Zardon

What's a few market-share points between friends?" That's what Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs told Newsweek in June when he launched the "Switchers" ad campaign that takes direct aim at Microsoft by showing real-life consumers describing how they abandoned their Windows PCs for the ease of using Apple Macs.

You could say that insulting Microsoft and raiding its customer base is a calculated risk for Jobs and his often-offbeat ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day in Los Angeles. When the Apple founder returned in 1997, he hastily made peace with former enemy and Microsoft founder Bill Gates to prop up his tottering company, including an investment and applications software.

Five years later, Jobs and TBWA/Chiat/Day are feeling their oats enough to take a swing at Microsoft, much like they skewered IBM in their "1984" Super Bowl commercial. That groundbreaking spot directed by Ridley Scott, whose later directed Oscar-winning films, also established the big game as the Super Bowl of advertising.

Is Jobs risking a counterattack from bigger, more powerful Microsoft? Tracey Riese of TG Riese & Associates branding consultants doesn't think so.

"It's not Microsoft they're fighting. It's the PC," she says. "I think Apple is smart to do this. They have a very important consumer barrier to overcome: the perception that the PC is the standard. A lot of people live with PCs because they think they have to. When you're in that situation, it's smart to address that directly rather than mess around."

Apple controls just 5% of the PC market. The "Switchers" ads are designed to support Apple's nationwide rollout of 51 retail stores and directly target the other nearly 95% of computer users.

What does Microsoft think? Spokeswoman Heidi Reys says, "We're glad consumers have a choice, and Apple is a great partner." But she's not buying the ads' message, saying Microsoft also is "pleased that Windows XP is the fastest-adopted operating system ever and that consumers are finding it tremendously easy to do things they care about like listen to music, share photos and create digital movies."

"Switchers" is Apple's biggest marketing effort since "Think Different" and is generating as much buzz as its predecessor. The real-people switchers include some tech types who use Windows on their day jobs and some celebrities, such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pro surfer Kelly Slater and skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Teen Ellen Feiss has become a cult figure for the spot in which she describes how her dad's PC ate her homework. "It was like, bleep, bleep, bleep. And then, like, half my paper was gone," says the sleepy-eyed teenager, who describes her experience as a "bummer." Feiss fans have built Web shrines to the apple of their eye.

The use of real consumers, rather than actors or models, in TV ads has become a trend on Madison Avenue. Besides Apple, some major advertisers casting regular folks include Gap and Holiday Inn.

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris directs the ads, shot in front of a simple white background. Similar to what happened with Budweiser's "Whassup?!" campaign, the ads have gotten the stamp of pop-culture success these days: Web parodies have been popping up almost since the first spot hit the air.

"Switchers" gets a mixed reaction from consumers surveyed by Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly poll. About 18% overall like them "a lot," nearly even with Ad Track average of 21%. Men and women like the ads equally. Consumers 30 to 39 like them most at 23%.

Surprisingly, 47% of 18- to 24-year-old consumers "dislike" the ads, the highest negative of any age group. They drove the overall "dislike" score to 17% vs. the Ad Track average of 13%. Only 4% ages 65 and up "dislike" the ads, the lowest negative group.

Apple's results indicate the ads are achieving their aim: Its retail stores racked up second-half sales of $163 million and about four of 10 of those buyers had never owned a Mac.

The ads can also be seen on Apple's Web site. Within a month, the "Switch" page had 1.6 million unique visitors, Jobs said at Macworld, and about 60% were Windows users.

Consumers embrace the "Switchers" ads because "They show you can live and work in a PC world," Riese says. "Whether it's ultimately successful in making people switch is a different matter. There's just so much advertising can do." sourced from USA today

Vampyromaniac

OK, why on Earth do people like this Ellen Feiss so much? :confudsed:

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