Tablet VS iPad
Before I begin I would like to provide a short summary of the commercial. At the start of the commercial there are an iPad on the left and a Surface RT tablet on the right. The person with the Surface tablet scrolls his or her apps and then zooms; after seeing that the person with the iPad then tried to zoom but Siri says “I do not zoom like that. Ouch. Ouch.” Next, the person with the Surface tablet puts an SD card in to expand their memory; as a result, of course, the person with the iPad tried it only to come to the conclusion that they cannot expand their memory. To continue the person with the Surface tablet then demonstrates the multitasking feature that Siri then admires by saying “You can do two things at once? That’s cool.” In the end, both people with the iPad and Surface tablet then move take their device off the screen to leave you seeing the price of each while Siri makes her final concluding comment of “Oh, that’s not cool.”
First, to analyze this advertisement, let us note some of the advertising techniques they used in this advertisement. After watching this ad a few times you begin to notice that they used stacking (listing reasons why the product is good), repetition, cause and effect (use this product and your problems will go away), price appeal, and name calling (comparing the product to the competition in a way favorable to the advertiser). Stacking, cause and effect, and name calling all somewhat overlapped one another in the commercial. This commercial began by showing an Apple iPad next to the Surface RT tablet; that implied that they will compare and contrast the two. In the process of name calling, Microsoft’s commercial showed many features of the Surface tablet by demonstrating them, which is similar to stacking; they demonstrate, or list reasons, how the Surface tablet is better than the iPad, which can also be seen as cause and effect. This commercial shows that if you get the Surface tablet, you will not have any of the problems that you faced with the iPad. Furthermore, while comparing the two devices, the commercial repeats itself frequently. Repetition is a good technique because it increases the chances that your audience will remember the information presented in your advertisement. Microsoft used this when they repeatedly showed how much better their product is than Apple’s product, and as a final point they used price appeal. Microsoft showed the cost of their new Surface tablet next to the price of an iPad, which showed the customers that they would save money if they went with the Surface tablet over the iPad.
Not only did Microsoft do a good job using several advertising techniques, they also did very well with many other aspects of the commercial. To start with, they did well with not having too much going on in the commercial by not having distracting backgrounds, motion, or music. Having too much going on in a single commercial could pull your audience’s attention away from the overall message, or persuasion technique, to get you to purchase their product. In addition to Microsoft’s commercial not having too much going on at once, they were also very clear with their message and got straight to the point. By taking into consideration that you only have seconds to catch and keep your audience’s attention, going straight to the point can be very beneficial because then the advertiser is more likely to get their message across.
On the other hand, like most things, this commercial also has room for some improvements to be made. While overall this commercial was very effective, it seemed to be over a little too quickly; it seemed like it did not have enough examples to sway the audience into switching from the iPad to the Surface tablet. Given the cost of a tablet computing device, a consumer is likely to need considerable reason to choose on product over another. This commercial, however, gave only three examples: expandable memory, multitasking and zoom. It would have been beneficial to have added many more. The commercial would have greatly benefitted from mentioning that the Surface tablet also has a larger display, can work with most printers, has more free cloud storage, comes with Microsoft office and every member of your family can have an account on the surface tablet; all of which the iPad does not have.
Nevertheless, even though we may see advertisements every day it almost seems that we see them so often that we do not even think about them anymore. With regards to this Microsoft commercial, at first glance we see this as humorous not necessarily as an advertisement. Microsoft, out of all the other companies in the world, chose to compare their product to Apple, why? Well, Apple is one of the largest companies around today and it very well-known. Apple products seem to be very popular yet they do not offer nearly as much as other company’s products do. Microsoft showed Apple fanatics that they are not getting what they paid for but if they switch to Microsoft you will not only have more and better features on your devices, you will also be saving money; which in this economy is always a plus.
Therefore, this commercial was effective but could have benefited from some minor adjustments. By using persuasion techniques that are common throughout the advertising industry—such as stacking, repetition, price appeal and name calling—the advertiser increases their chances of people purchasing their product. This commercial also did very well when it came to not only telling you to purchase their product but also showing you many reasons why you should; however, this commercial could have been a little longer and more persuasive by adding more reasons why you should get their product.
Brandi Slavich
Before I begin I would like to provide a short summary of the commercial. At the start of the commercial there are an iPad on the left and a Surface RT tablet on the right. The person with the Surface tablet scrolls his or her apps and then zooms; after seeing that the person with the iPad then tried to zoom but Siri says “I do not zoom like that. Ouch. Ouch.” Next, the person with the Surface tablet puts an SD card in to expand their memory; as a result, of course, the person with the iPad tried it only to come to the conclusion that they cannot expand their memory. To continue the person with the Surface tablet then demonstrates the multitasking feature that Siri then admires by saying “You can do two things at once? That’s cool.” In the end, both people with the iPad and Surface tablet then move take their device off the screen to leave you seeing the price of each while Siri makes her final concluding comment of “Oh, that’s not cool.”
First, to analyze this advertisement, let us note some of the advertising techniques they used in this advertisement. After watching this ad a few times you begin to notice that they used stacking (listing reasons why the product is good), repetition, cause and effect (use this product and your problems will go away), price appeal, and name calling (comparing the product to the competition in a way favorable to the advertiser). Stacking, cause and effect, and name calling all somewhat overlapped one another in the commercial. This commercial began by showing an Apple iPad next to the Surface RT tablet; that implied that they will compare and contrast the two. In the process of name calling, Microsoft’s commercial showed many features of the Surface tablet by demonstrating them, which is similar to stacking; they demonstrate, or list reasons, how the Surface tablet is better than the iPad, which can also be seen as cause and effect. This commercial shows that if you get the Surface tablet, you will not have any of the problems that you faced with the iPad. Furthermore, while comparing the two devices, the commercial repeats itself frequently. Repetition is a good technique because it increases the chances that your audience will remember the information presented in your advertisement. Microsoft used this when they repeatedly showed how much better their product is than Apple’s product, and as a final point they used price appeal. Microsoft showed the cost of their new Surface tablet next to the price of an iPad, which showed the customers that they would save money if they went with the Surface tablet over the iPad.
Not only did Microsoft do a good job using several advertising techniques, they also did very well with many other aspects of the commercial. To start with, they did well with not having too much going on in the commercial by not having distracting backgrounds, motion, or music. Having too much going on in a single commercial could pull your audience’s attention away from the overall message, or persuasion technique, to get you to purchase their product. In addition to Microsoft’s commercial not having too much going on at once, they were also very clear with their message and got straight to the point. By taking into consideration that you only have seconds to catch and keep your audience’s attention, going straight to the point can be very beneficial because then the advertiser is more likely to get their message across.
On the other hand, like most things, this commercial also has room for some improvements to be made. While overall this commercial was very effective, it seemed to be over a little too quickly; it seemed like it did not have enough examples to sway the audience into switching from the iPad to the Surface tablet. Given the cost of a tablet computing device, a consumer is likely to need considerable reason to choose on product over another. This commercial, however, gave only three examples: expandable memory, multitasking and zoom. It would have been beneficial to have added many more. The commercial would have greatly benefitted from mentioning that the Surface tablet also has a larger display, can work with most printers, has more free cloud storage, comes with Microsoft office and every member of your family can have an account on the surface tablet; all of which the iPad does not have.
Nevertheless, even though we may see advertisements every day it almost seems that we see them so often that we do not even think about them anymore. With regards to this Microsoft commercial, at first glance we see this as humorous not necessarily as an advertisement. Microsoft, out of all the other companies in the world, chose to compare their product to Apple, why? Well, Apple is one of the largest companies around today and it very well-known. Apple products seem to be very popular yet they do not offer nearly as much as other company’s products do. Microsoft showed Apple fanatics that they are not getting what they paid for but if they switch to Microsoft you will not only have more and better features on your devices, you will also be saving money; which in this economy is always a plus.
Therefore, this commercial was effective but could have benefited from some minor adjustments. By using persuasion techniques that are common throughout the advertising industry—such as stacking, repetition, price appeal and name calling—the advertiser increases their chances of people purchasing their product. This commercial also did very well when it came to not only telling you to purchase their product but also showing you many reasons why you should; however, this commercial could have been a little longer and more persuasive by adding more reasons why you should get their product.
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