Microsoft Finally Advertises Media Center
Only problem? The ad is
horrible..
Where to start with this one. First of all, congrats to Microsoft for
finally starting to market Media Center. My first advice, don’t give up.
I’m just going to ramble here, because there is a lot to
say. The ad is attempting to appeal to
women. You can’t do this right now
though. Women are not on Xbox.com
looking at the various pages. I think
the marketing team got notes about the Wife Approval Factor (WAF) are ran with
the idea. Appeal to men or just try to
appeal to the masses. This ad reminded
me of the various sitcoms on TBS now-a-days that try their best to appeal to
the Friends crowd. Men could care less
about planning for a party. We get some
beer and food and that’s really all you need.
I get the concept, women hold the purchasing power. If women like it, they will allow the men to
buy it. I get it, but don’t market Media
Center by trying to appeal to women if your ad is going to be on Xbox.com. If it’s going to show after a rerun of
Friends, different story. Start by
either appealing to men, or just do basic product demo ads. iPod ads show nothing about the iPod. Zune ads have the right idea for a new
product but pairing catchy music with bright colors and thus showing off the
features. Don’t try and reinvent things
here, stick to what works.
Next problem is that it’s too long. I lost interest in the ad within ten
seconds. Maybe that’s because I already
know what Media Center does, but you know what?
I still pay attention to every iPod ad.
I look at the screen every time I see an iPhone ad. I’ve seen the ads over and over, yet I still
watch. They are 30-seconds of
interesting content that leaves you with the urge to search Google for more
information. This ad didn’t do
that. Too long, too boring, and the
couple never said look what Media Center can do. They said Xbox 360, not Media Center. The ad is for Media Center, not Xbox
360. At least say the name of the
product if you are going to have a 3-minute ad about it. Other problems here include never saying you
need Windows Vista, or even saying that it’s included in Windows Vista. Just let people know what they already
have. It does note it at the very end of
the ad in text, along with the first and only mention that Media Center is
actually doing the work here.
Next is the fact that it’s a 3-minute ad and only 10 seconds
of it show Media Center. Despite that
some think Media Center’s UI is a downgrade in Vista, it still is beautiful to
look at from a far. Show the product, is
that really that hard of a concept?
In the whole 5+ minutes of ad time, It ever showed Media
Center being controlled with a remote!
There are a few other scenes on the website, and they fail
to impress also. The photo, music, and
video demos are good, but again too long.
TV demo was horrible.
They never even showed the Guide!
What is that? They showed the
manual recording section. Really, when
she said my new digital VCR she wasn’t kidding.
This section also never showed a remote control, but rather the Xbox 360
controller and even the mouse pointer on the screen.
They tried to show
off the multi-room aspect, but failed to really describe that he could go off
to the PC or another Extender and see the same thing that his new wife was
seeing.
I give Microsoft an A+ for effort, but a F on everything
else. I wait to see what else they can
do here as I have wanted Microsoft to market Media Center for years now. I would say this is a good first attempt, but
I fails to impression and drive me to want to know more about Media Center.
