Monday, December 24, 2012

Ken Segall succinctly articulates my thoughts on the Surface ad campaign

Ken Segall, over on his blog wrote a piece on the Microsoft Surface ad campaign that captures both my initial and now reaffirmed reaction to the campaign. In my opinion, the tactile "Click" sound is an anachronism in this age of touch surfaces and keyboards. When was the last time you "Clicked in" to anything? Even car doors, especially those of the luxury brands, are doing away with the click sound. Why not showcase the key differentiating features of the device? To quote Ken,
Assuming that any or all of these features are enough to do battle with the titans of tablets (iPad and Android), you might expect to see mention of them in Surface advertising.

Not really.

Instead, Microsoft has opted for the gimmick.It seems that Surface makes an audible click when you attach the keyboard/cover to the tablet. And along the way, someone decided that the click would make a nice “hook” for the campaign. That led to a launch commercial based entirely on the click.
Puneet, my partner in crime, liked the commercial because it had a catchy soundtrack and piqued her curiosity sufficiently for her to want to try one out at one of the many Microsoft stores. Sorry, I couldn't resist that bit of sarcasm. We live in New Jersey, known by many as the Mall capital of the World. Yes, even Minneapolis does not have as many malls or mall-rats as New Jersey does. In the great Bergen County of NJ that boasts 6 malls, there is only one Microsoft pop-up store. In contrast, there are about 3 Apple stores around these parts. Microsoft's retail unit does not recognize the extreme buying power of this county where most retail purchases are in cash. I have seen customers buy a new MacBook Pro in cold, hard cash. Only in Bergen County!

Back to the Microsoft campaign then. Maybe there are two (2) classes of viewers then. The kind that have flipped the bit on Microsoft and look at all of its advertising with a toxic eye. The other kind that see merit in their advertising. Ken and I are clearly in the first camp. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the second camp relies on the reviews and the perspectives that folks in the first camp tend to espouse. This my friends is the reason why no one is buying the Microsoft Surface despite its potential merits and "appealing" advertising campaign.

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