How To Dismantle Microsoft's Entire Marketing Campaign

When it comes down to it, whether you hate or love Apple, they have possibly the best marketing team out there. When you enter an Apple Store, it's like walking into some sci-fi set from Blade Runner. Likewise, their ads are always simple, yet effective, and pack a powerful punch. Today, I'll be talking about a specific ad from the "Get a Mac" series, called "Bean Counter".



You've no doubt seen the infamous Get a Mac ads. They're everywhere and have been around since 2006. In fact, the Get a Mac ads were doing such big damage to Microsoft's revenue, M$ had to fire back with an ad campaign of its own. The dubious "Laptop Hunter" ads had average Americans going shopping for a laptop; and of course, they all ended up buying Windows-based laptops over Apple's MacBooks. The idea is that they can find exactly what they want for cheaper than an Apple computer, and in doing so, they get it for free because Microsoft pays them for it. Of course, the ad campaign cost Microsoft over $300 million.

And that's where Apple fires back. I've actually enjoyed the volleying back and forth (though a primary rule in advertising is for the dominant party never to acknowledge the little guy). With a whole slew of new commercials, Apple completely derailed Microsoft's huge ad campaign. The point of the "Bean Counter" ad is that while they're spending millions on fighting Apple's ads, they could be using that money to actually fix the multitude of problems with Vista. In the commercial, PC is played by John Hodgman. He wears a dull suit, big glasses, and reeks of the old past. Mac is played by Justin Long and is young and hip. PC uses his computer for spreadsheets and number-crunching, Mac uses his computer for blogging, web-surfing, making videos, and music.

The stark contrast is what has worked so well for the Get a Mac campaign in the past, and now that Microsoft is actually fighting back, Apple isn't taking it lying down. They've fought back with ads like Bean Counter (above) and Elimination (below). The ads appeal to anyone who has been frustrated with Windows at any point. The one below seems more of a direct attempt to grab new customers, whereas the one above seems solely to be directed at Microsoft in an attempt to piss them off even more and take a dump all over their expensive ad campaign. The demographic I expect to be most influenced by this commercial would be the 18-34 range, since that is the age displayed by the "cool" Mac in the commercial, whereas the PC is older, probably in his 40s or 50s and is "out of touch".

The ads show no signs of slowing down, and I plan on enjoying the back and forth as it escalates. Oh, and here's the "Elimination" ad I mentioned before: