Microsoft, CP+B, Advertising, and Why It’s All Noise

Apple is having a good time at the expense of Microsoft in almost every commercial they make. So Microsoft’s response is to hire Crispin Porter + Bogusky and give them a $300mil blank check (kidding… mostly) to woo the younger set, ostensibly convincing everyone from 18-35 that Microsoft and their products are cool and hip.

Ignoring the fact that Microsoft and their products aren’t cool or hip, and ignoring the fact that CP+B only knows how to market to one target audience (honestly, how hard is it to write ads specifically targeted at college guys?), how is this going to work? How is this going to directly effect the bottom line of selling more Microsoft products? 

Because if it does anything other than bringing in more dollars than it spends, it’s a complete waste of time and money for everyone except CP+B, who get to have fun w/ a budget and win awards (and get new business to replace the old business they lost because most advertising doesn’t actually work, it just gets talked about and looks pretty, which is very different than selling more products.)