Microsoft has released the latest installment of Laptop Hunter, the company’s advertising campaign which endeavors to find customers a laptop that meets their requirements all the while keeping within a certain budget.
This next advert focuses on Giampaulo, a “technically-savvy” young man who seeks portability, battery life and power for under $1,500. Giampaulo eventually settles on a HP (again, really?) with 4 GB of RAM, a GeForce 9600M GT, Windows Vista (Home Premium) and a 500 GB hard drive. Again, the buyer briefly considers an Apple computer before deciding that while the MacBook was “so sexy” he didn’t believe in paying for the brand as opposed to the performance.
This ad addresses the problem I had before (about Lauren visiting the Apple store first) and offers a logical reason for not buying an Apple machine. Giampaulo doesn’t believe in paying a huge price for a certain brand and makes it clear that he doesn’t WANT to buy one, and probably wouldn’t even if he had the money.
Click here to view the commercial on YouTube.
That said, while this ad hits the spot for me with the PC/Mac price argument, I can’t help but notice Microsoft has yet to advertise something manufactured by the company. Sure, point out that Macs are more expensive, and PCs are a much smarter option if you’re working from a specific budget or want something customizable, but if the Microsoft is counting this as part of the same campaign as those Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads (which also didn’t advertise anything), the company is spending $300 million shouting about hardware it can’t lay claim to. Sure, for every PC purchases, the average consumer will purchase a copy of Windows, but if I remember correctly, Microsoft has a new OS in the pipeline, surely it would do well to save its money advertising something it’s spent a lot of time, money and effort in creating?
Keeping the Mac vs. PC arguments to a minimum (if you can), do you think Microsoft would be best off spending its $300 million on products it can actually take credit for or do you think it’s pushing something that will ultimately up the sales of Windows is just smart marketing? Leave your thoughts below.