Why the movie and why this movie?
May 19, 2007
Why did we make the movie?
As you might have read in a earlier posting here: http://bringtheloveback.com/2007/03/14/why-a-movie/ we at Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions wanted to make this movie because: “We want to try and tell that digital media is not about technology but about quality of communication, about the interaction between 2 people. There is no better medium than a movie to symbolize the one-to-one communication between people, in this case between an advertiser and a consumer.”This only answers the question as to the choice of the medium, of course.
The next question we read a lot in the comments on this campaign was: “Why this movie?”. Again I wrote about it before here: http://bringtheloveback.com/2007/04/20/how-it-all-begun/ but I think it’s good to summarize our thinking. “We wanted to do this movie to really debate with our partners and marketers the changing relationship between advertisers and consumers. We are always discussing the changing media landscapes, how consumers have changed and how advertisers need to redefine how they connect with them and we wanted to really bring the subject to life and walk the walk in terms of new ways of connecting. We want to be able to use the movie online but also at every point in face-to-face interactions with our customers to open up conversations about how media is changing and of course we then want to go on to discuss how we can partner with them in this area.We will definitely not saying that MDAS is the solution to all marketer’s issues but we do want to bring to life some of the unique assets that we can use to help advertisers to reconnect with today’s consumer (look at in-game advertising, personal expressions in Messenger, Xbox, etc).
In terms of this campaign the movie is all about opening the conversation – the next challenge is to really focus on proof points for Microsoft in particular and that of course is slightly longer term project but its an area that we are very serious about.
Geert
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1. parolamia06 | May 19, 2007 at 1:30 pm
This is a great idea. It’s the conversation and the relationship that people want.
I just added this movie to my blog.
2. geert | May 19, 2007 at 1:49 pm
appreciate you sharing it. thanks
3. Toby | May 19, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Not only is the video brilliant for its message but a great example of how humor can help present ideas in a non threatening manner. Thanks for sharing the behind scenes and the lessons learned.
4. modifoo | May 19, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Just a little bow for
a) making such a good commercial
b) embracing openness by blogging about it
c) showing that Microsoft can indeed surprize us (and this comes from a sworn, long-before-the-iMac Apple fan.)
Fun also to read an “outsiders” description of a film set…
Would be interesting to hear how hard it was to sell this project internally.
Kudos from Norway.
5. Charles Edward Frith | May 19, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Erm reason for this? Nothing to do with Microsoft buying aQuantive for 6 Billion Dollars. Thats four times the amount WPP paid for the Global Grey advertising network. Times are changing.
Loving the work so far Geert.
6. geertd | May 20, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Hi Modifoo, thanks for the compliments, really appreciated… and indeed it was not easy to sell the project. I have to give credit to my managers (locally and dotted line to EMEA) for believing and trusting me with this. It is paying off but if you look at the briefing document only, it’s difficult to imagine the responses we’ve had sofar… all thanks to bloggers united of course!
7. geertd | May 20, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Hi Charles, remember I’m a simple marketing manager inone of the smallest countries in our group … just to say that I heard about the aQuantive acquisition at the same time as anybody else who checks his RSS reader once and a while!
8. Hans | May 21, 2007 at 1:08 am
Funny video, no doubt, telling a very true story. Though, does ist help to succeed in your goals?
You wrote: “There is no better medium than a movie to symbolize the one-to-one communication between people, in this case between an advertiser and a consumer.”
In my opinion, the keyword is “symbolize”. The movie is a symbol, not one-to-one communication in itself. This leads to my next comment:
You wrote:
“We want to try and tell that digital media is not about technology but about quality of communication, about the interaction between 2 people.”
What now: symbol or quality of communication? If you want quality in communcation, you cannot deal with any media, digital the least. Because it’s only symbolzing what you are aiming at. Seems to me, your two sentences just show the same mistake in thinking, the movie critisizes: it takes the symbol as the real thing. You want attention? I got coupons - for you, personally, with love and everything!
Think about it, honestly: technology always stands between direct commmunication between two people. It may enable interaction between individuals who would not be able to interact without this technology - but is this communication (there’s a difference between interaction and communication!) ? Save “quality of communication”. Save “one-to-one-communication between people”. So what you want to try and tell is a paradox you won’t be able to solve relying on technology. Digital media or not.
By the way: “one-to-one communication between people, in this case between an advertiser and a consumer” - Is an advertiser, nowadays, a “people”? They face “the consumer” as an agency, or any part of the advertising industry. They face “the consumer” as a wanna-be-person. They treat the consumer not as “a people”, but as part of a herd of consumers. That’s not supposed to sound negative, it’s just the way it is. What you are aiming at is not possible within the limits of the industry. What you might be able to achieve though, is to put a new lable onto old, maybe modernized methods.
Back in business.
As an alternative, just be honest: If advertisements stop telling “love” when the mean “coupons”, they might gain respect and credibility again. Love? Never. That’s reserved to people.
9. Campfire » Blog Arc&hellip | May 21, 2007 at 2:51 am
[...] Believe it or not, this fantastic video about the relationship between advertisers and consumers came from Microsoft! Even better, it’s not just another “viral video” but an actual conversation starter — and it’s working. [...]
10. Contos de estrelas e lim&hellip | May 21, 2007 at 5:36 am
[...] non só impresiona o video, senón as declaracións de quenes formaron parte da súa producción. Non sei se é posíbel tomar isto como unha mostra [...]
11. orcmid | May 21, 2007 at 5:40 am
Well, until her sweatshirt says “customer,” it’s really the same old non-conversation, isn’t it?
12. Microsoft - Bring the lov&hellip | May 21, 2007 at 6:31 am
[...] Microsoft is een nieuwe reclamecampagne begonnen: Bring the love back. Check het filmpje: The break up. [...]
13. Susan Martin | May 21, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Sticky! Look forward to the followup, whatever form it takes…
14. Paul Fabretti | May 21, 2007 at 8:10 pm
I have to say Geert, this is one fantastic idea and congratulations on having the balls to put something like this out there. I can’t help but fee though that there is a degree of “do as we say, not as we do”. Yes, MS offers a plethora of digital products and knows the customer is changing but what is MS doing itself? As more and more MS bloggers become “famous” and other online activities take hold, I can’t help feeling that MS knows which direction it needs to go but nobody is steering the ship.
Geert, this is a great piece of work, let’s just hope someone higher up the chain sees how transferable its message is to MS itself.
15. Top Posts « WordPre&hellip | May 22, 2007 at 12:02 am
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16. Geert | May 22, 2007 at 11:31 am
Hi Paul, thanks for your comment and I hope the same as you
17. iClectic » Blog Arc&hellip | May 22, 2007 at 6:45 pm
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18. Brady J. Frey | May 23, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Excellent, fantastic video! I almost spit up my coffee when I found out it was a Microsoft video - have you shown this to the Vista team or the design departments for packaging and advertising over there? Vista has multiple options for purchase, I’ve yet to find a consumer that is happy with that choice - and the packaging design are all bloat without theme. Hell, even the abundandant overkill of gloss features in the new UI seems contrary to consumer demand. Seems like most of their design and marketing is ran by middle management, and it shows.
That aside, beautiful piece, I absolutely loved it - I hope it influences both your company and your audience!
19. CPM Is Dead | Paul Collig&hellip | May 24, 2007 at 4:34 am
[...] Again, gotta say thanks to Microsoft for this video. Now I hope/pray that they practice what the preach. [...]
20. 5 Star Affiliate Marketin&hellip | May 29, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Fun Viral Video Advertisers need to Watch
For those of you having a hard time waking up after the long weekend, I thought I’d play a video I’ve been wanting to share on the blog for awhile now. Sit back and take a little break.
21. » Bring the love ba&hellip | June 1, 2007 at 1:58 pm
[...] plus d’information, je vous conseille de vous rendre sur le site spécialement dédié à cette campagne. Pour info, la vidéo à été visualisée plus de 75 000 [...]
22. Adam | June 1, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Great video, great way to convey the idea. Might expect it more from Amazon, Apple or Zappos, even Google but Microsoft? This might be where a few people in Microsoft would like to go, it could be something to steer the ship toward - the lighthouse waaaaaaaaaay off in the distance.
MSFT has a looooooooong way to go before this could actually represent Microsoft - even in it’s relationships with advertisers who throw lots of money at MSFT, let alone any individual customers who may buy or try to hold off buying Vista & other MSFT offerings.
23. Microsoft takes you on a &hellip | June 4, 2007 at 8:13 pm
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24. Jorge | June 16, 2007 at 3:38 am
Talk about globalization! The situation is identical everywhere and in every industry. Is it because ad companies have merged and we get the same diet all over formulated by the few gurus that cook for us? MacAds?
Relationships need to be reciprocal and balanced and the amazing thing is that it comes from Microsoft. iIwill not question their motives, the product is good and I will share it as much as I can.
25. sam | June 25, 2007 at 1:09 pm
we love bring i on so well it is the best move in the word x x x x x x x
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[...] - 10ter Junior-Agency-Tag an der Fachhochschule Wiesbaden! created © by http://www.bringtheloveback.com via [...]
28. Arturo Montano | November 11, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Hi, I just wanted to know if there’s any way that I can have a HQ version… or if you can send it to me somehow over email…
Thanks
29. The Future of Widgets and&hellip | December 9, 2007 at 6:13 am
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