Zunerama’s right: Where the hell is the big advertising push for Microsoft’s Zune?
The supposed iPod competitor from Redmond is hitting in just 12 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes and 48 seconds, according to my Zune countdown Vista Sidebar Gadget, but other than a rare billboard and bus stop poster, Microsoft just hasn’t done much. Are they hoping the blogosphere is going to do the marketing for them?
God only knows what the plan is. Maybe we can assume Microsoft has a surprise planned, like really cool TV ads, or free concerts, or free music, or new Zune features, but Microsoft isn’t the type of company that usually shocks you with a good idea. They’re a little more deliberate in their moves, and we haven’t seen anything hinting at a big push. The most likely theory: The first generation is going to have its share of complaints, and Microsoft wants to go low-key the first year, until it has a real killer in Zune 2G.
Here’s another idea: Microsoft doesn’t want mainstream attention, going full indie even with the ad campaign. That means actually letting the blogosphere do their marketing, signing indie artists to interesting events, and real sneaky placements of the Zune. Microsoft’s real goal may be to make the iPod look like Windows, and the Zune look like Mac OS, claiming that the iPod “sold out” a long time ago, and that the Zune has some form of indie cred.
If that is true, Microsoft’s got their work cut out for them. It’s tough upending a cultural movement, but a cultural movement is what the iPod is, and you want to fight fire with fire. Microsoft can change the public’s view of the entire company by taking iPod’s credibility away, and the opinion of many is that iPod has been losing credibility for a long time. I don’t think an ad ripping off Apple’s 1984 would be out of line, showing the millions of iPod users as bland lemmings, waiting for the woman with the sledgehammer to set them free.
(via Digg)
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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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