Marketing and getting the joke

On the way in to work today, I heard on NPR a brief mention that Microsoft, hard hit by the brilliant "I'm a Mac" ad campaign, has enlisted comedian Jerry Seinfeld to help counter the ads and reestablish its "street cred."

A few things come to mind.

1) No one on NPR should ever use the term "street cred." Especially not as it concerns Jerry Seinfeld.

2) The ad geniuses at Microsoft just don't get it.

The "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads have been successful because they understand their audience and appeal specifically to it. Better than that, they know what audience they WANT to attract and have pointedly played to that group. The young, hip, artsy crowd immediately identifies with Justin Long's uber hipster/slacker. We (yes, I am totally counting myself in this crowd) laugh at his good natured ribbing of John Hodgman's PC. Long's Mac is the ad world's version of Jim Halpert. And, we get the joke. We see nice guy, cool guy, guy we want to hang out with. And, we think that we too should have Macs, to be cool and hip.

Trying to use Seinfeld to counter this image just proves that Microsoft doesn't get the joke. Jerry Seinfeld is a funny guy (so I hear, I never really cared for him), but his appeal is to the fans of his TV show - i.e. people who were 30somethings almost 20 years ago. Totally different audience, and if that is what Microsoft is after, great! However, if the goal is to reclaim the "youth vote" as it were, they need someone with ACTUAL "street cred."

How does this relate to museums (see, you knew I'd get there eventually)? Most museums are now marketing to younger audiences - either parents of young children (25-45) or young professionals (25-40). These audiences are increasingly responsive to a level of fun and humor that is not always present in museum marketing.

The IMA did it well with their campaign for "Roman Art from the Louvre," most notably with ads with the line "togas not required." Silly, simple, and clever. I'll be on the lookout for clever advertising for museums, as there isnt much out there.

Museum directors need to trust their marketing teams to come up with ideas that appeal to the target audience - which may not include the director! Too often I wonder if directors push for advertising that appeals to them personally, rather than what will appeal to the target audience. There is so much creativity in museums, it will be great to watch it go wild.

So, way to go Microsoft - you basically proved Apple's point for them.