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February 05, 2001
by John Evan Frook
Microsoft Corp.'s $250 million b-to-b advertising
campaign, launched two weeks ago, represents a leap of faith for
the software giant.
Dubbed "Agility," it presents Microsoft as a stable,
reliable and trusted technology brand, one capable of meeting the
demands of business customers. Developed by McCann-Erickson Worldwide,
San Francisco, the campaign represents Microsoft as a provider of
high-end technology solutions-a la IBM Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc.
and Hewlett-Packard Co.-versus desktop applications.
But while McCann won praise for its creative execution,
branding experts were not convinced Microsoft's largest-ever campaign
would hit its intended mark.
Among the complaints: The term "agility" is too
generic to make an impact, the campaign interferes with an earlier
b-to-b initiative called .Net and Microsoft's identity as a product-specific
marketer is too entrenched to overcome. Some also said the specter
of the Justice Department's proposed breakup of Microsoft for antitrust
violations will cloud the message, which trumpets an enterprise
solutions company able to provide end-to-end technology to business
customers.
Four "Agility" commercials have already been prepared
for broadcast. Using the cool and collected voice-overs of "Fargo"
actor William H. Macy, each spot is a playful look at the critical
role Microsoft plays in business operations. Print advertising,
featuring case studies of such companies as retailer Marks & Spencer
and cosmetics maker L'Oreal USA's Maybelline, will appear later
this month in publications including USA Today, The Wall Street
Journal and The New York Times. The campaign will also feature a
strong outdoor presence on billboards and bus boards, according
to a Microsoft spokesperson.
New message, new tone
One TV spot, titled "Merger," shows an office packed
up and ready to move. A voice-over indicates a merger of two companies
is afoot. The ad says that when companies come together there will
always be politics among people, but that with Microsoft software
solutions the data is will work together. That message is a far
cry from the edgy, product-specific marketing Microsoft used with
the "Start me up" campaign for Windows 95 in August of '95, which
was kicked off by "The Tonight Show's" Jay Leno sharing the stage
with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
The "Agility" campaign is designed as the overarching
b-to-b message for Microsoft for the foreseeable future, said Michael
McLaren, exec VP-director of client services on the Microsoft account
at McCann. He said the tagline, "Software for the agile business,"
cuts through similar verbiage from competitors HP, IBM, Sun, SAP
AG and Oracle Corp.
"The agility promise will stand the test of time,"
McLaren said. "Microsoft needs to stand clearly for something in
the business environment. We think agility is something that is
incredibly tangible."
Critical publicity
The "Agility" campaign comes at a critical time
for the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, which announced revenues
of $12.39 billion for the six months ended Dec. 31. Microsoft is
coming off nothing but bad publicity from the Justice Department
antitrust case, a stock price that has tumbled 40% in eight months
and new competitive threats from the Internet as an application-delivery
mechanism.
Unmistakable, too, is the business orientation of
the campaign and its focus on business server software. No wonder.
Microsoft got 70% of its $23 billion in fiscal 2000 sales from PC
software. But PC sales growth has slowed and Microsoft knows it
must find other revenue streams. According to International Data
Corp., PC unit sales rose just 19% in the third quarter last year
compared with a rise of 25% in the third quarter of 1999. The fourth
quarter of 2000 was even worse, with sales growth at just 9.2% compared
with year-earlier numbers.
On the other hand, sales of Microsoft server software
and services rose 9% in the third quarter and 21% in the last quarter
of 2000. And, according to IDC, its share rose to 26.4% of the $49.1
billion spent on server software in the first three quarters of
2000, compared with just 20.1% for all of 1999.
"Given the negative publicity in the last year,
this campaign makes sense," said Alicia Stack, principal of high-tech
branding consultancy Keen Branding Inc., Charlotte, N.C. "When you
are a company like Microsoft, as large as they are and with as much
control over the market as they have, it makes sense to focus on
corporate attributes rather than product advertising."
Familiar theme?
Yet Microsoft runs the risk of muddying the waters
with the "Agility" campaign, Stack said. The theme is too close
for comfort to the identity already carved out by HP's recently
spun-off Agilent Technologies Inc., she said.
Another branding expert argued "agility" is too
generic a word to build a campaign on. Microsoft would have been
better served creating a proprietary word on which to build their
b-to-b message, said Elizabeth Goodgold, chief of The Nuancing
Group, San Diego.
"The problem with this campaign is that 'agility'
is not an own-able word," Goodgold said. "If you search 'agility'
on the Web, you'll find it is part of 341 different domain addresses.
Microsoft should have created an entirely new word, playing on their
core strength." Goodgold noted that Microsoft President-CEO Steve
Ballmer has cited the chief benefit of Microsoft's software as "customer-centricity."
"They would have been better off creating and magnifying a word
like 'centricity,' " she said.
One branding expert blasted Microsoft for not coming
on strong with Internet advertising, and questioned whether the
campaign was created with the Justice Department in mind. Derek
Bonney, VP-business development for interactive advertising agency
ImagineThat Inc., Lisle, Ill., said Microsoft's credibility is in
jeopardy when it touts new technologies but does this primarily
through broadcast, print and outdoor media.
Noting that Microsoft has appealed the legal decision
to break it into separate software and operating system companies,
Bonney saw "Agility" as a way to brace itself against the breakup.
If Microsoft is highly successful in marketing its solutions, which
straddle operating systems and applications, it will lend more credence
to the argument that the two can't be split without unfairly penalizing
both businesses, Bonney said.
"This is a way to sweep around the antitrust specter,"
Bonney said. "The judgment calls for them to split the [operating
system] and software solutions. When positioned as a technology
solutions provider, it is harder to [break] those two pieces.
Mixed messages
Last July, Microsoft embarked on its .Net business
strategy, which positions Microsoft as a provider of Net-centric
applications and services. Kevin Johnson, Microsoft VP-U.S. sales
and services, said there will be no confusion between "Agility"
and .Net.
"As we continue to deliver on the .Net platform,
the benefits of 'Agility' will be that much more dynamic and effective
for businesses as they compete in the marketplace," Johnson said
in an e-mail response to BtoB's questions.
But a number of branding experts disagree.
James Dettore, president-CEO of Brand Institute
Inc., Miami, Fla., said the "Agility" blitz runs the risk of overshadowing
Microsoft's earlier effort, and he argued that .Net does not fit
neatly under the new "Agility" umbrella.
"If there is a sub-brand introduced prior to an
umbrella brand, there are pitfalls," said Dettore, who nevertheless
gave the "Agility" campaign thumbs up for execution. "It becomes
more difficult to create the umbrella brand. Usually, a marketer
will create the broad strategy and then move to the subset and subset
brands. That usually means less time and less money."
There's little question Microsoft needed to rethink
its business messaging, said Daryl Travis, CEO of Brandtrust Consultants,
Chicago. It has long been too focused on selling its operating system,
server and database software at the expense of corporate identity.
Meanwhile, Apple Computer Inc. and others have successfully created
passionate computer cultures around their logos, Travis said.
"Microsoft has always been far too hung up on the
kibble and bits," Travis said. "Just compare them to Apple, which
has always presented itself as a higher calling. Apple is a company
everyone wants to succeed, which is why they can make fatal errors
and still come back."
A lack of emotional connection, if not outright
ill will, on the part of some customers is another problem for Microsoft,
Travis said. "If someone does come along with better enterprisewide
solutions on the Web or through [open operating system code] Linux,
there will be a move to that stuff because no one has any particular
emotional resonance for the Microsoft brand."
Steve McKee, president of advertising agency McKee
Wallwork Henderson, Albuquerque, N.M., praised the "Agility" campaign,
which he said succeeds because it eschews the "petulant whining"'
that colored Microsoft campaigns of yesteryear.
A specialist in developing campaigns for high-growth
technology companies, McKee cited Microsoft's "Start me up" campaign
for Windows 95, which featured a song licensed from The Rolling
Stones and its defiant, full-page advertisements during the Justice
Department lawsuit, as examples of Microsoft marketing gone awry.
"This seems like the first grown-up campaign ever
produced by Microsoft," McKee said. "For all his brilliance, Bill
Gates is kind of a tantrum-prone guy. And that's shown up in Microsoft's
messaging. This campaign is appropriate for where Microsoft is right
now." But he added, "They always have the danger of appearing as
big as they are, and that's the danger of this campaign."'
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