Articles about Marketing

Samsung owned the Oscars, by running a series of long commercials about a software company using Galaxy S3s and Note IIs to create game Unicorn Apocalypse. The TV spots were compelling marketing. You simply must watch the 90-second spot featuring filmmaker Tim Burton looking to make zombie unicorn movie "Horn of Darkness".

Unicorn Apocalypse went live on Google Play today (South Korean time). The "game is the winner of Samsung's contest to create the game discussed in the Samsung TV commercials", the company explains. "As the world crumbles and burns, a lone unicorn wreaks havoc on the last of humanity". Reviewers wreak havoc on the game, with 80 one stars out of 142, as I post. Hey, but they are polarized. Another 37 give Unicorn Apocalypse five stars.

Continue reading →

Contrary to rumors yesterday, Microsoft has not abandoned its "Scroogled" marketing campaign, despite sharp criticisms. My colleague Wayne Williams calls the attacks against Google a "sad and frankly pathetic strategy".

If the statement a Microsoft spokesperson has given to BetaNews is any indication, the campaign will get more aggressive than it is today: "Scroogled will go on as long as Google keeps Scroogling people. We know Google doesn’t like it when the facts come out. Chapter two of the consumer education campaign has shown people care about their privacy. More than 3.5 million people visited scroogled.com, and nearly 115,000 people signed a petition asking Google to stop going through their Gmail. Stay tuned for the next chapter".

Continue reading →

Google is a hardware company now, something that is too often overlooked. Last week, the search and information company launched its first computer, Chromebook Pixel, which I reviewed overnight yesterday. In August 2011, Google bought Motorola, one of the most iconic American brands and inventor of the cell phone, for $12.5 billion; the deal closed in May 2012. Moto makes handsets and tablets, among other things.

But Motorola is a brand in decline, and one Google should want to reinvigorate if the plan is to release more-compelling, more-innovative Androids. Why should ASUS, LG and Samsung manufacture Nexus devices when Google has a huge hardware subsidiary? Meanwhile, one of the three is a partner out of control. Samsung threatens to fracture the broader Android ecosystem -- a problem I sternly warned about in April 2012 post "Google has lost control of Android". A resurgent Motorola could bring unity back to the Force, as the saying goes. Google bets that Guy Kawasaki can help make that happen.

Continue reading →

A week ago, Microsoft formally launched Outlook.com -- its free, web-based email service -- to the public. The service had been in preview since last July.

Microsoft has for too long had a quartet of email offerings, including Hotmail, MSN and the now retired Entourage. Not surprisingly, this portfolio has been a source of confusion and complication for businesses, consumers and Microsoft brand management. By formally launching Outlook.com, Microsoft is now in the final throes of migrating to a single offering that streamlines its marketing spend and brings clarity to customers.

Continue reading →

Google's first computer isn't about sales but status. Critics who lambast Chromebook Pixel as an over-priced web browser wrapped in pretty hardware miss the point. Badly. The laptop will sell, but not in mass-volume because it's not meant to. Is Lamborghini about sales or style? I ask not seeing much commentary about how the Italian sports car is a failure because Ford sells millions more Explorers.

Chromebook Pixel is the luxury car of computers running Chrome OS and perpetually connected to the cloud. Google's beauty is a status symbol for people willing to plunk down $1,299 or $1,449 and makes, along with newer Nexus devices, a bold brand statement: Google is a premium brand and the company a real innovator. For the people who love the brand and want to identify with it, like all those fanboys adoring Apple with their cash, Chromebook Pixel is an easy sell.

Continue reading →

Could it be possible that Microsoft has become cool again? A BetaNews poll seemed to indicate Windows 8 was popular and there have been recent reports that the Surface tablet is "cool" to teens. Now there is this -- a poll conducted by Reuters indicates that young people may actually think the computer company from Redmond, Wash. is cool again.

Reuters reports that "just under half of 853 respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 thought Microsoft is cooler now than it was a year or two ago". If this this is representative of the larger sentiment then it ties in very neatly with recent Apple problems.

Continue reading →

Yusuf Mehdi is one of my favorite Microsoft executives. When he played a pivotal role within MSN leadership (before the division became the Online Services Business), a perennial, 7-year money loser turned a profit and continued doing so -- for eight consecutive quarters -- until the autumn 2005 reorganization that led to Windows Live rebranding. OSB hasn't made a dime since. Mehdi kicked around in different roles, talent greatly wasted, before moving to the Entertainment & Devices division in November 2011. I posted: "Yusuf Mehdi is the best thing to happen to Xbox in years".

However, out of respect for decorum, I should say next best thing. In September 2012, Microsoft named former CBS executive Nancy Tellem as E&D president. She is Mehdi's boss after all, and both spoke yesterday about Xbox's future. She comes from an entertainment background and he is corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, which should tip-off future direction.

Continue reading →

Weather may have ruined the Surface Pro launch event, but the "laptop in tablet form" started selling on February 9, in Canada and United States, nonetheless. And just like with its Windows RT-powered sibling, Microsoft aired a video ad that is meant to increase awareness and promote Surface Pro as a business-oriented device. But does it?

Interestingly titled "The Vibe", the Surface Pro video commercial bears a strong resemblance to the Surface RT one that debuted in mid-October. It's a very dynamic advert with business people dancing, smiling, signing, throwing things around, acting cool and generally doing things that business people don't normally ever do while at the office. It even starts with the same guy that opened up the Surface RT ad. The Vibe is a nice concept, but a poor choice for Surface Pro.

Continue reading →

The past few months have been a bit rough for Apple. Samsung attacked the company in a series of amusing ads that portrayed a line of people waiting to buy iPhone as losers. While the ads never specifically mentioned Apple, the implications were certainly clear enough. Combine those attacks with declining stock prices and other nagging battles, such as those in court, and you have a recipe for tough times.

While Samsung largely lets its rival be in the latest ads, Amazon picks up the slack -- and, unlike Samsung, is quite clear. The 30-second second clip compares the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch against Apple iPad with Retina Display and lets the viewer know that, while both devices show "stunning HD", there is a major difference. Then it proceeds to place the devices side-by-side and let you know that, while you may not be able to tell the difference in the screens, "your wallet definitely can".

Continue reading →

Google today announced big changes to their AdWords money making machine in a bid to dramatically increase mobile advertising adoption and the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) of mobile search ads -- by making their advanced mobile search advertising features work by default, rather than requiring tons of extra effort on the part of the advertiser to make them work, and also by changing the way mobile CPCs are set.

The changes announced today, known as “Enhanced Campaigns”, will become available to customers by the end of February and will be applied automatically to all advertisers by mid-year. In this article, I’ll explain how the coming changes will impact Google’s bottom line.

Continue reading →

If you can say nothing else about the company, you at least have to admit that Microsoft has certainly come up with some unique marketing ideas recently. Many would call that a departure from the past, when the ads were either boring or just plain weird (remember Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld)? The company went from that to self-parody and real humor like the recent Internet Explorer 10-Mayan apocalypse campaign.

Now the mobile side of the business has rolled out a new website to let customers know that Bilbo Baggins, of Hobbit fame, is a Windows Phone 8 customer. The site lets you see Bilbo's home screen so that you can get some insight into what is important to the adventurous hobbit, like his map of "home sweet shire" and the current weather conditions in Middle Earth. You can even view his camera roll which, of course, he stores in his SkyDrive account.

Continue reading →

It took an ancient, nearly obliterated society and a looming apocolypse, but perhaps Microsoft is finally starting to get it. The company, once the dominant force in the web browser market after wiping out Netscape, is starting to get its act back together. Between ancient forces and challenges from Firefox and Chrome, the company has started to understand human nature. We may not believe the world will end tomorrow and we may not believe Internet Explorer 10 is actually good, but we can all agree that we love irony.

To that end, the Redmond, Wash,-based company has been on a roll of sorts recently. It launched a website with the ironic name "browser you loved to hate" and even launched a video depicting an IE-hater in action. Now the new kinder, gentler Microsoft meets tomorrow's impending doom with a bit more humor.

Continue reading →

Six weeks ago, Samsung sauced up Galaxy S3 marketing with a dad going on a work trip commercial. His girls prepared a video, which the wife beams by touching phones together. She has one, too, but "you probably shouldn't watch it on the plane". A new version is out, with the Clauses, and the plump Mrs. still has spunk. She prepares a video for Santa, "but you probably shouldn't watch it on the sleigh".

What? Will Santa's cheeks burn as red as Rudolph's nose? Mr. Kringle is supposed to reward those kiddies who are nice and give coal to those who are naughty. But what happens to the naughty and nice, like Mrs. Claus? Samsung leaves that to your imagination. But what you can imagine! I know, thinking of Santa and Mrs. Claus in bed together isn't much different than thought of your parents. But, hey, those elves came from somewhere.

Continue reading →

To Microsoft's credit, it knows it has to be constantly vigilant with its public image. Internet Explorer has been raked across the coals for years, and no matter what Microsoft does, people seem to be unhappy. This is not to say the browser hasn't earned a lot of this criticism with security vulnerabilities and web standards problems, but sometimes the relentless onslaught of negativity in web comment sections is too much to handle.

Microsoft's latest video shows that sometimes the best a company can hope for is for people to hate them less.

Continue reading →

I have two cats, Charlie and Chloe. Charlie is very talkative, especially when he’s hungry (which is most of the time), and indeed you can often have lengthy conversations with him. So when, in 2009, YouTube user Andrew Grantham (klaatu42) put out a call for clips of talking animals to appear in a new Christmas video, I filmed Charlie requesting more food and uploaded the 30-second snippet. I was very fortunate, because not only was my submission accepted but my cat was used to sing the opening lines to Deck the Halls.

It was a fun video, and clearly found an audience -- as to date over nine million people have watched it. But Charlie’s fleeting fame wasn’t to stop there. A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I received a slew of increasingly frantic messages in my YouTube inbox from the Leo Burnett advertising agency.

Continue reading →