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Do TV Ads Sell Macs? Can TV Ads Help Sell PCs?

PCWho among us would not argue that a little competition is good for the soul and for customers? Apple competes against Microsoft and PC makers.

Highly visible in the US are Apple’s now famous, “Hi, I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” television commercials. The result of this multi-year campaign is that Mac sales are on fire and market share is exploding. How did Microsoft respond?

For years, the Windows maker didn’t respond. Recently the company introduced a few television commercials starring long-time Mac user Jerry Seinfeld, the master of nothing, and Microsoft honcho Bill Gates.

The TV commercials were about nothing, certainly not Windows or PCs. Some thought the first commercial, about Gates buying shoes, was a little too gay.

Microsoft’s new round of commercials, part of a $300-million campaign to pump air into Windows Vista, are more attractive, yet a direct counter to Apple’s highly successful “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials.

In fact, each commercial starts off with a white screen background and a frumpy “I’m a PC” John Hodgeman look alike who says, “I’m a PC.” The commercials then have self introductions from dozens of PC users, all proclaiming, “I’m a PC.”

This round of commercials is well done and appears to be a good, though non-comedic, come back to Apple’s television commercials. PC users will certainly be able to identify with the varied PC users, and relate the “I’m a PC” monicker to Apple’s successful ads.

The question remains the same. Do Apple’s television commercials work? Do they ultimately sell more ads? Or, are the ads merely entertaining?

It’s hard to argue with Apple’s Mac successes recently. Mac market share is up substantially, now pushing double digits and just a few points away from Apple’s all time high market share from the early 1990s.

Even more impressive is Apple’s market share for Macs in the $1,000 and above category, since Apple only sells the Mac mini in the sub-$1,000 segment.

Will Microsoft’s new “I’m a PC” television commercials help blunt Apple’s attacks against the PC? Will they sell more Windows, or simply polish up Vista’s already tarnished reputation as the biggest Microsoft dud since Windows ME?

What do you think? Will these commercials help Microsoft to stop Apple’s gains? Take a look at one of Microsoft’s television commercials below, and share your perspective in the Comments section.

Off Topic Note: I’ve updated the Mac360 Store with over 100 new categories—More Macs, more iPods, more Mac books, more software. Click Here and select any category for more detail, or use the handy search function. Whenever you buy from Amazon through the Mac360 Store you help support Mac360. Finally, what is it about her Mac that caught Kate MacKenzie’s hair on fire? Somehow or another she fell out of love with her Mac and rushed into the arms of Windows Vista. Read the details about her American Tragedy.

Click Here to view this article and reader commentary in the Mac360 Forums.

   • Article by Ron McElfresh • Published on Friday, September 19, 2008
   • Category: Daily Topics • 1 Reader comment(s) • Email This • Digg This • Shop Now
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Readers Talk Back:
Michael Teuber says:

Microsoft has been reduced to the level of a special interest demagogue. The ‘I’m a PC’ ad has the arc of a political smear.

First establish that the identity of your audience is in question. “I’ve been made into a stereotype.“ While this is just untrue, Hodgeman’s character is an anthropomorphism not a stereotype, the lie is needed to shift the context from criticism of an inanimate object to a question of personal identity; the users’.

Second establish the vulnerable point in the targets self-esteem.  “I am not what most people would call hip.“ While I have no idea what that objectively has to do with being a ‘PC’, it focuses attention on the insecurity many feel about how socially accepted they are, and lays the groundwork for suggesting a source of attack on that vulnerability.

Third insinuate specific, concrete attacks on personal self worth. “I wear glasses” from three different ‘PC’s’. Now nowhere have PC users been attacked for wearing spectacles, but the implication is clear, your perceived worth is under assault. “People like us wear glasses, people like us are stereotyped as not hip.“

The “I wear jeans” (‘I’m cool, no really’) and “I have a beard” (just bizarre) elements aren’t as strong but lead into the next phase.

Fourth present a palliative associated with PCs. “I have three rings” and “I have one ring” seem ridiculously unrelated to any advantage to be gained by using a PC. Did the PC bat for the baseball player, did the woman in the lounge chair get her husband on an internet dating service? But wait, they are PCs and you as the target audience, you use PCs, you can feel validated by their accomplishments!

Finally present yourself as the champion of the injured identity. Poor fools buy Windows boxes and give money to Microsoft to feel better about themselves. “Take that Apple! Microsoft doesn’t hate me because I am nearsighted! Here $51 billion company take my discretionary income!“

   — Posted on Sat Sep 20 at 3:11 am by Michael Teuber

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