14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has reportedly placed a booth outside the Apple Store, Bullring, Birmingham, England, allowing users to record their own "I'm a PC" video to contribute to the company's ad campaign. Microsoft's goal is to counter what it believes is a stereotype of Windows Vista.
The picture in question was submitted to AppleInsider by reader Tom, and it shows a large Microsoft-branded kiosk placed right outside one of Birmingham's Apple retail stores based in the Bullring shopping center. Not only does Microsoft encourage folks to feature their own PC story adding a personal touch and segment to its expensive ad campaign, but three Microsoft employees will attempt to turn patrons off from the Mac, the reader said.
Speaking during the keynote address at Microsoft's annual Worldwide Partner Conference, Brad Brooks, Microsoft's VP of Windows Vista consumer marketing, disclosed the company's plans to counter Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads. The campaign was then called "Free the People," and referred to making computing solutions available for everyone, under any form. Proving it was dead serious about its counteroffensive of Apple, the Redmond software giant hired famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld to be the image of its ad campaign dubbed "Windows, Not Walls." Later, Microsoft had a change in priorities with the new ad campaign, and switched to a more personal approach.
At the same time, Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President, Online Services & Windows Business Group, added that, with the new ad campaign kicking off, Microsoft was “enabling every PC user to upload their own I’m a PC spot.” Veghte explained that the company would publish the home-made materials and amplify them on the official Windows website. “We’ll do better than that,” Veghte added. “We’ll publish some of those I’m a PC spots in places like digital billboards in Times Square.” The company said nothing about actually limiting the entrance space to an Apple Store using campaign kiosks.
What are your impressions on Microsoft's approach?