What I do is really simple;ask a customer what their homepage is, and what they do on the internet.  Then I show them how my Blackjack II does it.

As far as Windows Mobile vs. BB/iPhone/Garnet, I just say that there are many different devices running WM, and then I show them (I have BJII, Duo, Tilt, and Moto Q on hand) that they are different devices running the same OS, just for different needs.

My opinion, Windows Mobile doesn't make people feel like sheep by sticking to only one interface.

THAT IS SWEEEEEEEET!!!!  I found this Microsoft web site and made a post to how to market against the iphone....I should of posted it here:

These are really good short videos - thanks yrless.

yrless:

The theme and marketing Venue is - Possibilities: Products -

Sounds like that's exactly what we were hoping for, huh?  Excellent!

 

What do y'all think about the new Microsoft shoe store commercial?  I'm still debating wether it's totally stupid or completely genius.

Adam Z Lein:

What do y'all think about the new Microsoft shoe store commercial? 

I'm still trying to understand it.

Laura Rooke:

Adam Z Lein:

What do y'all think about the new Microsoft shoe store commercial? 

I'm still trying to understand it.

Trying to market a product by not dealing with the product has never been a good marketing strategy.  I think the Mojave commercials make more of an impact than the Seinfeld ones.

Personally, I am withholding judgement for the moment. There are clearly some smart people behind the new campaign, so I'm basically expecting that the TV ads will continue to evolve and build on a theme in a big way. What that theme is, I'm not sure I could tell you right now! But it must have something to do with the new more "ordinary" and "human" image Microsoft is projecting these days...

Bill Fisher:

Personally, I am withholding judgement for the moment.

 Agreed. It's more of a buzz generation move to get our attention and I think that's worked so far.

Great question. 

Briefly put, I have two answers that take me in different directions.

 1) The Advertising Agency Version: show practical functionality that relates to what people do in the day - easily, and fast - BUT - a) make the "functionality choices" revolve around segmented target market needs - and - b) make the ads appeal to people's sub-culture affinities.  

2) The Information Only version: I always feel a straight informational ad, while artistically boring, can convey a lot of practical information that prospective users can sort out.  Imagine some a voice-over that goes something like this:

Hi.  You may have noticed that many phones today come running Windows.  In fact xx companies (images of corporate logos) are making over xxx diferent types of phones (images of various latest phones), all running Windows Mobile (zoom in on typical Homescreen).  All the major phone companies around the world (logos from around the world) offer their customers (smiling faces of all races, cultures) Windows Mobile phones so they can do al sorts of cool things... like (and here is the listing of things you can do with corresponding images of phones doing these things) making voice activated calls, sending txt and email mesages, taking pictures, listing to the radio, listing to their personal music collections wirelesslessly with Bluetooth headphones, surfing the web, getting through traffic and planning trips, finding movies, playing games, record music, edit movies...etc...  If you'd like to know more about if Windows Mobile phones are right for you, check out WindowsMobile.com and see how Windows Mobile can fit your lifestyle.

I'm not a copywriter, but the idea I suggest is to, in plain spoken language and demonstrations, show what can be done.