Microsoft Begins Windows Phone 7 Ad Push
By Ed Oswald | Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Microsoft is beginning its advertising push for Windows Phone 7, and its first ad conjures up imagery of Lawrence of Arabia (heck, it WAS shown before a screening of the flick in London so take it as you will). As the phone appears out of the haze of the desert, a message appears in an Arabic-looking font stating “The Revolution is Coming.”
What do you think of this first ad for WP7? Feeling hyped about this yet?
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16 Comments For This Post
September 7th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
does Microsoft really want to be remembered as the richest company with the worst ads?
September 7th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
wow… that was terrible.
September 7th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
As expected more of the same from Redmond!
September 7th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
An incredibly weird ad. The message is lame and I don't see what the ad has to do with the product, the brand or technology for that matter. I guess the only thing they can be commended on is the fact that their ad will be remembered – albeit for the wrong reasons.
September 7th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
They should've used the drum sequence at the beginning of "Also Sprach Zarathrustra" and an ape throwing a thigh bone into the air…with it coming back down as a phone. But then, obviously, that would've been ridiculed as "If you're an ape, use WinPhone!" But it would've worked for me… (The Arab tie-in just doesn't work for me. Esp. in this time of anti-Arab sentiments…)
September 7th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Terrible ad.
September 7th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Microsoft has generally done poor of marketing. Reminds me of a video I watched my freshmen year in college about Jack Daniels; despite the fact they do everything contrary to "good" marketing, they're still successful. Either way, I can't wait for Windows Phone 7 to come out. 🙂
September 7th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
This shows everything that is wrong with Microsoft.
Revolution? They are the last company to get revolution from, and their customers don't even want it. The revolution in phones happened in 2007 and we all know who it came from, and it was the anti-Microsoft. The full-face touchscreen phone in this ad is not the first full-face touchscreen. By pretending this is a revolutionary device they just remind us that it can't possibly be. It is a copy of an iPhone that does not even have all of the original 2007 features. For example, there is no HTML5 browser.
The device is turned off. I know they've been gone from the mobile market for many years now, but it's standard to show the device in actual use, since all of the buttons and functionality takes place within the screen. Apple's ads in 2007 established this, then proved it compared to Palm's ads in 2008, and Droid ads followed in 2009, and now BlackBerry in 2010. The equivalent of this Microsoft ad in a car ad would be to show a nondescript close up of the door handle that could be from any car. Turning the device on would be like showing the whole car, and showing a hand using the device would be the equivalent of showing the car driving on a highway.
The ad is in the future tense. Another empty promise from Microsoft to go with all the others. Shut up and ship! Things are always coming from Microsoft but never actually arriving.
Disaster. Complete disaster. It's the KIN 3.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
wow you guys are harsh. I thought it was creative.. microsoft needs to do all it can to build hype for this. I just hope its worth the hype they're giving it. Many are saying its a step in the right direction though.
September 9th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Creative, Ed? How? How many piles of products have built up hype with a tagline akin to "the revolution is coming"? Hundreds. A monolithic object coming in to view over the desert… How is that creative? What does it have to do with Microsoft, or Phones, or anything revolutionary? How does it connect to the intended audience? How does it leave a lingering image in the viewer's mind? How does it evoke an emotion in the viewer that this is a product they want, or better yet, need? It doesn't. It doesn't do anything. It's utterly forgettable.
September 8th, 2010 at 4:47 am
I thnk they need to go back to using The Rolling Stones.
September 8th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
This wasn't even an ad, it was a teaser in front of a movie… maybe the ad campaign will be better.
September 9th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
I do not understand how Microsoft's marketing department even operates. Seriously, did anyone actually see this and say "yes, that's great, this is what we want!"
What's the last good ad from Microsoft anyone can remember?
September 9th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I am a Microsoft fan, butt wow is this ad ill guided. There is a revolution coming from the desert. They use the type font associated with the Jihadist. Why not just use the Third Reich next.
My gosh, Microsoft deserves to be crushed by Google of they contnue to execute this poorly.
September 11th, 2010 at 8:59 am
How about this for marketing–> Microsoft celebrates Windows Phone 7 RTM with funeral parade for BlackBerry and iPhone http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/10/microsoft-cele…
January 10th, 2011 at 1:10 am
Your nice blog is obviously worth a read if anyone comes across it. Im lucky i did so because now Ive got an entirely new view of it. I didnt realise that the issue was so important and thus universal. You definitely said in perspective for everybody, thanks for the fantatic advice.