When you feel the Jerry Seinfeld-Bill Gates spots had been Microsoft;s biggest ad blooper, you might have forgotten regarding the $500 million “People-Ready” campaign the company launched in 2006.
On January 12, Microsoft launched a new phase of that People-Ready print/TV/online campaign,
Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus, with the slogan: “It;s Everybody;s Business.”
People-Ready is Microsoft;s pitch aimed business users — not the consumers who are the focus of its “I;m a PC” ads. While Microsoft officials originally said People-Ready was aimed squarely at IBM,
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, few customers actually made that connection. Or any connection,
Microsoft Office Professional 2007, for that matter. People-Ready asked managers whether they had been running companies that were “people-ready” — which seems to have meant ready to install Vista, Office 2007 and other new Microsoft products within the chute.
The new phase of the campaign,
Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, from a quick look at the updated People-Ready Web site, doesn;t seem tied to Windows 7 and Office 14, or any other Microsoft products, for that matter. The campaign includes animated spots highlighting business customers; thoughts about how to get the most bang for the buck with technology, especially within the current turbulent economy.
From a Q&A on Microsoft;s Web site:
“As for executing the campaign, we’ve taken a hard look at every advertising and marketing dollar we’re spending, and there are areas where we’re changing plans. We also feel we’re getting a great deal on advertising ‘real estate; right now, so we hope we can get a lot more value out of the dollars we are spending today.”
The new “People-Ready” campaign was developed by ad agency JWT. According to estimates,
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, Microsoft is expecting to spend $200 million on the updated People-Ready program.