Microsoft MSN TV Tunes in Seniors, While Pocket PC Drops Palm Combat.

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Author: Wasserman, Tod

THE CIRCUIT

A few years ago when Microsoft began pitching Web TV, its TV-based Web-surfing device, the company noticed a strange phenomenon: The product, which was marketed to the mainstream, was disproportionately winding up in the clutches of seniors, often as holiday gifts.

So, this holiday season, Microsoft has decided to go where the customers are. Late last month the company began testing three direct-response TV spots ranging from 60-120 seconds for the device, now called MSN TV. The ads will break this month on national cable with network placement in Miami; Tampa, Fla.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; and Des Moines, Iowa.

The focus of the campaign is split. One ad, narrated by a 30ish woman, is targeted at people with parents in the 55-plus range whom they would like to have on e-mail and instant messaging.

The other two feature mostly seniors (though there is a high schooler and some others in their 20s and 30s) describing the benefits of the $99 Web-cruising box. The $5 million push, via Euro RSCG Tyee MCM, Portland, Ore., also includes print in Modern Maturity and direct mail.Exploiting DR'S benefits, the ads are tagged with various toll-free numbers and URLs to track responses.

Sam Lawrence, vp-marketing and business development for Euro, said in a down economy, many are going direct. "Microsoft is a perfect example of the trend we're seeing for direct response and accountability," he said.

Sam Klepper, senior dir.-marketing for MSN TV, said already the company has seen a 25% jump in sales where the ads have aired. "We've found it's very important to show this demo the product in action because they've been forever intimidated by tech," said Klepper.

While MSN TV seems a niche product for now, the company's Pocket PC operating system is going more mainstream. Former ads for the software, which is used on handheld computers, included side-by-side comparisons with Palm, but the new campaign taps a convenience pitch. Creative illustrates various instances where a handheld would come in handy to combat boredom.

One ad in the out-of-home campaign, for instance, shows a male exec in a meeting or presentation and the headline, "38 minutes. Doodle or download?" In another, a man rests his head on his thumb and index finger and looks adrift. "17 minutes. Sit and wait or communicate?" it reads. The ads, via McCann-Erickson, San Francisco, broke last week.

The approach contrasts with Microsoft's last campaign for Pocket PC, which took on Palm's devices with the claim, "Software matters? Derek Brown, director of mobile devices, said once research showed Microsoft had hit 30% in global market share, it was time to shift the message. "In terms of awareness, we had broken through," said Brown. "We wanted to talk about the experience [of the product]."

Unlike last year, there is no print component to the campaign, though this effort is global with ads running in Europe and Brazil for Microsoft's Smart Phone software, whereas the last campaign was domestic. Brown declined to specify a budget, but said it would be a "substantial increase." Microsoft spent $10 million on Pocket PC last year versus Palm's $17.3 million, per CMR.

After embracing a strategy of winnowing its 1,244 software brands into four sub-brands, Computer Associates has gone even further. Now there's just one brand: CA. Three new TV ads, via Young & Rubicam, New York--one of which broke in October--will highlight the CA name. The four sub-brands--Unicenter, e Trust, BrightStor and Jasmine--were introduced two years ago along with a "3 x 6" strategy that grouped its products into three strategic areas and six core focus units.

Ads this past spring continued to highlight sub-brands. January's Emmy-nominated "Amnesia," which showed a hapless exec at a loss, information-wise, after two of his staffers are knocked out in freak slapstick incidents, for instance, cleverly promoted BrightStor. Some time later, the sub-brands and 3 x 6 were quietly phased out.

E-mail:twasserman@brandweek.com

PHOTO (COLOR): MSN TV targets 55+ demos (top) and gives Pocket PC a hand.

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By Tod Wasserman