One Redmond Way | Razorfish

The answer isn't easy, for several reasons:

• Microsoft might see conflict of interest with advertising customers, if Avenue A | Razorfish produces ads in house.
• Ad customers might balk at conflict of interest if Avenue A | Razorfish produces ads in house.
• Microsoft may have contractual obligations with other ad agencies, such as McCann Erickson.
• Microsoft corporate culture is fairly insular, which over time could skew the in-house ad agency's ability to effectively market the company.

I don't see a big problem. I assume Microsoft uses MSN adCenter, while still offering services to others. Why should Avenue A | Razorfish be any different?

The bigger challenge is one of perception. Microsoft advertising and branding is a train wreck, although the company has done some track rebuilding with the Vista, Xbox and Zune campaigns. Ad agency McCann Erickson deserves credit for turning around some Microsoft branding. Still, there is no iconic ad, whereas Apple has a string of recent commercial campaign successes, including "Switchers" and "Get a Mac." Surely, Microsoft could do better. But there's hope, such as the new Windows Live Hotmail commercials.

Microsoft's advertising problem is complex:

• Brand names are too long. That said, Expression, Silverlight, Windows Vista and Zune are all moves in the right direction, and there are cool logos for each product, too. Long product names are tougher to market, so Microsoft needs more of this shorter nomenclature. There are reasons why book titles tend to be five words or less: They're catchy, easier to remember and deliver more impact (I concede the Harry Potter series gets away with six-and-seven word titles).
• Feature integration makes benefits more complex to communicate. Microsoft packs so much stuff into Windows and other products—and there is cross-product integration—it's tougher to communicate in a simple and straightforward way what are the benefits. A good agency as part of the company producing technology could better ferret out those benefits and better sell them.

  Example commercial: Scene opens with Jack meeting his new wife's parents for the first time. There is some nervous fidgeting around the coffee table where Jack will show the couple's wedding video from the Las Vegas elopement. The camera cuts to the computer, where there is no video—it's not on the computer, after all—and the camera cuts back to Jack and his sweating brow. But no sweat, as Jack remotes in to his Windows Home Server, pulls up the video in a two-second search and starts streaming content to the laptop.

• Microsoft's brand just isn't cool. It may never be. There is too much baggage because of the company's size, its antitrust problems, past business practices and stodgy marketing. C`mon, Microsoft doesn't have a corporate logo, other than its name. How do you memorably sell that? But Microsoft is big enough that there is room enough for brands, like Xbox. Silverlight and Windows Live that are potential break-out brands, and there is still hope for Zune. Microsoft's Zune branding efforts are quite good, although the marketing has got to improve a whole lot more to take on iPod. But the basic Zune foundation looks solid.

Microsoft executives and product managers love to talk about eating their own dog food, meaning using their own products. Avenue A | Razorfish could really distinguish itself by successfully making over Microsoft's brand and image—and that would be huge testimony to quality of the ad agency's services. The ad agency's best advertising of itself could be Microsoft marketing.

But if Microsoft fails its makeover, the example might just flush Avenue A | Razorfish's credibility right down the toilet.

Related Posts:

• Why Microsoft Wrote aQuantive a Big Check, Microsoft Watch, May 17, 2007
• Microsoft Week, 5-11-07, Microsoft Watch, May 11, 2007
• Celebs Get a Life Live, Microsoft Watch, April 24, 2007
• The Vista PC Diet Plan, Microsoft Watch, April 18, 2007
• Live Messengers' Flash in the Ads, Microsoft Watch, April 2, 2007
• What Are My Choices?, Microsoft Watch, March 7, 2007
• 'Go Beyond Vista', Microsoft Watch, Feb. 18, 2007
• Vista Ads are 'Lost' and Found, Microsoft Watch, Feb. 8, 2007
• The Wow Is When?, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 8, 2007