This head scratching teaser ad that ran during the NFL’s opener left much to be desired for industry folks looking forward to a collaboration between Microsoft, Jerry Seinfeld and Crispin Porter & Bogusky. But what do discount shoes have to do with saving the sinking reputation of their Vista software? And is now the time to be running teaser ads, when Apple has already taken away all your “cool points” and the Internet looms as the next frontier for email, spreadsheets, documents and more?

The New York Times answered with a resounding “yes!” Microsoft is setting the stage to make up for the mishaps of the 2007 Vista launch. The Times reports:

“In broad terms, the strategy was to work more closely with PC makers and retailers, and change perceptions of the Windows brand with a multiyear marketing campaign that Mr. [Bill] Veghte called ‘a sustained conversation about what Windows is.’”

Microsoft is moving beyond the PC to focus more on its Windows brand, which is currently integrated in phones, the Web and much more. And by assembling a “retail experience center” in Seattle, sharing its research with retailers and employing hundreds of experts to patrol Best Buy and Circuit City to help shoppers, Microsoft is in essence coming down from its throne.

And while the teaser ad begs the question of whether its star (Seinfeld and not Bill Gates) was overpaid, Microsoft has too much riding on this $300 million campaign to not invest all of its resources into making the consumer fall in love with Windows again.

Written by: Kirsty

If you ever wondered whether grammar is important, here’s a tidbit that may change your mind.  Exercises like this are why Talk gives every prospective employee a spelling and grammar test during the hiring process.  (Thanks to Diana Holdridge for passing this along)

An English professor wrote the words:  ” A woman without her man is nothing” on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote : “A woman, without her man, is nothing.”

All the females in the class wrote : “A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

Punctuation is powerful!!

Written by: Debbie

I came across a blog posting today about why spec creative is a bad idea.  Here are the highlights:

Why it’s a bad idea #1: Because a spec campaign is typically developed with only the most dangerous input: the preconceived notions, biases and personal experience of the team creating the work.

Why it’s a bad idea #2: You’ll get a strategy developed without your input. The best client-agency relationships are collaborative partnerships, where strategies are developed together.

Why it’s a bad idea #3: You’ll get really comfortable, safe work. The spec creative process creates an incentive to please you first and consumers second.

Keep this insight in mind when your company is looking for an agency.  A decision based on an agency’s prior successes, current capabilities and the chemistry you have with your account team will bring you much more success than a decision based on free ideas.

Written by: Debbie

After the fifth time of watching the Snickers commercial in which five costumed characters are singing Greensleeves, I had to explore this further. I was confused and felt like I was listening to the punch line before I ever heard the joke. So I googled the spot and found the “entire movie” on You Tube. The movie tells the whole story about these characters and how they come together to enjoy the Snickers “Feast.” The Greensleeves spot is actually the end of the movie, so no wonder I was lost. Pretty clever marketing on Snickers part. I can’t recall a time that I’ve googled a TV spot lately. I wonder if the TV spot is intended to act as a teaser to drive traffic to the movie on You Tube? Clever indeed. Check it out. Tell us what you think.

Snickers Feast

Written by: Debbie

Apple knows the key to getting noticed – clever content and high frequency. While watching TV the other night, I saw three new Mac vs. PC commercials (Pizza Box, Calming Teas and Throne) air on one channel within 2-hour time block. I didn’t find these commercials as entertaining as some of their predecessors, but I was intrigued by the fact that they didn’t just show the same one multiple times. With the lofty costs of producing commercials, it’s rare for a company to introduce more than one new concept at a time. But Apple’s investment is bound to pay off simply by doing something that no one else is.

Written by: Susan

College football kicked off this past weekend. When this time of year rolls around at the Stephenson household, it pretty much means the TV will be on ESPN for four solid months. While my husband watches the games carefully, analyzing plays and talent, I notice the “girly” things, like new uniform trends. Something I took note of on Saturday was a commercial promoting Team Colors — a line of Glidden paint designed to “bring your team home”, available exclusively at Home Depot. 

Die-hard fans can now decorate their homes using exact colors from their favorite college, NASCAR, NFL, NHL, Soccer and Olympic teams. And people are going all out! You can even enter a contest to win a free luxury suite at the Chic-fil-A Bowl. Even though I probably won’t convert our guest bedroom into a Lion’s den any time soon, I thought Team Colors was a groovy example of an innovative, co-branded product.

Written by: Natalie

Political arenas were shocked to the core last Friday when Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain announced his pick for vice president, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.

In a bold move to gain Clinton supporters and kick off the Republican National Convention, McCain is following in Obama’s footsteps: he’s making history by choosing a female running mate. Despite the myriad nasty press coverage surrounding her teenage daughter’s pregnancy (which has nothing to do with her capabilities as VP), Palin has her eye on the prize: the White House.  Her executive experience includes managing a budget of over $10 billion and more than 24,000 employees.

With many conservatives, as well as Clinton supporters, on the fence regarding the governor, tonight’s debut will be her first and most important chance to define herself to the American public.  Can she win over those who so fervently supported Hillary Clinton?  Will she strengthen the Republican party’s faith in McCain’s surprise pick? Most importantly, does she have what it takes to help lead McCain to victory as the next Chief of Staff?  Tune in tonight to find out!

Written by: Kelly

Debbie loves The Democratic and Republican National Conventions – What an incredible media show.  It’s fascinating to watch the theatrics, the showmanship and the rhetoric.  It’s democracy at it’s finest and media coverage at its most entertaining.  Campaigning should be an Olympic event.

Kirsty loves Woot.com – This deal-a-day website was recently named one of Inc. Magazine’s “5,000 fastest growing companies.” Changing the face of online retailing, woot! offers a shocking discount on one tech item everyday - until they sell out. With more than 13,000 followers on its Twitter page, woot! is the 31st most popular site on the network. The demand has even spawned separate sites for t-shirts and wine. Plus, beyond, all these merits, it’s simply fun to say the company name WOOT!

Kelly loves the partnering of professional dancer, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Misty May-Treanor on the hit series, Dancing with the Stars – Millions of female fans across the country, myself included, will be tuning in later on this month to see the two-time world champion shake his bon-bon with Olympic gold medalist May-Treanor as they try to cha cha their way to gold. Go Maksim!

Kristen loves Barack Obama’s campaign plan – I think it is great how he is targeting the youth of our nation. He already has so many young followers compared to McCain, and he has promised to use his young supporters to get more even more young people on board. I am interested to see what sorts of tactics he will use before November.

Lindsay loves Double Stuf Oreos – I love Double Stuf Oreos, but when you live alone, getting an entire pack is a diet disaster. So, image my surprise when I recently spotted an individual serving pack of Double Stuf Oreos at my local Walgreens. Thanks to the clever new packaging, health conscience consumers like me can now enjoy a serving of Double Stuf Oreos with a glass of milk, hold the guilt.

Natalie loves Chrome – No, not the kind of chrome that trimmed cars from the fifties. This is high-tech chrome – Google’s new browser. While I haven’t tried it out yet, I hear it has all of the best features from existing browsers. If it’s anything like Google’s search engine, then I’m sure it will be easy to use and a bit playful.

Shawn loves The U.S. Open – Tonight is a big night in tennis, as the Williams sisters battle it out in the quarter-finals. It is their 11th match in a grand slam event. I always enjoy watching the two of them balance sisterly love with their competitive natures. And men’s top seed Rafael Nadal will surely put on a great show trying for a semi-final placement.

Susan loves Ace of Cakes – For a TV show with such an animatedly loud cast of characters, Ace of Cakes slunk quietly into my life. But now that the Baltimore bakery Charm City Cakes is on my radar, my goal in life is to one day get a Duff Goldman and crew masterpiece. This team of wise-cracking artisans don’t need to market themselves. Just spend one half hour on Thursday nights watching Food Network and you’ll be sold on them too.

Written by: Susan

The threat of losing the world’s honeybees has been a big topic in the news the past few years. Our bees are disappearing at an alarming rate, and no one seems to know why.

The ice cream maker Haagan-Dazs is taking a stand. As a company that uses all-natural ingredients in its recipes, “bee pollination is essential in nearly 40% [their] super-premium flavors.” Due to this high percentage, Haagan-Dazs is donating money to help fund bee research. For every pint of “bee-dependent” flavor the ice cream giant sells, they are donating a portion of the proceeds to research programs at Pennsylvania State University and University of California at Davis.

The ice creamery has landscaped its offices and manufacturing sites with glory bushes, jasmine and rosemary to entice bees to pollinate. It also encourages its employees to plant bee-friendly flowers and bushes in their yards by supplying them with free flower seeds. To find out more about the crisis and what you can do to help, visit http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/. While there, you can also create your own bee personality and buy Haagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees gear.

Written by: Susan

The presidential candidates have announced their running mates. On CNN this morning, they were discussing the “optics” of both tickets. While their experience and political views are obviously more important than how they look together, it’s still interesting to compare. The democrats have Obama, 47, and Biden, 65. Then on the republican side, you have McCain, 72, and Palin, 44.

In the images below, pulled from the campaign websites, notice the differences. The democrats have full smiles and are looking off into the distance (the future, perhaps). The republicans have controlled smiles and are looking straight into the camera.

While both tickets are comprised of an older white man, they both also have firsts — an African American and a female. Visually speaking, neither of these couples look like your typical pair. But which one looks more presidential? Which couple has more chemistry? And how much will that influence voters? I guess we’ll all find out soon enough…

Written by: Natalie