For Sales, PC-Makers Cozy Up To Competitors

Microsoft, Intel, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are desperate not to be forgotten this holiday season.

The “PC Does What?” ads will focus on the versatility and flexibility of modern PCs and a few are suggesting that this is a delayed response to Apple’s late 00s ad campaign “Get a Mac” which depicted PCs as old and out-dated compared to “hip” Macs.

There’s arguably no better time in recent memory for a push around Windows machines.

The trio are joining forces with Intel and Microsoft in a TV, print and online advertising campaign that will launch today with the slogan “PC Does What?”, the report said.

“See what the next generation of PCs can do”, the campaign tagline reads, though quite how successful the commercials are depends on the taste of the viewer.

Microsoft approached Lenovo more than a year ago and asked if Lenovo would help Microsoft sell its Surface Pro PCs to businesses, says Lenovo’s COO Gianfranco Lanci. This new “PC Does What?” campaign feels a lot like those, targeting consumers directly to convince them to refresh their hardware. The decline in PC shipments worldwide has been blamed primarily on the rise of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, as consumers and business users redirected their technology dollars away from PCs and lengthened the lifespan of their systems.

“This is all about waking people up and showing them how far we have come collectively”, Microsoft marketing chief Chris Capossela said.

Microsoft is aiming to have 1 billion devices running Windows 10 in two to three years. But in the past they’ve usually worked with PC makers on a one-on-one basis, rather than working as a group.

The slump in the current PC market is evident to everyone, with falling sales year-over-year. The campaign uses native advertising to create storylines through editorial and video that will show, share and personalize PC experiences in a relatable way.

Earlier today, we covered a new Microsoft deal in which the company buys your old PC or Mac in order to give you money towards purchasing a new Windows 10 computer.