Do TV Ads Sell Macs? Can TV Ads Help Sell PCs?
Who 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.... (excerpted).
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Michael Teuber said:
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!”