Windows Vista Wow Campaign Too Slow

Microsoft‘s Windows Vista platform is slowly making its way into the world, helped along the way with “Wow!”, a TV advertising campaign produced in Austria for global and generational ranges of viewers. When I say slowly, I refer to the almost non-existent online presence of the TV/cinema ads. I would have expected that the ‘Wow’ campaign would be on everybody’s computer by now – in everyone’s own language. However it is nowhere to be seen on the Windows Vista site. At the very least, I would have thought the ads would be promoted as free downloads on Windows Media Player stores. However, after much online searching, I found my way to Austria to discover ‘Rocket’, an invitation to see the world through new eyes, new windows, new perspectives.

A young girl draws her family’s attention to the black and white television in the lounge showing a history-making rocket launch. “Look at that!”, says her dad. “Wow!”, says her mother. A climber looks up the bluff he’s been climbing. “Wow!” A young tourist takes in her view of the Great Wall of China. “Wow!” (Scenes from the original launch in New York).

A group of African children (Ivory Coast?) watch an outside broadcast of a World Cup football game. “Wow!”, says one of the boys. A man walks out into his street, preparing for a commute to work. He says a deer, complete with antlers, standing perfectly still in the street. “Wow!” People watching the destruction of the Berlin Wall on television are awestruck when one of their number walks through the door carrying one of the bricks. “Wow!”

A young boy looks through a window to see a snowscape. “Wow!” A basketball coach (Lebron James) is amazed by the talent of a young player. “Wow!” A young diner in an outdoor setting is highly impressed by skills of the guy who can pull a table cloth off the table without disturbing anything. “Wow!”

A South African woman takes a break from running to look back at the slope she’s just climbed. “Wow!”, she says, looking down on Capetown. As a computer user opens his laptop the voiceover ties the Wow experiences together with a series of screen shots from Windows Vista: “Every so often you experience something so new, so delightfully unexpected, that there’s only one word for it. “Wow!” Introducing Windows Vista.”

Credits

The Windows Vista Wow campaign was developed at McCann Erickson Worldwide, (Austria office) by executive creative director Bernd Misske, copywriter Chistian Barylli, art director Andrea Böhm, client service director Christof Sigel, account executive/strategic planner Martina Granig, strategic planner Martina Granig. The San Francisco team included executive creative director John McNeil, group creative director/art director Gerald Lewis, copywriter Greg Mills, agency producers Ed Galvez and Hannah Murray. Japanese creative director was Abe Masaya.

Filming was directed and produced by Christian Loubek via Anonymous Content, with director of photography Ben Seresin, executive producer/head of commercials Dave Morrison, executive producer Jeff Baron and producer Paul Ure.

Post Production was done at PBO Filmproduktion, Vienna. Telecine was done by colorist Bob Festa at Riot, Los Angeles. Filmcore editor Doug Walker worked with executive producer Jon Ettinger. Effects were done at Digital Domain, with graphics developed at Evil Eye Pictures, San Francisco.

Music was composed by Brian Banks at Ear to Ear Productions. Sound was designed by Kim Christensen at Noises Digital, Los Angeles. Audio post was done at Play Studios by mix engineer John Bolen.

Media distribution is the responsibility of Universal McCann, under the planning direction of Oliver Ellinger, offline media planner Margit Kastner, and online media planner Roman Breithofer.

Windows Vista 60 seconds Wow Ad (Italian version) at YouTube

Windows Vista Launch Advertisement (2 minutes) from New York at YouTube