MSN Launches $150 Million Ad Campaign
In a bold move, Microsoft rolled out a site redesign and new TV ads the same week as a major AOL upgrade.
In a bold move, Microsoft rolled out a site redesign and new TV ads the same week as a major AOL upgrade.
Microsoft Corp. Wednesday kicked off a $150 million global campaign promoting its MSN portal and the new version of its MSN Explorer browser.
The campaign is unabashedly geared at making the MSN network “the No. 1 global Internet brand,” according to the company.
Of course, this means having to hop over the reigning Internet brands of America Online and Yahoo. AOL this week took the wraps off a major service and technology overhaul.
But MSN’s marketers are confident in its campaign — the company’s largest since it launched Windows 95.
“We believe the campaign will appeal to users of all skill levels and will position MSN as their home on the Web,” said Microsoft vice president of marketing Yusuf Mehdi. “It will inspire and enable them to get the Internet experience they are looking for.”
McCann-Erickson’s San Francisco office, which grew out of MSN agency Anderson & Lembke, designed the campaign’s print and outdoor creatives and two television spots.
The first TV spot, “Butterfly,” break Wednesday and plays on the MSN logo — a butterfly colored similarly to Microsoft’s Windows operating system’s logo. It features a remake of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound.” TV spots will run in North American, Asian and European markets.
“The campaign aims to showcase MSN as the place on the Web where the Internet and technology can become not only an indispensable tool but a natural part of consumers’ daily lives,” Mehdi said.
Microsoft also rolled out other announcements Wednesday, including a new browser and an enhance search engine with “local human intelligence” — similar to content portal About.com’s system.
More about:
Lucy helps organizations leverage knowledge for in... View Tech Talk
TVSquared is the global leader in cross-platform T... View Tech Talk
Grata is a B2B search engine for discovering small... View Tech Talk
Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing ... Download Now
Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. ... Download Now
This report documents the findings of a Fireside c... Download Now
Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touc... Download Now
Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...
View resourceData is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...
View resourceThis report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...
View resourceCustomers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...
View resourceMarketers today need to thoughtfully select visuals that align with their content, boost SEO performance and drive ROI Read More...
View articleHow the sunglasses giant created subconscious brand recall value with music festival-goers through the power of strategic partnerships and experientia...
View articleIn life, as much as on LinkedIn (or Facebook, Twitter, etc.) people and brands who blabber on about themselves become annoying and best avoided, soone...
View articleBuilding trust in your brand is hard enough. Now take a situation where your audience is so cynical of your product offering some of them even call fo...
View articleThere is room for better lead capturing as ABM evolves in a cookieless world Read More...
View articleTop-of-mind action points that will be valuable to challenger brand marketing for the rest of 2021 and 2022 Read More...
View articleOmnichannel marketing presents an opportunity to marketers but requires better use of data Read More...
View articleThe dark horse your business needs to outperform competition and win at search Read More...
View article