Windows 7, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky and Chief Culture Officers
I’ve just started reading Grant McCracken’s indespensible new book, Chief Culture Officer. In it he highlights the efforts CP+B is doing on behalf of Microsoft (read my take on Grant’s take here). Looking at the campaign in its newest incarnation through the lens of Chief Culture Officer, I appreciate CP+B’s efforts even more. Here’s the ad in question:
The brilliance comes at the five second mark with the re-enacment of the protagonist’s epiphany moment. The Chief Culture Officers of CP+B added that litte throw-away element of inserting a super-hunk male model to replace the rather average looking consumer who is the star of the ad.
As Grant states in the book, CP+B has shifted the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” paradigm with these series of ads. Apple built its campaign saying that Apple is for the cool kids and PCs are for dullards, cowards and sheep. But the truth is subtler than that. Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” campaign shows that PC users are actually pretty smart, sophisticated folks. And if you’re one of those people and you’ve been using a PC for all these years the Apple ads are probably a little offensive.
But here’s the genius that CP+B ferreted out. This third group, the savvy, Apple-backlashing PC user isn’t an Alex Bogusky clone. They aren’t beautiful or super hip. But, when these people talk and think about themselves, they don’t see the reality we see of them, they see an ideal version of themselves.
In the blink of an eye, CP+B has flipped the script on Apple. Now, the cool personal computer user isn’t pseudo-hipster Justin Long (the actor who portrays ‘Mac’ in the Apple ads), but rather some person who you think you may have seen in a Calvin Klein print ad.
These nuanced understandings don’t just happen. It takes a real sensitivity to culture, and not just the culture you live within. Let’s be honest, we are not the gang at CP+B, those cats are way too cool. But instead of trying to cram together CP+B cool with PC reality – which never would have worked – they understood the key consumer insight of PC users (about 94% of all personal computer users in this country), that they think of themselves as hipper, smarter and better looking than maybe they really are.
Rick, great post, great analysis, Yes, the “how I look in my mind’s eye” was especially charming…and effective. It reflects the Microsoft Bogusky knowledge of, affection for the 7 consumer, a person who makes as you say no special claims to cool.
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