Microsoft: Lauren - another loser

Microsoft's latest effort in its war vs. Apple is the "Lauren" spot, in which an Everywoman is given $1000 to shop for a computer that meets her specs. Inevitably, she selects a PC. Check it out below.

The spot is flawed in both concept and execution.

Concept: The fact that Microsoft, the market leader by far, feels the need to respond so overtly to Apple's "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" campaign proves that campaign is either working, or really getting to Microsoft management, or both.

Microsoft might have considered simply ignoring the campaign, concentrating instead on its own branding and messaging. Except for one thing: Microsoft doesn't really have a brand. It's a classic example of "bigness," not "betterness." They've never had a consistent, meaningful branding campaign. I can't tell you what Microsoft stands for, and I've been on PCs for my entire career. Apple has done an outstanding job attacking this core brand issue.

So, instead of playing to its strengths, Microsoft dignifies Apple with a response. Lauren says, "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person." This is clearly meant to be a competitive jab, but it also reinforces Apple's position. I can't imagine they find this too troubling at Apple headquarters.

Lauren proceeds to find a laptop PC that meets her specs for $700, and gets to keep the difference. So Microsoft is effectively saying, "We're cheap." And that's not much of a response at all, because Apple has been saying, "Your stuff is hard to use and it's riddled with errors." One would expect such a brand to be cheap. No news here.

And I won't even get into the obvious "true cost of ownership" argument here, except to say that a few negative, time-consuming operating experiences quickly negate a few hundred dollars in purchase price savings.

The lesson: Either position yourself, or your competitors - even if they're significanly smaller - will happily do it for you.

Execution: Denizens of the web have worked their magic once again. Last week, Freddie Laker reported in AdAge that Lauren, who is presented in Microsoft's spot as an average everyday computer shopper, actually has her SAG card. Yup, she's an actress.

Further, people have deconstructed the ad and smell something fishy. Check out the :13 mark of the spot - there's a tall guy in a black jacket to Lauren's right as she walks into the Apple store. Then check out the :15 second mark, when Lauren walks out - the same guy is just a few paces down the sidewalk. So does she walk into the store at all? Is the whole thing staged? Good questions.

The lesson: Authenticity counts. It's all too easy to find out these days if you're trying to pull the wool.