Microsoft Vs. Mac: Why 'Value' Is Only Half The Battle
Posted by meredith on 05-19-2009
Can a good bargain beat street cred? Microsoft hopes so: the brand's most recent "Laptop Hunters" campaign features young shoppers on a quest to meet all of their computer needs for under $1000, finding time and again that they can't beat the price of Microsoft and Microsoft-compatible, read: PC, products.
And yet, despite this effective messaging about the dollar value of Microsoft, and by extension PC over Apple — and it is effective, Ad Age, reg. reports that according to BrandIndex data, Microsoft has risen in value-perception from nearly zero to 46.2 on a scale of 100 since the ads started running — I'm still skeptical that this actually will translate into young people purchasing more PCs.
My feeling is that older teens and twentysomethings, especially those who spend their days adrift in a sea of Macbooks, would still hesitate before going into a store or logging on to a site and attempting to recreate the "Laptop Hunter" experience. Mainly because in real life it's not as simple as opting for a Microsoft/PC over a Mac/Apple – it's more like choosing a multitude of options vs. making one single choice. Even on the basic level of the shopping experience. Although Microsoft recently announced plans to change this, as of now, there is no PC or Microsoft equivalent to the Mac store. And even then, and this is the really glaring issue that the "Laptop Hunter" ads seem to gloss over, you can't just choose a PC… you have to choose which PC adding a number of additional variables that affect both the quality and the price of the combo you end up buying. With Apple it's a package deal and a package price.
In many ways, Apple has the same Gen Y appeal as an American Apparel t-shirt: recognizable, simple.. and, yes, slightly overpriced. So why is it worth it? Because, in both cases you know exactly what you are paying for (mainly because you've seen everyone else you know using the same product). And even if you do run into technical issues with your Mac along the way, you are, again, in the same boat as all those other people and are also able to seek out an approachable customer service option (i.e., the Genius Bar at the Mac Store full of other Gen Y-ers).
The shared perception speaks to a point I heard months ago at the KidScreen conference: it's not the price, it's the innovation. And with Apple, innovation is clearly the bottom line both in the products themselves as well as the shopping and customer service options. So I wouldn't be surprised if college students would rather spend their time seeking out student discounts for the Mac of their dreams than figuring out whether they should be buying a Gateway or a Toshiba.
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Categorized under: Collegians
May 20th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I agree with your argument …it's not the cost as much as the features and abilities of the computer. Additionally, as we note in our upcoming 2009 gTrend Report on Teens and Technology (to be presented for the first time at YPulse), teens are looking for simplicity and ease in their life. They are accustomed to the world at the touch of a button and are constantly seeking efficiency (such as efficiently managing their social lives via one web-page–their social networking page). We also say that technology is the new badge item…that they are looking for their technology to work well and look cool. Apple makes all of the hard choices for the young consumer and allows them to get it in a cool looking and full featured package.
My personal experience reflects this as well! I started my computer experience with a Mac back in the late 80's when University of Michigan was one of the first universities to open computer labs. I switched to PC when I started my first job and have been there up until a few months ago when a TSA agent dropped my laptop at the airport. I searched and searched trying to decide between a multitude of options, features, and software. I was going to stick with a PC so I wouldn't have to re-learn a system but was a Mac wannabe (it's so cool!). After narrowing it down to a few PC laptops I found that it only supported Vista, a program I have heard nothing but bad things about. So that made the decision for me and I purchased a MacBook. And I love it, I don't see myself going back. I love the features and how it works (and how it looks!). The problems I have are with the Microsoft programs I use on the Mac (Word, Excel, Entourage, etc.) They are full of bugs and missing features available on the PC. It's as if Microsoft purposely left out minor shortcuts and tweaks to piss off the Mac user. The only thing I am pissed off at is Microsoft. And they have definitely lost customers due to Vista.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:03 am
[...] always-worth-reading YPulse recently posted about Microsoft's latest advertising campaign — another attempt to stem the tide of those fleeing the world of PCs. While Windows-based [...]