Lots of people that I have a healthy respect for in the advertising world have criticized the new work by Crispin Porter for Microsoft and I can't agree with them. I'm with Grant and Adrian on this one because from what I've seen so far the work achieves two important goals.

 Firstly I like it. Not in a rapturous Gorilla or Monkey kind of way but it's likable and that's not an easy thing to achieve. I've rarely watched Seinfeld even though it's likable and funny content, I'm not a cheerleader for Bill Gates (I think luck was an important factor in his success) and generally I don't find using stars to be a credible route for marketing communications. BBDO starfuckers I think George calls this genre.

 However it's not important what I feel. It's amusing and that is a matter of subjectivity. I'm sure you can make you're own mind up on that.

 More importantly there are a lot of strategic communication problems that are in my eyes being solved by the work I've seen so far. I also think it's kind of interesting that it's quintessentially American advertising and yet there's a Windows Video Channel on Youtube it is universally distributed. A potent communications model for some American centric global brands if you stop to think about it (McDonalds? Nike?). Something along the lines of act local, think global (A word play on an oxymoron I've long disliked). But anyway, Microsoft using a Google owned distribution channel and not their own? Even Soapbox points towards the Youtube content. That says a lot to me after a chat with Geert in LA a couple of months ago where it was pointed out to me that use of non MS software is/was often frowned upon.

 I think it's only the commercially naive who could believe that communications can solve the Microsoft problem. The job of advertising here is to ameliorate the rising dissatisfaction with the brand and possibly communicate that Microsoft is determined to get closer to its customers through more down to earth and likable dialogue; for surely even monologue commercials such as this provoke a discourse that was seldom seen in the fifities when advertising took hold. Look, even I'm doing it. It's the internet you see!

 Back to the problem. What is Microsofts problem? Why is one of the most succesful companies on the planet in trouble. Simply put the operating system is unwieldy. If you pay a army of coders to improve stuff, they will invariably make additional stuff that isn't needed. It's called feature creep and is a recurring problem with technology associated designers. Reliability is also an issue when it comes to discussions of unwieldiness. The bigger the system the more opportunities there are for the system to break down and that is often the case with Microsoft. That's their core problem but the immediate emotional problem is they are increasingly unliked.

 I've recently made the transition from Microsoft to Apple and I couldn't be more delighted with the results but it doesn't mean that I'm blind to the advantages of the de facto operating system of the world. Without Microsoft I'm not even sure Apple would be as good as they are. Who knows? Nobody can prove stuff like that anyway. It's all theoretical. But in any case maybe you can take a look at the first piece of content I saw, liked and decided to write about. It's not revolutionary, but then neither is Microsoft anymore.

 Just off the top of my head I think shopping in the budget shoe store is strategically right for Microsoft. The future for the brand is one of lower entry and upgrade cost for the average user. Apple is still one of the most profitable brands on the planet because it charges a lot more. A sitcom genre is just right for mainstream America as primary customer segment (with Mexican family making a first sensible guest appearance - California is majority Latino in 10 or so years) but also for the wider world. A sitcom is quintessentially American. It's likeable, funny, comforting and about as far removed from excessive oil, corporate greed, dirty politics and war as one could wish to hope for. In short it's the best of America, and I don't even watch them so this is not a fanboy's perspective.

Seinfeld is an excellent pick.


 Microsoft is simply never ever going to be hip and so this is a mainstream ad - Any hint of hipness and the same critics calling for Crispin's blood would be accusing the brand of unreal aspirations or tonality fumbles . Think General Motors over Toyota Prius and a profile of the customer is conjured up pretty quickly. This is a comfortable way to get to know Bill Gates, a man rarely associated with humour and love him or loathe him, he comes across as likeable, keen to be liked and not without a sense of humour. I'll leave you with the lastest segment that I've only seen while writing this article and frankly I think it's close to brilliant in that way that American sitcom writers are the best in the world at. I've laughed out loud while eating in an upscale restaurant in Beijing with my fellow late afternoon diners enjoying my mirth and while I'm not prepared to go back to Windows (Indeed my next move is likely to be Linux) I'm more inclined to cut Bill Gates some slack the next time I'm sat in front of a Microsoft product running on a computer (highly likely). And maybe that's the point, maybe it's about stopping the hate and giving one of the most remarkable people (faults and all) in the history of commerce and technology some room to manouevre. I know I will. What do you think? Do you really still hate Microsoft more after watching this?

Depressing really, but I did score some amazing vintage magazines which I don't really have enough space to carry back to China ,although if anyone is interested I can buy up the rest next week and ship 'em somewhere, where they will be appreciated because I was the only person interested in them given that most of the people ambling around the car park were of Vietnamese or Mexican extraction. These printed products kind of reminded me of the Ephemera Society fair that I attended with Charlie some time back last year.

Lastly a bit of advertising as all the items I bought are chock full of ads that are so good. I particularly liked this one because I'm staying with a friend who was partly responsible for hiring of Crispin Porter while at VW and developed with CP&B a campaign which is strictly speaking so on brand all these years later from the above quintessential Bernbach days of DDB and Volkswagen. See below.

I pretty much owe my discovery of planner blogs to PSFK some time ago when my back was against the wall looking for trends in of all places Korea. If it hadn't been for their generous linking to other blogs I'd have never discovered the best blog ever and also picked up on some of the themes that I've always held close but had never really found likeminds with which to share ideas and discuss. PSFK began 2007 with a conference on trends and inspiration in New York, and then followed up with a mid year gig in London which I attended and wrote about. They are now kicking off again with a top lineup of presenters and panel discussion in LA on September 18 next month.

Readers of this blog have been offered a 50% discount to attend which is only available for a short while and I'd recommend any folk who are in that neck of the woods to take advantage of this while it lasts. So without further ado here's the link and I'm pleased to highlight that Piers has also invited some provocative speakers such as Missy from Suicide Girls who is going to talk about her alt.porn empire and Blair Witch creator Mike Monello among others. There's more details here if you cant book in time to take advantage of the discount because its still worth going.

I'm confident that this conference which is already garnering attention for snipping out the word marketing will be cut from the same cloth as the London gig in June which was a definite taste of where our business is shifting - because shifting it is. I'd love go again (and I may still depending on scheduling) if only to see George Parker speak because I'm increasingly convinced that he's the new sage of Idaho after being the first to call out Crispin Porter on their recently canned Man Laws and Orville Redenbacher campaigns. He was the first and I think the only industry person who had the balls to say it wouldn't work without going anywhere near a focus group or pretesting results.