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Are Microsoft ads are really hurting Apple?
- Thread starter Pika
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i'm sorry but i disagree. they focus on only 1 point, price, and we all know that you get what you pay for
do you have figures to back your claims (in the thread title) or just posting your opinion?
Left over from what? The robbery?
These ads target the the super price conscious, but this is not Apple's demographic, soooo..... doesn't really affect them imo.
Maybe conveying "a" point, and maybe not the one they wanted to convey.
Apple's got time to get some more non- Get a Mac ads out, for all their new hardware, and new OS in few months.
I so agree with you! I enjoy the lil microsoft adventures, microsoft really needed a big come back to apple(meaning the ads) the mac vs pc ads are getting a little old apple really need some fun adverts like the old iPod ones not just some man talking about the features. They need to be creative and fun.
I don't know... but i had a feeling that Microsoft is going to keep making these ads till it really really hurt Apple because they are very very low budget ads. Because they are so low budget, they are going to keep making more... more... more and more till it become an annoyance to the public.
All they do is ask some random people on the street if they want a Laptop for the condition of criticizing MacBooks, get on the TV and support Microsoft for the price of the chosen cheap-o PC Laptop.
Compared to Apple Ads... they probably cost a lot because of the actors... Probably thousands of $. I know Apple isn't going to spend billions just on advertising.
It's just... Microsoft is going to make more ads then Apple's
I hate the car analogies but...
It's like Ford running ads saying you can get a Ford much cheaper than a Mercedes. I'm not saying Apple is Mercedes and Microsoft is Ford, I'm not even saying Mercedes is better than Ford, I'm just saying that Apple's customer base could not care less.
The world is bombarded by Windows, everyone knows you can pick up a PC for hardly anything. People who buy Macs know this, they don't care or they wouldn't buy the computer.
On the other hand, although the Mac gets a ton more exposure than it used to, there are still many people who see it as an alien platform, especially international. People see the ads, the stores, the software, they buy the computers.
Microsoft's ads do nothing to promote their software, they promote hardware they don't even sell on points everyone already knows. Apple's ads promote the software and most importantly, increase awareness.
It's like Ford running ads saying you can get a Ford much cheaper than a Mercedes. I'm not saying Apple is Mercedes and Microsoft is Ford, I'm not even saying Mercedes is better than Ford, I'm just saying that Apple's customer base could not care less.
The world is bombarded by Windows, everyone knows you can pick up a PC for hardly anything. People who buy Macs know this, they don't care or they wouldn't buy the computer.
On the other hand, although the Mac gets a ton more exposure than it used to, there are still many people who see it as an alien platform, especially international. People see the ads, the stores, the software, they buy the computers.
Microsoft's ads do nothing to promote their software, they promote hardware they don't even sell on points everyone already knows. Apple's ads promote the software and most importantly, increase awareness.
They're also focusing on configurations which is where Apple comes up short. You can't get a consumer 15" or 17". If you want those screen sizes, you have to get the absolute top of the line.
What's with the Apple laughing face? It's scare me.
The ads are already an annoyance
As stated before, they really target a different audience than Macs
I see very little impact for the Mac in the long run
And I disagree about the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ads
I still think every one of them is clever and hilarious
Will they eventually run their course? Yes
Will Apple come up with something else that is clever? Yes
Will Microsoft play catch up? Yes
Woof, Woof - Dawg
As stated before, they really target a different audience than Macs
I see very little impact for the Mac in the long run
And I disagree about the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ads
I still think every one of them is clever and hilarious
Will they eventually run their course? Yes
Will Apple come up with something else that is clever? Yes
Will Microsoft play catch up? Yes
Woof, Woof - Dawg
I agree...
This one made me feel really uncomfortable (I didn't feel that way with the other Laptop Hunter ads), and almost felt "nervous". I think it is because of the fast editing and the really quick talking chick...
Yeah, really. It's almost like MS is beating people over the head with stuff they already know.
Everyone that had ever been inside Wal-Mart knows you can a Windows machine on the cheap.
The people looking to buy on price are not going to even consider a Mac, so I don't get why MS feels like it needs to attack Apple on their only perceived weakness - price, which isn't even a weakness at all when you compare machines spec-for-spec.
What about the fact that they are looking at a 13" Dell, but only consider the "twice as much" MBP? The top of the line MB is still within the budget and meets every other need.
They are fighting back in the only ways that really makes sense in a 30 second spot, by comparing the tangibles of HW configs. They are comparing price and by association the configurations of those prices. Apple is just one PC company with a setup like boutique shop. There limited model line is a valid concern for many who would consider a Mac if they could get cheaper HW setups. I don't think their commercials are meant to pull in new customers, but are designed to maintain current customers, especially those on the fence on whether they should a Mac a try despite the higher initial cost for most models. I find that to be a very valid.
Apple hasn't really focused much on the OS side of things with their ads, though they have on their included software and the concerns people have had over Windows "issues". Both are playing the cards they have well.
As for your idea that MS should compete with comparing OS X to Windows I have to assume you are kidding. There is nothing MS could gain and plenty they could lose if they did that. A 60 second commercial could use the first 2 seconds to show you how to take a snapshot of the display and find the image on your desktop, the other 58 seconds would be how to do the same thing in Windows... if you are very fast.
I was just at Best Buy and saw three people leaving with Vista laptops. People believe these lies.
As usual there was no employee at the Apple section. And the computers had no content so you couldn't play with the iLife apps. People come over, take a peek, look at the price and run away.
As usual there was no employee at the Apple section. And the computers had no content so you couldn't play with the iLife apps. People come over, take a peek, look at the price and run away.
Windows market share is, what, 90%? Do you think 3 Vista laptops being sold means that their ads are working and that more Windows laptops are being sold? Do you think those 3 people would have bought macs if it wasn't for these ads?
People who buy macs know very well what they cost and what PCs cost but they buy macs anyway. Even if this ad campaign is very efective at most it will keep people from switching, but the people who like macs will still buy macs.
90% of their stock is Vista machines, so that is no surprise.
For many, that would have happened whether or not there had been any ads at all. Some people are just browsing.
You can't beat a good anecdote.
Microsoft's entire ad campaign seems very short-sighted to me. It's like McDonald's offering 99¢ hamburgers. Sure, more people will be attracted to 99¢ hamburgers in a recession, when they feel a need to watch every dollar, but it's not because they really prefer to eat cheap hamburgers. When the crunch is over and people start feeling better about their economic circumstances, they'll want something better. How is Microsoft's "ours are cheaper!" campaign going to look in 6-12 months, when people starting thinking more about what they really want?
I honestly believe Apple should pull out of BestBuy. The Apple "section" at BestBuy is obviously neglected, with little to no hardware to demonstrate. It simply looks "sad", and that alone sends a negative impression to the buyer (little hardware, not much software, very little applications running on a small plethora of hardware). The "sales associate's" and "Geek Squad" are mainly versed in Windows OS environments (as I work in It as part of my business, years ago I checked out BestBuy as one of my "competitors" and pretended to be a Mac user with system troubles. I asked a few "Geek Squad Agents" questions about Mac - and Windows - they were nothing more than intermediate Windows associates). BestBuy seems more interested in selling their Windows based systems, I wonder if there is more incentive.
Apple should follow their own hardware/software strategy by tightly controlling their sales in Apple stores only. For those who do not live within an Apple store, buy online.
I agree that these ads are biting into Apple. One of the 'myths' about Macs are that they are more expensive than PCs. This simply reinforces it.
The fact is, the vast majority of consumers are not like the people who frequent MR. They don't know much about computers other than processor speed, RAM and hard drive size. In those respects, PCs kill Macs and in our 'cheaper is better' society, MS is winning this fight.
The fact is, the vast majority of consumers are not like the people who frequent MR. They don't know much about computers other than processor speed, RAM and hard drive size. In those respects, PCs kill Macs and in our 'cheaper is better' society, MS is winning this fight.
A lot of you seem to be missing the point. The ads are clearly not intended to convince existing Mac owners to switch. Microsoft doesn't need to do this and the size of the Mac market means that even if it was effective the impact on business would be tiny. Thus, why spend all this money to get very little return?
The people who they are targeting are those who are on the fence or just about to buy a new computer. If you go into "Buying Tips, Advice and Discussion" you will see plenty of examples of people who fit snugly into this category. These are people who perhaps have an iPod or an iPhone and have seen Macs at their local Apple Store when buying their music player. They don't want the latest or greatest computer because they don't need it and they have never known anything other than Windows.
There is also a massive misconception on this forum that Windows is somehow vastly inferior to OS X. I'm quite confident that this comes from either hyperbole spread here by other members or bad experiences in the past.
But we need to remember that it is now 2009. Microsoft has solved almost all of the major problems with their OS. It's pretty funny to hear people here mentioning "BSOD" all the time when in fact I've personally experienced the OS X equivalent "Kernel Panic" far more often.
I've also been using Windows 7 extensively over the past couple of weeks. It's even more stable than Vista and has a few good ideas like Aero Peek and the new task bar. I wish I could say the same about Snow Leopard, which at the moment is looking like it is going to totally bomb when it hits the market. Why are Apple intending to charge customers to fix problems which it created by launching Leopard?
To me, the latest ad is the most effective. People were right to criticise the previous ones because they weren't directly comparable. However, the latest one was. The display was the same size, the processor was the same speed and the same size hard drive and RAM are available. The Dell computer she did buy is also one of the finest examples of hardware design currently available in the Windows market IMO.
She paid $972 and the same spec costs $1774 from Apple. Aside from a few minor aspects like build material and maybe port layout, the two machines are the same. You really have to ask yourself what it is that makes the Apple notebook worth so much more than the Dell. From my experience, it certainly isn't the OS so there must be something I'm missing.
The people who they are targeting are those who are on the fence or just about to buy a new computer. If you go into "Buying Tips, Advice and Discussion" you will see plenty of examples of people who fit snugly into this category. These are people who perhaps have an iPod or an iPhone and have seen Macs at their local Apple Store when buying their music player. They don't want the latest or greatest computer because they don't need it and they have never known anything other than Windows.
There is also a massive misconception on this forum that Windows is somehow vastly inferior to OS X. I'm quite confident that this comes from either hyperbole spread here by other members or bad experiences in the past.
But we need to remember that it is now 2009. Microsoft has solved almost all of the major problems with their OS. It's pretty funny to hear people here mentioning "BSOD" all the time when in fact I've personally experienced the OS X equivalent "Kernel Panic" far more often.
I've also been using Windows 7 extensively over the past couple of weeks. It's even more stable than Vista and has a few good ideas like Aero Peek and the new task bar. I wish I could say the same about Snow Leopard, which at the moment is looking like it is going to totally bomb when it hits the market. Why are Apple intending to charge customers to fix problems which it created by launching Leopard?
To me, the latest ad is the most effective. People were right to criticise the previous ones because they weren't directly comparable. However, the latest one was. The display was the same size, the processor was the same speed and the same size hard drive and RAM are available. The Dell computer she did buy is also one of the finest examples of hardware design currently available in the Windows market IMO.
She paid $972 and the same spec costs $1774 from Apple. Aside from a few minor aspects like build material and maybe port layout, the two machines are the same. You really have to ask yourself what it is that makes the Apple notebook worth so much more than the Dell. From my experience, it certainly isn't the OS so there must be something I'm missing.