Microsoft Corp. on Monday kicked off
what it says is its largest consumer advertising campaign ever, a $150
million push for MSN that uses a new logo
for the network, a multi-colored butterfly meant to symbolize freedom.
The ad campaign launches with a series of television sports created by McCann Erickson/A&L that plays off a
dramatic situation popularized by MTV‘s
“Real World”. In the spots, four strangers are challenged to live together
in a house where they perform their everyday tasks through MSN.
The characters do everything from shop for furniture to sharing photos with
family and friends. By showing people of different backgrounds and ages,
MSN hopes to reach audience members with varying levels of Internet
experience.
“The new ad campaign delivers a fresh perspective on what people can do
with the Web every day using MSN,” says Brad Chase, vice president in the
consumer group at Microsoft.
The spots will run on major broadcast and cable networks across a variety
of time segments and on shows such as “Frazier,” “Law & Order,” “Now and
Again,” NBA basketball and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” The print
campaign will run in magazines including Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, New York Magazine and Entertainment Weekly, as well as for the
next two weeks in national newspapers such as The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.
The campaign also marks the re-launch of the MSN Web site, and the debut of
a new logo for MSN, a multi-colored butterfly. The logo uses the yellow,
orange, blue and green colors common to Microsoft’s other brands.
“We wanted a logo that is unique among the major Internet brands, that fits
with the Microsoft brand, and that captures the spirit and imagination of
what Microsoft’s software, content and services can do to empower people’s
everyday lives,” says Yusuf Mehdi, director of marketing for the Consumer
Group at Microsoft.
“The MSN butterfly icon and cleaner, simpler font that accompanies it are
meant to capture the imagination and freedom that people should feel from
using MSN.”
