a Twin Cities, Minnesota, native with interests in movies and music, social media and online marketing strategy, photography, and new technology. If you’d like to drop her a note to welcome her, just email brittany@faithandgeekery.com.
Hmmm, I completely disagree but I’ll really geek out if you want to to go into why.
Sure go for it! I am all for discussion! Just one marketers position
Brittany,
Nice work and welcome to F&G. Since you’re talking just about how Windows 7 is being marketed, I think you’re right on. They just don’t seems to do well no matter what tactic they try in their marketing. I’ve got several ideas for them, but why would they listen to me? I’ve used Windows as an OS. From 3.11 to Win7. My only experience with an Apple OS is a little in college (13+ yrs ago!). I don’t hate Apple, I just can’t afford one of their machines. I work in IT and I’d love to get my hands on some of their equipment.
The Vista PR was a disaster. However when SP1 was released it made Vista 100 times better (imo). I’ve been using Win7 through the beta and just moved my laptop to the Enterprise version (thanks to volume licensing & working at a university!) and Win7 is 100 times better than Vista was.
I’m surrounded by people, particularly professors, who don’t like change. I believe people, and businesses, like XP because it’s what they’ve known for so long. It’s what, 8-9yrs old? A lot has happened in technology since then!
Ok… I’m done being fired up. I’ll settle back down and get back to work.
I look forward to more great discussions.
Jon
I am a graphic design and writing student and just did a presentation on Commercials: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. For the finale, I juxtaposed a PC ad with an Apple ad. This was the PC ad, for SP1. I only made the audience have to endure 30 seconds of it though. This commercial goes on for another 3 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPv8PPl7ANU
Oh, the inhumanity.
Inhumanity is right! Wow.. that was just plain painful.
Windows marketing is an interesting case..
In this: I am a PC Windows Ad, Windows is trying to dispel the stereotypes surrounding what kind of people use PCs. This particular ad is acutally better than some of the other ones because it actually has some people talking about what they do on the computer, but overall their advertising just has a whole bunch of people saying “I’m a PC.” Which doesn’t really say anything about what the computer will do for you.
This is the same argument I am making about the Kylie advertisement, yes, it contains praise for the upcoming Windows 7, which, based on reviews, is going to be a great operating system, but the faith in Windows is already diminished.. they need to do better than informing people that their is a new operating system, they need to convince people to upgrade.
Jon, I agree with you about the professors, businesses and people who are just going to want to stay with what they are used to, what has worked for them. I think what Windows should have done after didn’t exactly go as planned, is launched two dev groups. One that would be an upgrade XP — Windows Professional, designed to upgrade and move the business world forward, free of the widgets and graphic stuff that business people don’t need or want anyway. The second, improving what they started with Vista, going after the Apple Market, the young computer generation, who want the fancy graphical applications, the gaming capabilities, systems that can run Adobe Suites… well.
And maybe Windows will one-up me and do all of that with Windows 7, but that remains to be seen.
Sorry, insanity week, I’ll respond properly tomorrow, didn’t mean to leave you hanging
What people can’t just admit is that Apple rules…
I will admit that I laugh every time I see that little girl in that commercial. It entertained me. People see the commercial and associate Windows 7 with joy and happiness.
I’ve been running Windows 7 for a few months and I’ve had fun using it. That’s more than I can say about Vista. Positive word of mouth will sell Windows 7 more than any commercial will.