Windows Phone commercial is confusing for a variety of reasons
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 11th 2009 10:02PM
posted Oct 11th 2009 10:02PM
posted Oct 11th 2009 10:02PM
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does anyone else think nilay is a total douchebag?
no.
you, on the other hand...
Wow. Had only seen the tail end of that on TV...one time. Seen a hundred T-Mo Google ads, couple dozen Verizon ads, gobs of iPhone spots, etc. So, is the message here that AT&T has a new phone that does windows stuff? Is this an AT&T ad, or a Windows Mobile ad, because other carriers both have had, and will have WinMo offerrings, (Unlike that proprietary iThing) It's just that you didn't know that they were WinMo, unless you knew they were WinMo. Sadly the dudes at the wireless store, any flavor, likely didn't know which phones were WinMo either. I've often commented that MS doesn't need to steal (copy) technology/concepts from others, they need to steal their marketing departments. Looking forward to the Smartphone Hunters series.
This article was a waste. I gave the benefit of the doubt by migrating to the link in order to find what the fuss was all about, but after viewing the commercial, it's not that big a deal that AT&T (not Microsoft, mind you!), did only a slightly poor job of marketing, but nothing that bad bringing about this over-criticism. Nilay is not a douche, just a little over-exposed to Microsoft's poor development of its mobile products. This article was highly uncalled for and continues to do nothing more for these blog sites but increase traffic.
Well, of course he's a little overexposed to Windows Mobile stuff. That's his job. He's a tech blogger. He exposes himself.
I read all your article. I gave the benefit of the doubt by migrating to the link in order to find what the fuss was all about, but after viewing the commercial, it's not that big a deal that AT&T.
Surely it's primarily a naming thing: if you call something (a platform) the "'X' *Phone*", then consumers are likely to assume it to be a phone, not a platform.
Especially when there's an "'i'*Phone*" about...
Can anyone recall the last time MS had a good commercial? The "I am a PC" series seems both desperate and unbelievable. The one will Bill Gates was wince-inducing. This one seems confused. (Just how many times is MS going to rename this OS, anyway?) I agree with Sven: MS needs to steal someone else's advertising department. Theirs is teh suck.
Folks are always getting platforms/devices confused. That's why Apple's niche is the 'everythings under one banner' model.
I just want to know where I can get that Outlook costume for Halloween
Almost as good as that was during ESPN's College GameDay on Saturday. During one of their promo lead-ins, they had that "Windows (flag) phone" logo on screen and cut to a bunch of students holding out their phones. 3 BlackBerry models (some mix of Pearls and Curves), 4 iPhones, and a few more generic RAZR descendants/clones. Not a WinMo phone to be found in the bunch.
I sincerely hope MSFT isn't going for the college kid audience with their marketing, because if they are, it's a big fat FAIL thus far...
Doing a spot of marketing myself over the years, I agree 100%
The general rule is that after the ad viewers should know what the product is, what it does and why it is useful or cool. This ad does achieve these things.
You also should not require a viewer to pay much attention to figure out what is going on. As cute as the ad is, one has to think, and think again, just what it is they just saw. For example, the icons signifying apps, looking sadly (conveyed via music) that they might not get to go with the owner (like a dog wanting to go for a car ride) is lost because few people know what ALL those icons represent.
I doubt the average consumer will understand the point, that with a "Windows Phone" you can now take all your apps with you, If people get that point, they are nevertheless left with the impression that there is a Windows Phone that does these things.
There are less confusing ways to convey the concept.
And most definitely, at the end people are rewinding and pausing to get a glimpse of the new "Windows Phone" to see what it is, so they can call AT&T to inquire about it. The ad makes it look like AT&T is the only carrier who has the new pictured Windows Phone.
(I suspect a good indicator of confusion would be for MS market people to call AT&T and ask if they have been getting calls about the "Windows Phone they saw in the TV commercial."
I have a few videos on YouTube talking about WinMo 6.5, 7 and "Windows Phone." MS needs to make clear that this is an OS, not an actual phone. I don't think the public will ever understand that the concept. And if you have to explain a product name, that indicates the name has failed to tell the public, in the name, what it is.
People own computers by brand name. People don't say "I have a Windows Computer." They say "I have a Dell with Windows XP."
Having the word "phone" in the MS mobile OS name will create confusion. I don't think it will ever catch on; for example, saying "I have a Touch Pro2 phone running Windows Phone."
If MS wants to get away from the old names for its mobile OS products (understandable) they need to delete the word "phone" from the name and choose something else, such as "Windows Smartphone 9" or "Windows Wireless 9" (the "9" being the year).
When was a windows commercial not confusing? Heck I had to tell my vawncast like friend that it was a search engine and she was like what! lol..