Survey Says Microsoft Winning Mac vs. PC Battle

Laptop hunters is having an effect!

By now we’re very well acquainted with the back and forth game that Apple and Microsoft play with their television ads.

Apple’s ran those “I’m a Mac” ads for years, which hopes to convince the customer that Macs are cool and easy to use, while PCs are for boring accountants who like being riddled with computer problems.

After years of that, Microsoft recently launched a reported $300 million ad campaign that includes the Laptop Hunters television commercial series. The Laptop Hunters series shows fictional – but somewhat realistic – shoppers looking for a notebook. The running theme in each ad is that the MacBook is too expensive and the PC is the better buy.

Those ads are working.

At least that’s the findings of a study done by BrandIndex, who asked 5,000 people whether or not they believe they get good value for their money from a PC or Mac.

Apple had its highest BrandIndex rating in late winter, according to Ad Age, with a score of 70 on a scale of -100 to 100 (zero means neutral). Apple today sits at a much lower rating of 12.4.

Microsoft sat near zero in early February to a value-perception score of 46.2 presently, noted the report.

The shifts found by BrandIndex in value-perception are interesting in that Apple fell as Microsoft rose. Could this be attributed to Laptop Hunters? Perhaps, which also strikes at a particularly price-sensitive time in the consumer market.