Wise Startup Blog

After seeing the Seinfeld Bill Gates ad last night while watching the opening game of the NFL season, I was skipping through the commercials as I normally do with Tivo, but then I went back. I alerted my girlfriend, “these are the new ads with Seinfeld,” and we began watching it. The commercial being 90 seconds kind of spoiled my appetite on first viewing of the commercial. Typically, ads are only 30 seconds long, and you’re used to seeing some joke within the first 15 seconds and then a closing message in the next 15 seconds.

Instead, this commercial went on for about 90 seconds, at first I was wondering if it was going to be integrated back into the football game somehow, sort of like an on-air promotion, but it didn’t.

My immediate reaction after seeing the commercial was a bit of disappointment. Crispin Porter and Bogusky could have done a lot better.

Like Meatloaf, Best Served as Leftovers

But after watching the commercial again this morning, I had a different take on the commercial. First, I knew to expect it to be 90 seconds long, so I wasn’t jaded that the commercial had possibly cut into my football watching experience. Secondly, I had a realization about the commercial; Bill Gates isn’t that bad of a guy. He’s this nerd, with his stupid clown card that wears ‘pleather’ shoes.

He’s not the mad scientist, evil nerd lord trying to make everyone’s lives miserably with crappy blue screens and obnoxiously expensive office software. He’s human, Microsoft is human.

1. To Err Is To Be Microsoft

Microsoft knows better than anyone that sometimes their operating system can be prone to hiccups and blue screens and grey screens and all sorts of different screen colors. Unfortunately, their public image, currently, appears to be John Hodgman trying to cover up for those mistakes by selling potporri or silly soaps. This is obviously intentionally done by Apple, however, the commercials have such a strong effect on the Microsoft brand that Microsoft needs to enact a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign to win back the populous.

With this commercial, and this series, Microsoft will be showing the human side of their company. Their founder is a dorky nerd that works really hard to make people’s lives better. He doesn’t live in a castle, isn’t disconnected from users, and wears crappy pleather shoes. In reality, he really is a big dork, which is why CP&B went with this campaign.

Showing the lighter side of Microsoft isn’t going to fix any Vista computers, but it will make people feel more connected to the Microsoft brand. As a Mac user, whenever something doesn’t work on a Mac, I blame Microsoft, when obviously it’s Apple’s fault. Brand loyalty is extremely powerful, and this is exactly what we’re seeing the beginnings of.

2. If You Say, ‘Where’s the Microsoft?’ You’re Missing the Boat COMPLETELY!

You see really quickly how the tech world can get so wrapped up in their little bubble and miss the point completely when it comes to the mass populous.

People have a really short attention span, and the same reason politicians can flip-flop on issues so easily is that nobody can remember anything or cares to remember past 30 minutes ago.

Further highlighting the emphasis on the goal of this campaign is this email sent by Bill Veghte, Senior VP at Microsoft this morning:

[the first phase] is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity.”

In Geico ads, where’s the insurance? Exactly. Nobody cares about the message as long as you enjoy the short little blurb with the cavemen whining about this or that.

This isn’t to say that you’re supposed to enjoy the Microsoft ad, but rather the goal is much simpler. You’re simply supposed to see that Microsoft, and Bill Gates, is a nice, likable little nerd. Jerry Seinfeld, I believe is more a muse than anything, trying to show that Gates is someone you can relate to.

3. We’re Talking About It Right Now!

Looking back at the Volkswagon ads from the 60s highlighted in my piece on lessons from Mad Men yesterday, we can see how divisive good, new advertising can be.

The account execs at Stanley Cooper (& Draper) sat around a room for 15 minutes discussing the pros and cons on the ad, and how it won’t work, and how unfunny it is and a myriad of other points, all of which lead back to the general conclusion that we are talking about it, so it must be doing something right.

This new ad for Microsoft is such a departure from their crappy, stupid flashing lights and cool people having a lot of fun that it’s jolting for us to see it. Prior to this advertisement, the public’s perception of Microsoft had been created around their antitrust cases in Europe, their spyware, their malware, the overhype of Vista, and their crappy ads.

This ad doesn’t evoke any negative criticism for Microsoft, and generally leaves a calming effect on viewers, and I think this quote from Sarah Perez, summarizing her thoughts on the aftermath of the commercial tells it best:

There won’t be any backlash with this Microsoft ad, though – no matter which side of the fence you’re on

For Microsoft, this is a victory.

Crispin Porter & Bogusky: Hire Me, Please?

It takes a lot of guts to create an ad campaign as jarring as this Seinfeld pitch, and that’s really what makes CP&B so great. They’re willing to take these great risks, take all the negative feedback, and then revel in their victory soon after.

So what do you think of the commercial? Good, bad? Let us know in the comments.