How to sell something

Commentators have begun to question whether the very impressive amount of dough that Microsoft has spent to regain market share has been worth it. For the last couple of years Apple has used the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" add campaign - which takes not especially subtle digs at the PC platform. They're funny. You can see them at Mac Ads Site. Microsoft committed several hundred million dollars to a set of campaigns that a) started out with the bizarre Seinfeld and Gates stream of consciousness ads and then b) have evolved into a set of ads comparing PCs to Macs. Trouble is the comparisons are not accurate. In addition, the ads are not funny. No memorable taglines - except "I'm a PC"

The graph shows relative market share of each platform and Mac has been inching up in recent years. Most analysts suggest that neither ad campaign has been dispositive for buyers but that in the Mac corner three factors have allowed them to grow. #1 - The ads are funny. #2 - Apple has benefitted from the iPod effect - people tried out the music player, liked the simplicity and then moved up to a computer. #3 - the iPhone effect - same idea based on the ease of use of the iPhone.

As I have argued before, choice of computers is a matter of personal preference. Every computer has some neat features and some bugs. Indeed, as I upgraded to Snow Leopard, I have had a problem in getting our Xerox printers to work properly. But an ad campaign or a product strategy that is based on imitation is bound to fail.