by , 9:00 AM EDT, October 10th, 2002
C|Net is reporting that Microsoft will be kicking off a new ad campaign that goes where Apple seems loathe to tread: pushing its Mac OS X offerings. Microsoft will begin a series of print ads in Mac and mainstream magazines that pushes Office v.X, and the very good compatibility between today's Macs and PCs. This contrasts with Apple's own advertising which does not push Mac OS X, or its own Mac OS X software offerings. From the C|Net report:
The ads, which play up the ability of Macs and PCs to get along, will begin showing up Saturday in magazines geared at Macintosh, business, technology and design audiences, according to an e-mail from a Microsoft representative. One ad features a Mac and a PC playing chess by the pool, while another shows a Mac and PC eating Chinese take-out while watching a late-night movie.
"Macs and PCs have never been so compatible," read the ads' headlines. The ads encourage Mac users to go to a new Web site, www.officeformac.com to download a 30-day free trial of Office.
There is additional information in the full article, which we deem a good read.
We are also encouraged that Microsoft is willing to invest money in Mac advertising. Certainly it's in the company's best interest to do so in light of its efforts to get a good Return On Investment (ROI) on its own development efforts, but the ads could have easily taken a less complimentary approach to selling Office v.X. For instance, the ads could have instead focused on Office v.X's features, and the ad budget could have been spent entirely on Mac-oriented magazines. This would in some ways have been a much less costly and more highly targeted approach, which would have been a much safer bet for the company. As it is, while these ads may well help sell more copies of the software, they may also help Apple sell more Macs. You have to love that.