Friday, July 17, 2009

Apple to Microsoft: Please stop saying we're expensive on television

By Benedict Wee

We've all seen the snooty "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ads throughout the years where Apple ridiculed Microsoft's operating system for being slow, buggy, virus ridden and not for "creative" people to use.

Well Windows responded in kind by releasing their line of Laptop Hunter ads which showed everyday people searching for a notebook which would fit their budget. Their ads depicted people going into computer shops to compare and browse a range of laptops (including Apple's MacBook, to which they commented were too small and expensive) before arriving at a, surprise, Windows run notebook.



These ads seemed to have worked not because manufacturers are reporting a significant increase in notebook sales, but due to an alleged call by their competitor to quit running the ad as CCO Kevin Turner explains:
And so we've been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? "Oh, I'm looking to spend less than $1,000." Well we'll give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials.

And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey — this is a true story — saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business. (Applause.)

I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, "Is this a joke? Who are you?" Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we're just going to keep running them and running them and running them.
Don't know if the story went exactly as he portrayed but you know who wins when two tech-giants compete for a share in the market, us the consumer.

Source:

No comments:

Post a Comment