Microsoft Spends $300 Million To Improve Windows Image
In an effort to improve the image of its Windows Vista operating system and strike back at Apple Inc’s "Mac vs. PC" ads, Microsoft Corp kicked off a $300 million marketing campaign on Thursday.
Microsoft’s new marketing push debuted its first commercial on Thursday, featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and company co-founder Bill Gates at a shoe store.
Windows Vista continues to suffer from the perception that the operating system is clunky and hard to use compared with Apple computers, despite Vistas selling more than 180 million licenses since its launch in 2007.
Apple’s "Mac vs. PC" ads feature a geeky and unfashionable PC guy unable to keep up with a better-looking, hip Mac counterpart.
"What the brand stands for, particularly in the case of Windows Vista, has been defined by the competitors. The time is now for us to get in and start telling our story," said Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president at Microsoft.
In recent quarters, Apple has steadily gained market share against PCs. In the June quarter, Gartner said Apple accounted for 8.5 percent of U.S. computer shipments, a rise of 38 percent from a year earlier. That outpaced the overall U.S. computer market growth of 4.2 percent.
The commercial is part of a broader, long-term initiative to change consumers’ perception of Windows, which will include setting up a retail corner at several hundred Best Buy and Circuit City stores staffed by "Windows Gurus" to explain the benefits of Windows, Microsoft said.
The company also said it has been working with PC makers to optimize systems to speed up computer boot times and improve the overall experience of using a Windows machine.
New or revamped models are expected from all the major PC brands, which Microsoft calls a new category of PCs, with improved designs in the next few months.
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