Microsoft has launched an advertising campaign for Office 2007 with a web site, www.office2007.com, hosting five 2-minute films and a range of demos. In contrast to the Wow! campaign for Windows Vista, this launch is almost entirely digital in nature. Out Of Home and print advertising point potential users to the web site where an interactive experience is designed to highlight the new software package’s benefits. The films are presented in a custom-built player with quick keys, captions, and capacity to send to a friend.
Day 2: Mesmerized
This film, set in a Paris publishing office, highlights the new Fluent interface in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook. A thin slice of bread from the Boulangerie d’autregois is delicately inserted in the toaster of the third floor break, bursting into flame as workers become glued to a laptop screen. The fire gradually spread through the office, activating sprinklers and alerting officers of the local Parisian fire brigade. But even the fire fighters become enthralled in the new software. “No one should ever underestimate the powerful attraction of an intuitive new interface.”
https://vimeo.com/42358358
Day 3 The Divider
This film, set on the 14th floor of the Fabricam building, points to the benefits of LiveMeeting and SharePoint services. Phil Gibbons and Frank Zhang both each been with Fabrikam for over thirty years. They share an interest in taxidermy, both enjoy coffee, and are both married. And yet they’ve never met. They’ve been separated by a divider made of veneered wood and pebbled glass. When someone disassembles the divider they discover each other, the latest version of the Swiss proposal and the conference room.
Day 5 The Nightmare
Herbert Holzer’s worst nightmare is about to be realized. With little notice he was asked to speak at the Dusseldorf Plastics and Technology Conference. Unfortunately Herbert’s PowerPoint slides are working against him, appearing upside and back to front, with far too much text. The film provides a series of metaphors for inadequacy, climaxing in his awareness that he has no pants. But of course it’s a nightmare. He wakes up realizing that it’s time to get the new version of PowerPoint and Excel.
Day 6 The Quest
The benefits of Enterprise Search and SharePoint Server 2007 are highlighted in the frazzled experience of Carlisle Neblitt. During the presentation of a business proposal to Woodgrove Bank a potential investor asks to see the FY02 numbers. Carlisle has to find it -the single piece of business information that had always eluded him. Running back to his office he gathers up the papers that may include the file he needs.
Day 8 The Stranger
This introduction to InfoPath 2007, Outlook 2007 and Excel 2007 is set in the Jones residence where a father struggles to connect with his daughter’s school day. His son uses a brussel sprout to launch a horror sequence that culminates in a stranger’s appearance at the door.
The films are clearly aimed at both the right and left sides of the brain, providing a level of detail about places and times alongside symbolic imagery and quirkiness. Fictional companies such as Zurich Publishing, Woodgrove Bank and Fabricam are used as scenarios throughout Microsoft’s online publicity.
Rob Bagot, executive creative director of McCann Erickson San Francisco, says the campaign is largely about avoiding a frontal assault, and instead enticing people to try this year’s Office for themselves. “The brief came in as experiential campaign, and the approach that seemed to work best, in terms of driving awareness, was out-of-home and print. But everything drives consumers to experience the product,” he says.
Credits
The New Day campaign was developed at McCann by executive creative director/art directorJohn McNeil, creative director/copywriter Rob Bagot, art directors Kevin Gammon, copywriter Juliana Cobb, agency producer Therese Vreeland.
Filming as shot by director Stacy Wall via Epoch Films with director of photography Salvatore Totino.