Microsoft's new Surface ads still focus too much on the Mac
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Microsoft’s pair of new Surface ads are beautiful things. The minute I clicked play on the YouTube Windows, I was instantly transported back to 2012 where Microsoft had just released the Surface RT. To push those devices, the firm’s marketing department came up with a terrible, dancing adverts for the Surface RT. I suspect not only did those ads contribute to the lack of uptake of the Surface RT by being annoying in general, but they may have turned users off the Surface brand for a while.
To recapture some of that failed product nostalgia, Microsoft’s Surface marketing theme has created two awful, musical ads for the Surface Pro 4 and uploaded them to YouTube.
Check them out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJAKqaC1ysQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiLSYGuUWkw
For those who can’t be bothered to watch the video, Microsoft’s Surface is advertised by a singing man, who sings the features of the Surface to unsuspecting customers who somehow aren’t freaked out or even slightly perturbed about this strange man singing at them.
Both ads feature Apple’s Mac being used as a point of comparison with the Surface, with Microsoft noting the lack of touch screens, pen and ink support as well as the low-res screens on the MacBook Air.
Personally, I think Microsoft’s Surface Brand is now strong enough to not only stand on its own but to be used as a point of comparison with other products.
Microsoft’s incessant advertising of the MacBook Air and Pro effectively ends up portraying the Surface brand as subservient to Apple’s devices.
Sure Microsoft is trying to sell you on the power of its products, but if someone can’t see the point of a touchscreen, or wonders why one would want to use a pen on a Surface-type device, then perhaps Microsoft should explain that instead of prompting those users to think about Apple’s laptops. At this rate, Apple probably won’t have to make another Mac ad while the Surface brand exists, Microsoft’ll do it for free.
