New Microsoft commercial, featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates

[Asher]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Found the original Wall Street Journal article for you, Asher.

Thanks. Someone let me know when we find out if the $10M quote was for potential earnings assuming a full series.

It sounds to me like a wishywashy number coupled with assumptions the WSJ didn't enumerate. I wouldn't be surprised if the figure was something like $1M/commercial for up to 10 commercials.

That WSJ article also mentions the new slogan in the new commercials. Which indicates the new commercials have been long-since planned...

[-Jrabbit]

The messaging was clearly planned long ago. But I think it's clear that there's been some course-correction.

[Ming]

Yes... I'm sure they "thought" they had a long term plan in place for proper messaging. And in the long run, they will stick with it. They've invested alot already, and will stay the course.

And, I'm also sure they expected some fall out from the first two ads. However, based on this course-correction, I would have to guess that the response they got isn't what they originally expected. While they did succeed in getting attention, and plenty of free play of their ads online, it seems the public isn't reacting like they thought. (typical ivory tower admen)

I would love to be a fly on the wall in the conferences rooms where they are discussing this

[Alinestra Covelia]

I actually did like the old MS ads quite a bit. The ones where they looked at kids in various household and school situations and then chalked in various ambitious futures for them.

I'm surprised that SNL didn't do a spoof though. It seemed like it practically begged for a satire where kids in some podunk school got chalked-in futures working at Wal-Mart or hustling the streets for money.

...

Not that I'd promote doing either.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Interesting:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10045384-56.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Despite some reports to the contrary, Brooks insists the plan was always to shift away from the Seinfeld-centered ads. He said that the company did not film any other spots with Seinfeld.

That is consistent with what Brooks told me in an initial conversation a couple weeks ago, though I must say the shift in conversation seems quite abrupt with little connection between the first ads and the new pitch.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Ming
I would love to be a fly on the wall in the conferences rooms where they are discussing this*

*because you would be making a very large paycheck if you were on the ad team that had the MS account

[Asher]

Soooo..the new commercial: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/def...px?icid=winvan

I think it's obvious they weren't short in the last week (given how diverse and how many different shots there were). So the people claiming this is a sudden change (Seinfeld was "fired") were obviously wrong.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's a great spin on the Mac ads, putting a real face on "I'm a PC" and saying we are not a stereotype. Bravo.

I'll embed 'em:

[Ming]

Originally posted by Asher
I think it's obvious they weren't short in the last week (given how diverse and how many different shots there were). So the people claiming this is a sudden change (Seinfeld was "fired") were obviously wrong.

You never know...
It's very possible they had additional Bill/Jerry commercials ready to go, and decided to move to phase two earlier than planned due to the response to the ads.

It's also possible they had intended to use Jerry in the new campaign as well, and then decided to edit him out.

You are right that there is a long lead time required to get a commercial on the air. But that is the time required for casting, scripting, approvals and filming.
However, heavy editing can be done in short order once the film is in the can. This type of "course correction" happens often depending on reactions and research.

So, since we know we can't really expect the truth out of them... we will never know for sure if this is indeed how they expected this campaign to play out, or whether they have made BIG changes.

[Asher]

Either way the original commercials got lots of viewerships and positively affected their image, and the new commercials are even better. So I'm not sure why people like Agathon are continuing to ***** about the campaign.

[Colon™]

I want to see more Bill/Jerry ads.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

they were actually great, so that there are no more, but perhaps they are after this reaction, so there might be some more in the furure

[-Jrabbit]

This is what MS should have been doing for at least the past 2 years.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Colon™
I want to see more Bill/Jerry ads.

He may come back later. He's around for the future. Maybe the last one or two commericials will be Bill/Jerry.

[Kidlicious]

You're all on crack. Jerry's never going to do more of those commercials. They suck.