Microsoft is telling businesses that are struggling just to keep the lights on, in the context of the global financial crisis, that investing in the right technology might just be the right survival kit to stay afloat in the economic tsunami. Engaging in a, so far one-way, dialog with business customers, Microsoft debuted a new wave of ads under the concept of “It’s everybody’s business.” The digital spots feature audio interviews with top executives in leading companies around the world, and are set up to emphasize technology's role as a solution to business problems.

“The campaign is designed to demonstrate how companies can drive business success by empowering their people with the right technology,” Gayle Troberman, general manager of Microsoft’s Advertising and Customer Engagement Team, explained.

“Microsoft provides a range of technologies for our business customers that allow people to do more — to collaborate more, to innovate faster, to be more efficient. Our first business campaign worked well in getting people to understand what they can do with software, but with this campaign we’re taking that a step further and getting more specific about how the products empower people to make an impact.”

According to Troberman, all the employees of a business are responsible for the company's success, and an influx of the right technology can only enable them to be more productive. Essentially, the Redmond company is telling businesses that, with the right investments, they will end up saving money. Troberman underlined the fact that the new campaign was in fact a way of communicating with business customers, and an attempt to lend a helping hand.

“We think software can provide one of the biggest competitive advantages, and that’s especially critical now when a lot of companies are struggling just to keep the lights on. Investing in the right solutions can help organizations cut costs, improve productivity, fuel innovation, and stay ahead of the competition. Those differentiators become even more important when a company’s customers begin scrutinizing their purchases,” Troberman stated.

Microsoft’s example of using technology to save time and money resides in the actual ads. Produced completely digitally, integrating the interviews over the phone has helped the software giant keep the costs down. “The approach overall gave us great flexibility in terms of how the ads look, how we worked with these partner companies, and the speed at which the whole process came together. It also gives us the agility to adapt as the campaign evolves, and address anything new that comes up during that time. It was apparent right from the start that this approach was really working for us, and we think the ads themselves are very cool,” Troberman added.