B-school Lessons... Lost!

One of the first lessons taught in business school is the need to differentiate your product from the competition, no matter which market is involved. Maybe in dealing with some of the purest of commodities (oil, coal, gold), it doesn't matter quite so much, but any service or finished product, it's absolutely vital. It's not enough to set up shop next to the competition and jump up and down (figuratively) saying, "Me Too! Me Too!" To even survive in a crowded marketplace, a business needs some discernable competitive advantage to stand out.

That discernable competitive advantage could be a superior physical location for a bricks-and-mortar business. It could be simply reaching the marketplace first (the golden "First to Market" rule) with a new product or service. A company can rightfully compete on price, quality, or service. Advertising can help to build a brand name and set a company apart from the competition. I should amend that statement to say that superior advertising and marketing can create value in the brand itself.

Microsoft obviously didn't learn that lesson from b-school. I know, I know... Bill Gates is a college dropout who obviously didn't need to learn at the feet of others to become a super mogul in business. While his business acumen in capturing and dominating the global operating system software market is unrivaled, he simply needs to stop appearing in these strange, unfunny, and obtuse ads with Jerry Seinfeld.

Now, I loved the Seinfeld TV show. I loved its premise: "It's a show... about nothing!" I loved the entire episodes spent waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, or walking through the parking garage looking for their car. Those were sublime, funny, and often brilliant! However, I have seen people post comments about these Seinfeld-Gates ads from Microsoft saying that the ads are also about nothing. And that couldn't be further from the truth.

Microsoft is trying to soften its image, which is a worthy goal. People have railed against the Microsoft operating systems ever since they bought DOS from Seattle Computer Products.* Getting people to like Windows is a tall task, and could be helped with the use of humor. Self-referential and self-deprecating humor is usually accepted well in advertising, as evidenced by the gentle aw-shucks mocking of Dave Thomas in all those Wendy's ads while he was still alive.

*Aside: I wonder if they regret selling their code to Microsoft? The $75,000 they received from Microsoft for the rights to the DOS source code in 1980 and '81 would be worth $180,764 in today's terms, strictly adjusted for CPI inflation.

However, trying to go head-to-head against the advertising phenomenon that is the "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" campaign (officially known as the "Get a Mac" campaign) Apple is running is the advertising equivalent of the "Me Too! Me Too!" statement. It's not smart advertising, the commercials are not funny, and it only hurts Microsoft's image. The ads don't provide any reason to like Windows, and there's no increased justification to purchase Windows. Talk about missing the mark on advertising! "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" is now about as ubiquitous and memorable as the "Tastes great, Less filling" ads were for Miller Lite in the 70s and 80s. With the Seinfeld-Gates ads, the viewer can only wonder: "WTF?!"

Watch for yourself: