Microsoft’s Steve Jobs?

by David Burn on May 16, 2008

Nancy

Wow, his hair has thinned since the 2004 TIME mag picture.
Though… still no grey. Got a hand it to you advertising men. You hold up quite well without all the cosmetics we women have to use.
Fortyver

To Crush Apple? Advertising alone will not kill Apple. Maybe if Microsoft did not make such unwieldy code behemoths, built on antiquated code base, fraught with security holes, they might have a chance. Apple is not just a software company, they make damn sexy and enviable hardware products. They are driving hardware and software development throughout the computer world. That is a fact, not just a muse from a Mac User. Microsoft is the drunk who shows up at the end of the party, asking where’s the beer, albeit with the panache of the socially inept nerd who just found out about alcohol. Truly and embarassingly overvalued company.
Nancy

As a mom, and only ever being a mom.. I got accused of not letting go of my kids and living in their past.
Sometimes when I look at men and their companies I laugh that someone could make such a common stereotype about mothers. Witness:Clay Weiner
I would put the apple on a paper napkin and walk away, go to the beach or mountains. Granted the fluffy frou frou apples would wither first like six day old arugula. But not all.
But business men can’t walk away from their “kids” like that and have faith, or can they?
l
http://www.bullshitobserver.com Todd

This should be interesting.
Dean

Apple “repositioned” MS by telling one simple truth very simply, and entertainingly: Apple makes a superior product to what’s running on your PC.
It’ll be interesting to see how CPB tries to use not-truth to re-reposition MS.
http://adpulp.com David Burn

We all know you can’t polish a turd. And yet, we all know we’re asked to just that time and again. For the money.
CP+B, as good as they are, also needs money and that’s precisely what Microsoft has.
td

will bogusky & co. give two shits that all of this rad new microsoft repositioning will be created on CP+B-owned macs? or maybe they’ll do all of the layouts and storyboards in Word and PowerPoint. not.
Chris

@Dean,
“It’ll be interesting to see how CPB tries to use not-truth to re-reposition MS.”
You mean use the same cheap tactics and low blows like Apple has in their marketing?
We all know Apple is certainly not beneath using gimmicks in their campaigns.
http://crawfordinsights.blogspot.com/ Crawford

Fast Money headline writers went for the easy snag. But Bogusky’s no fool. He knows his mission, and it’s not to crush Apple. Look at BK, for an example of what to expect. When CP+B took on BK, they didn’t try to crush McD’s. They identified their loyal core, they saw the opportunity to expand it, and they repositioned away from the arches, not under them. Look for CP+B to come in with an unexpected, seemingly off-target strategy fueled by keen insight, not Apple envy.
The bigger question is, will MS management have the guts to go with it, and stick with it? That may be the real story down the line, I imagine.