Re: Zune TV ads?
A very interesting point. It strengthens the question of how serious MS was about the Zune all along.
If the Zune was to have any chance vs. the iPod, it needed a 100 % clean launch, yet many problems were encountered, even in review units. How could MS have missed this stuff?
I can't help but think that it just wasn't important in the "grand strategy". The Zune wasn't created to compete with the iPod, only to appear to, for some reason. Possibly, it was supposed to fail from the begining.
I've seen lots of Zune spots on tv. Not as much as Apple's "Hi, I'm a Mac" spots but have seen them on tv.
I haven't seen an ad yet, but they seem to have some neat displays at the local stores. Right next to the iPods. I think Microsoft is using their juggernaut entry into this sector just as they did with the XBox. At first, it was the joke when compared to the PS2. They lost TONS of money on the XBox and now look at them. PS3 is the joke right now and XBoxes are selling like mad. In due time, the PS will be with Nintendo...good but not #1 anymore.
I saw the snowboarding commercial last night during Family Guy... totally lame. Trying to be cool with a bunch of teens on a run. Shows them sharing music and kind of implies that they are all listen to the same song streamed from one Zune to the other...
Looks like they had to pull the Zune out of their pockets to change settings...
All I can say is... How long ago did that Burton Jacket come out with the buttons built into the sleeve to control your iPod??
MS is so yesterday...
You can view many of the commercials on youtube.com They are incredibly lame! If Micro$oft really wants the Zune to tank even faster they should start running the commercials in heavy rotation! Even the commercials that try to convey some sense of hipness feel forced and contrived. The commercials are about as hip as Bill Gates himself!
Thanks for letting me know. I'm clearly not in the target demographic for Zune, so I'm not seeing them....
I've seen the ads themselves; I just haven't seen where they are positioning them (i.e., on what TV programs).
Carl
I haven't seen any (NYC, but broadcast channels only), but if I were Microsoft I wouldn't be running these in heavy rotation, either.
The whole "welcome to the social" campaign seems now like a pretty significant misstep, as it focuses on pushing functionality (wifi "squirt your tunes, dude!") and an associated community that aren't yet fully baked.
I wrote up some thoughts on the Zune's launch campaign here if you're interested.
Commenting by HaloScan
