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The November 14 USA launch of Microsoft’s Zune is rapidly approaching and while the marketing has been low key so far, expect to see the sky darken with ads shortly. To kick things off, Microsoft’s Cesar Menendez points to the first Zune TV ads which he has posted on YouTube.
To be perfectly frank, I am hard pressed to see how any of them will convince people in the market for a personal media player to buy a Zune as opposed to any other brand. I’m sure the budget was large and that they tested them with some sort of focus group, but the one with the most Zune specific content is bizarrely uncomfortable while the others barely show the Zune in passing. On the other hand, maybe pet lovers are one of the hot Zune demographics:
More hopefully for Microsoft’s Zunies, ABI Research has come out with a study that reports that 58% of iPod Owners Planning Another MP3 Player Purchase Will Consider Microsoft’s Zune. The results were similar for other brands too, but the downside was that “Zune’s Wi-Fi peer-to-peer sharing, which Microsoft is playing up heavily, ‘isn’t all that compelling, at least not now.’”
Update: Menedez has just posted that Zune.net (general marketing info) and Zune-Arts.net (posters, Flash videos) are now live.
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November 3rd, 2006 at 11:51 AM
[...] As part of the prep for the Zune launch on Nov 14 that I mentioned yesterday, Microsoft says that the going out of business sign is up on MSN Music. Here’s the details from Ina Fried at CNET: Two years after opening its MSN Music store to compete with Apple Computer’s iTunes, Microsoft plans to stop selling downloads from the site, CNET News.com has learned. [...]
November 13th, 2006 at 11:27 AM
[...] Tomorrow is launch day for Microsoft’s Zune “iPod killer” personal media player and predictably the PR buzz is building with a variety of old media ads and some “secret shows” today in cities across the nation: Zune has just announced 6 FREE secret launch party shows across the country in six different markets (NY, LA, Seattle, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta). Performances include high level acts such as Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, T.I. Lupe Fiasco, The Secret Machines and Morgan Heritage Band & Richie Spice. [...]
December 12th, 2006 at 10:47 AM
[...] “We’ll obviously keep a close eye and, if we need to or want to, we’ll shift focus,” Reindorp said. Here’s a modest suggestion for a shifted focus: lose the agencies that dreamed up the rabbit petters, flaming birds, scratching dog, and endless cookie and just advertise the darn product. If the Wi-Fi sharing is so cool, why not actually show some regular folks doing it and saying “Oooo!” and “Ah!” Just a thought. [...]
November 14th, 2007 at 10:15 PM
[...] Perhaps even better for Microsoft is that they have a new Zune ad agency who reportedly is de-emphasizing the “Social” although I am hard pressed to say that the new TV ads are that much of an improvement although they actually do show the product. That, of course, is an innovation compared to prior Zune ads. Still, no one seems to have told the crew at Microsoft’s new and improved Zune Arts that the Social is out and they are merrily generating more bizarre sharing videos. [...]