8 ms·
They have a video on the main page. The video is a minute long. They have asked for my attention for a minute. In that minute, they have not told me anything
by MrFoof 14y ago
They have a video on the main page. The video is a minute long. They have asked for my attention for a minute.
In that minute, they have not told me anything about what the Surface can do for me, and why I should care about it. I'm absolutely baffled by that.
Yes, I might know what it is, and have some idea about what it can do, but if this was a television commercial, I'd bet money that such a campaign would be a quickly forgotten failure.
- shashashasha 14y agoReally surprised by the really clashing tones of their website (Apple, consumer, colors): http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/default.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/default.aspx And that minute long video, which screams Dudes, Droids, and ferrofluids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo&feature=playe...
- DeepDuh 14y agoWell, Microsoft's marketing was never really known for consistency, was it? Compare it to this IE9 ad for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFE4rkSaKOY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFE4rkSaKOY. Imagine an average consumer seeing these ads and then he sees this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86LxStLXrf4&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86LxStLXrf4&feature=relmf.... Which one do you think he will understand? To which can he relate more? (Btw. I don't say iCloud is good. Microsofts Skydrive on win8 (or whatever they're calling their cloud offerings now, I really don't have an overview anymore) seems quite compelling - but it seems to me like they can't really communicate well enough what it does.)
- stusmith1977 14y agoIt's a shame the website had a white background, and the video had a black background. The borderless, chromeless video could have looked awesome if it had the same background color as the webpage itself - it would have merged in nicely. Instead the video stood out as a black box - it looked a little incongrous just 'stuck there' in the middle of the page.
- planetguy 14y agoI watched it and it did tell me one thing: it's a bit like an iPad but it comes with a cover that's also a keyboard. And that's probably going to be the big selling point. "It's a bit like an iPad, but it comes with a cover that's also a keyboard".
- liamondrop 14y agoI think the correct play here is for Microsoft to start selling keyboard covers for the iPad.
- yottabyte47 14y agoI noticed that as well. Us geeks know what it is but non-geeks are probably like, 'Is that a new iPad?' Contrast with Apple's iPad ads that show 'real' people actually doing things with the device.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- MatthewPhillips 14y agoYouTube to the rescue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo&feature=playe...
- harisenbon 14y agoI thought a similar thing -- too much heavy BGM and no idea what the balls have to do with the tablet itself. However, as far as giving information about the product, I don't think it was too bad. Features from the video: * Cover is a keyboard on the back * Cover is removable, and comes in many colors * Kickstand on the back * A little thicker than a USB plug
- WrkInProgress 14y agoMaybe this is just a teaser video. It certainly seems that way. They are revealing the product right now ..... Look at the video they have for the consumer preview of Windows 8 ... it's more in the vein of what you are talking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM5pFkNQ7no&feature=plcp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM5pFkNQ7no&feature=plcp
- UnFleshedOne 14y agoDefinitely a teaser. I keep replaying it just for the music and I actually want one now, even though I don't have a use for a tablet. If anything can move me to buy a gadget I don't need it is a video like that. (especially if they guarantee kickstart on the back making that metallic sound :D)
- MrFoof 14y agoIf General Motors aired a commercial showing a stationary car, and some bouncing objects, my default reaction is not to go to a Chevrolet dealer to ask further questions. My default reaction is probably a non-reaction, which is to quickly forget what I just saw -- or more accurately, what I didn't see. Come to think of it, perhaps General Motors is using a similar ad agency?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_OfzaZcz9Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_OfzaZcz9Q
- seanmcdirmid 14y agoDoes anyone remember Nissan's initial Infinity commercials? It was just scenery and nature; no car shown at all.
- lunchbox 14y agoThat's a misleading analogy. Microsoft's goal here is not to get you to visit a Microsoft store, since the device won't come out for months anyway. This is the first step in a months-long marketing campaign leading up to launch. The goal is not to convey information, but rather to form an emotional bond, whether conscious or subconscious.
- tempuser007 14y agoShut up and take my money ! live.theverge.com/microsoft-live-blog-tablet-announcement/ After you see the details, you can't but meditate.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- nilsbunger 14y agoThey are letting Apple define what a tablet does, then adding "ps. it has a keyboard in cool colors". MSFT should be able to do better and show the kinds of things we can do with this that would get us excited.
- fluidcruft 14y agoHonestly (and I think I represent a certain segment here--the people that really are interested in a tablet but have to deal with Office and other Windows-shackled things) all they need to show is "Hey it's an iPod + Office so you can do your damn work sometimes without always lugging your laptop about". For the people that understand this, that's implied by the Windows logo. The closest I got to settling on an iPod/Android tablet was when OnLive came into existence. Partly, if I could just use OnLive from my linux workstation, I'd almost reach nerdvana and I wouldn't need my netbook for the windows anchorware. But I still sometimes need/enjoy thinking by scribbling with a pen on paper and I want a device for that. Smearing fingers doesn't cut it.
- greedo 14y agoI wonder how large the market is for buyers with this sentiment. I believe that part of the appeal of the iPad (and iOS) is that it's not Windows on a tablet, but instead, a more intuitive computing experience. One of the executives in my company was using Citrix on his iPad. He kept expecting the Citrix app to be, well, more app like. Instead he was stuck using a Windows application published by our Citrix farm on a touch interface. It wasn't a good experience, and now we're investigating converting a lot of our in house applications to iOS etc. Now the Windows administrators? They're all over this type of thing, though they would never give up their workstations.
- Ecio78 14y agoAnd do you think it makes sense to convert "a lot of our in house applications to iOS" because "one of the executives" hadn't a "good experience"? I hope the investigation will take into account the costs and the benefits (benefits other than making this executive happy with his iPad, i mean) I'm not criticizing you, this sh*t happens to me every time too... (executives that want toys etc..)
- noonespecial 14y agoYou got more than I did. I got slugged in the face by a demand for a silverlight update and then my browser crashed and I lost all my open tabs. I hate that.
- deltazero 14y agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJxkZWVBs48 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJxkZWVBs48
- noonespecial 14y agoThanks. Seriously. How hard was that? I have to do a browser plugin upgrade just to watch and ad?! The whole ship is made of fail.
- barista 14y agoI assume your browser came integrated with adobe flash
- kristofferR 14y agoChrome actually does.
- cubicle67 14y agono flash here and it (yt link) played fine edit: no flash or silverlight, and yet both the MS video and the youtube one play fine
- cbr 14y agoFor me (chrome on osx) it just started with youtube.
- eupharis 14y agoThank you kindly for the link good sir! And thank goodness a technologically competent company is hosting the advertising for this new technological product. Such hosting is apparently beyond the technological capabilities of the maker of said product. Edit: Ok all snark aside, this looks a pretty freaking cool piece of hardware. Still, the website being off-and-on down on launch day is pretty facepalm.
- zaptheimpaler 14y agoand the video is a youtube embed.. you'd think microsoft would bother hosting the video on its own server when this is the centerpiece of the page announcing a completely new product.
- slig 14y agoMaybe they get a shit ton of impressions on YT, they get to be on the trending videos, first on YT search, etc.
- JumpCrisscross 14y agoThis is the Macbook Pro w/ Retina Display TV ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFIHewtEuJQ&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFIHewtEuJQ&feature=relmf.... It seems like Microsoft is figuring out that heart sells harder than specs.
- ricardobeat 14y agoThat MBP ad shows the user editing photos, sending e-mail, editing videos, viewing photos, using swipe gestures, etc. They are not the least alike.
- rbanffy 14y agoWhat got me is the narrator. Eerily like Kevin Costner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2A0LybwPA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2A0LybwPA
- snowwrestler 14y agoThe Macbook Pro narrator is Peter Coyote, who also narrated Ken Burns' National Parks documentary on PBS.
- rbanffy 14y agoThanks. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't identify it.
- commieneko 14y agoWhat I got was mercury, dust/particulates, fractured minerals, and the sense of invasive magnetic fields. I think they were going for power and ... something. Instead I get toxicity, contamination, brittleness.
- adriand 14y agoYou're right. Where Apple tends to emphasize family, connectedness, ease of use, utility, and general happiness, Microsoft has chosen to emphasize technology in a harsh, dominant manner that reminds me of the Borg.
- commieneko 14y agoThe imagery is amazingly negative and oppressive. Especially considering the market they are trying to sell into. The most positive aspect (?) to it is maybe the sense of dominating as opposed to being dominated. Definitely doesn't make me want to buy one for a child or other family member. Edit: I could see an image piece like this working as part of an XBox or game machine marketing. But seriously, the thing it makes me think of is a hypothetical Ridely Scott version of The Andromeda Strain.
- uvTwitch 14y agoMicrosoft's traditional core market has been the enterprise, to which Borg Marketing is perfectly suited.
- niels_olson 14y agoThere are books worth of insight behind your comment. Why, IT, why u no let us have beauty in our work?
- qxcv 14y agoBeauty != profit. If it makes people productive enough to offset the additional purchase cost (and then some), then I'm sure businesses would consider purchasing prettier devices.
- lunchbox 14y agoSuccessful companies have learned that a (shockingly) large proportion of consumers form impressions and make decisions on a primarily emotional, rather than rational or practical, basis. That's what this video is designed for. It inaugurates the brand, piques the viewer's interest, and plants the seeds of desire. Trust me, there will be plenty of time in the coming months for in-depth product reviews, spec comparisons, etc. ad nauseam.
- podperson 14y agoReally, you think that the video succeeds on that level? I think there's about 10s worth of content there.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- dorian-graph 14y agoDon't pretend you're the world.
- calinet6 14y agoNonsense. You don't need you be the world, you just need to understand it.
- raganwald 14y agoOk, your argument is that this stuff works for the other 95% but it won’t appeal to us hackers. My question to you is, how does Apple make ads that appeal to the rest of the world and something like 75% of the hackers? When the iPhone first came out, there was no nonsense about the brand and emotion without substance. They made EVERYONE want one. Microsoft may have chosen not to appeal to us. But Apple has shown that you can do both.
- lunchbox 14y ago> Ok, your argument is that this stuff works for the other 95% but it won’t appeal to us hackers. My question to you is, how does Apple make ads that appeal to the rest of the world and something like 75% of the hackers? Asking that question is like asking an Olympic sprinter why he can't be as fast as Usain Bolt, or scolding a successful musician for not selling as many records as Lady Gaga. Compared to Apple, pretty much every company sucks at marketing. So what? Apple is an extreme outlier in its PR success, owing to a number of unique factors other companies cannot realistically replicate. How would you answer your own question? Do you think there's a simple solution Microsoft hasn't figured out?
- NTH 14y agoRemember the original iPod commercials? They were completely devoid of "meaningful content"; it was just people dancing. Consumers went apeshit for it.
- thrownaway2424 14y agoThat was not the "original iPod commercial" that was an early iTunes-era iPod commercial. The original iPod pitch was "1000 songs in your pocket" which was great copy and got right to the point.
- discordance 14y agoAt least there was some convergence with the theme of music and enjoyment. The Microsoft ad is pretty abstract. Reminds me of the Mr. Plow ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTY5EKN6bzM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTY5EKN6bzM