Microsoft released a new advert yesterday, to promote its Windows Phone platform. It’s quite fun to watch as a group, of what once were dignified and well dressed people, descend into cake throwing and hair pulling chaos.
As the wedding couple are about to make their solemn vows a man stands up with what looks like a Samsung Galaxy Note with smart cover to take a photo. Another man, seated behind him with an iPhone, also ready to take a photo, asks him “Excuse me, would you mind moving your enormous phone?” Then following various exchanges of other mobile platform slurs such as “iSheep” and “CopyBox” (?) the whole wedding party erupts into slapstick violence.
Meanwhile two quiet and collected members of the waiting-on staff stand with their Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phones, detached and observing the scene. One says “Do you think if they knew about the Nokia Lumia they’d stop fighting all the time?” The other replies “I don’t know, I think they kind of like fighting”. Microsoft’s ad ends with the simple message “Don’t fight. Switch.”
Preaching to the unconverted
Overall the ad doesn’t highlight any features of the Windows Phone platform that would benefit a potential purchaser. As such the advert doesn’t seem to address the current iOS/Android user. I think it may appeal more to people who are yet to buy their first smartphone. Some of these people may not want to become “iSheep” or “CopyBoxes” or join those kinds of “tribes” but rather stand aloof from that kind of crowd – like the two members of waiting staff in the advert.
Smartphone ownership
The percentage of non-smartphone owning people continues to shrink but remains a very large number, even here in the West. In the UK the latest figures show 36 per cent of the population are not smartphone owners. In the US the latest figures show that 46 per cent of the population aren’t smartphone owners.
Do you like Microsoft’s new Windows Phone ad? Will it help sell more Windows Phones?
