John Borland reports for CNET News that, “Microsoft is planning a new branding campaign similar to ‘Intel Inside’ for its Windows Media audio and video technology, hoping to highlight the near-ubiquity of its multimedia technology, sources familiar with the plans say. ‘Plays for sure’ will signify the presence of the company’s software.”
The ‘Plays for sure’ campaign slaps a logo on devices that support Microsoft’s Windows Media. ‘Plays for sure’ devices are to be advertised by download services that distribute files in that format. Although not specifically using the Windows Media brand name, the campaign is aimed at assuring consumers that all services and devices carrying the logo will be compatible with each other.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Surely each showing of the logo on TV will also carry some annoying branding tones (think Intel Inside), but will ‘Plays for sure’ resonate with the generally confused general public? We think that there are enough Apple iTunes and iPod adopters to spread the message that, if you buy an iPod, you’ll already have access to the market-dominating, number one online music store in the world: Apple’s iTunes. Hopefully, Apple and the word-of-mouth brigade can compete against many, many companies slapping the same “Plays for sure” stickers on their second-rate devices in order to pretend that there’s something wrong with Apple for not embracing Microsoft’s quest to dominate digital entertainment the way they dominate the world’s PC desktop with their shoddy OS. Microsoft is a well-funded cancer; can someone, anyone, please come up with the cure?!
why the fsck is mdn always so microsoft negative????
SOMEONE TELL ME.
i know this is an mac site, but serisouly, you don’t have to be an ass.
Clever move from Microsoft. This will cause Apple problems – especially if they can no longer fall back on claiming iTMS is the No.1 music store. BTW, the Intel ‘branding tones’ was a brilliant piece of marketing – a logo as four simple, clean, musical notes.
I’ve said before, Apple should have anticipated this a long while ago and started a branding campaign which was seen to be independent of Apple and it’s products but which emphasised the recognisible, next generation, “MP4 Standard”.
mac_user: “why the fsck is mdn always so microsoft negative????”
Have you used Windows???? Microsoft faked what Apple innovated and pretends they invented it while dampening world productivity by approximately 30%. If the world was 95% Mac OS X today, we’d be a better, more productve world today. Plus Microsoft sucks donkey dick.
GO MDN!!!
“Microsoft is a well-funded cancer.”
Have truer words ever been written?
Because Microsoft makes terrible products.
M$’ “Plays For Sure” will be blunted severely by the fact that none of their logos will be showing up on the packaging of the market dominating iPod. The iPod is virtually an icon now and no campaign from M$ will change that anytime soon. It’s just like no matter how much Burger King or Pepsi spend on advertising, they never seem to ever catch McDonalds or Coca-Cola. Right now people want the coolest digital music player (which is the iPod) and they don’t really care where they get their online music from. The majority of people rip their own CDs or download mp3s from P2P anyway. So unless M$ can change the focus away from the player, which will take a considerable amount of time and money, they’ll never be #1.
Just because Microsoft throws their weight behind something doesn’t make them the top dog. After approximately 3 years the Xbox is still a distant second place to the PS2. Apple has a considerable head start with the iPod/iTMS just as Sony did with the PS2 and I don’t see MS faring any better taking on the iPod/iTMS than they did against the PS2.
‘Plays For Sure’
Shouldn’t that be:
‘Plays, are you sure?’
I guess the Intel theme wouldn’t work here?
“DRM Inside”
Microsoft Plays For Sure:
Viruses
Blue Screens
Headaches
Rob Glaser’s Harmony
carpal tunnel of the ctrl/alt/delete fingers
-paul
Microsoft will do well with the campaign and if XBox is an indicator will throw money at it for years if need be. ‘Plays for sure’ is a simple message, easily understood for people who, for whatever reason, don’t investigate further.
I think it most likely multiple formats/DRMs will persist even after the market has commoditized but players (hard and soft) will be compatible, just like QT supports many formats. And if ten years down the line Apple has 10% – 15% of the download/player markets that will be a great success.
But the Microsoft/Windows brands are severely contaminated (which is why ‘Plays for Sure’ has no implicit connection with MS/Win) whereas Apple/iPod/iTunes brands are on the way up. So Apple could end up with greater than 15% music market share just as the computer market share is growing. I expect to see significant market share gains for Apple computers over the next few years.
Mac User asks: “…why the fsck is mdn always so microsoft negative???? SOMEONE TELL ME. i know this is an mac site, but serisouly, you don’t have to be an ass…”
MacUser, having been in the industry for the better part of 25 years, I’ve watched the destructive force known as Microsoft stifle innovation, suck out the creativity of fledgling industries like the corporate vampire they are, force inferior technology on the masses using threats, coercion, brute force, you name it… anything but developing good products, take open industry standards, “embrace and extend” them so that they are suddenly Microsoft proprietary standards, all for one reason only… grow Microsoft.
Microsoft is quite literally the world’s biggest industrial accident. Oh yeah, people like to think there was design, but there wasn’t. Gates is as surprised as everyone else that the one good move he’s made (licensing DOS to IBM) resulted in poking a hole in the IBM money bubble and filling MS’ pockets with more cash than they could have imagined. From that point on it’s been, copy, crush, rip-off, or destroy as a business model.
If MDN takes time to vent occasionally, more power to them. It’s too bad the rest of the media doesn’t.
The MS ‘Plays for sure’ campaign looks to me like a “contradictio in terminis”.
The Marketing department of Microsoft must be running on Mac’s, because otherwise they would launch such statements…
don’t tell me you mac doesn’t give ya headaches.
yes. i know windows is not as cool as mac os x, but its got is good things as well. who cares if ms stole from apple. get over it. have a cry. the world works this way. and don’t tell me apple doesn’t copy. tiger is a copycat. you guys are all immune to steves rdf
iLove apple. really. but i just don’t know what everyone is soo pro apple and acting like everything’s fine.
apple will have tough times ahead and iDo want it to win.
but i don’t like people who bash ms for everything they do.
I’m a long time Mac user and love my iPod but I think we should all remember that M$ has proven already that most people could care less about quality of the products they use. They want what everyone else uses with “good enough quality” at the cheapest price they can get it. Sick and Sad true, but we all know it’s reality. I for one am really worried about M$ entering the game. Since the government decided to allow the M$ bully to continue to control the streets I don’t think there is any doubt M$ will use all their power and money to do whatever it takes to crash Apple’s party. Like most here at MDN I hope they fail miserably but must admit I’m still very concerned. We all know the iPod/iTMS is far superior to anything else out there but most people don’t learn that until after they have bought an iPod. M$ will try to convince people that their products are just as good and history has taught us that most people will listen.
Some have said that it’s different with music. I hope they’re right.
Just my 2 cents.
I agree with Twenty Benson, it’s a very clever move and masterminded silently, while others like Real croaked and everybodys focus was on it. This was to be expected and all of you know how this will go on. Cheap guy buys cheap PC and, oh, he needs a player. Dumbo at store tells hin buy cheap player to go with it, but hey, it has the shinny PFS-Logo on it. That can’t be wrong, so let’s get it! Why does he do it? Because he won’t buy anything else than a PC, because he doesn’t know any better and he’s not taking any risk of incompatibilties with Windoze. The iPod? Well, no logo. Cool, but remember, no risks. Folks, we had similar stories in the past. Apple should keep an eye on this and react fast! FUD? We’ll see. Dell will surely participate. HP has got a deal with Apple, but they also ship their machines with OEM Windoze.
To mac_user:
Everything M$ does is sh*t. That’s why many are dissing them. I hope you haven’t been living under a rock for the past 10 years, but their software is a security risk, unstable, suceptible to viruses/worms, full of holes, and a liability. Oh, and have you forgotten their strong-arm tactics they used against computer manufactures, which is how they got their monopoly (not cuz because it’s a high quality product, which they even admitted themselves). They are where they are today because of their unethical practices, regardless of their sub-standard products.
Their only source of revenue is the Windoze OS and the M$ Office divisions. They’ve lost money on all other ventures (tablet pc, xbox, internet watch, msn, etc.).
And if you want more reasons why M$ is shi*t, I’m sure other MDN readers could come up with better reasons than what I’ve listed.
Apple is once again going to prove that history repeats itself.
Of course Apple is the real innovator here, but you can be sure that Microsoft will take alot of Apple’s steam in the next few months, and surely years. It’s not that MS has better products (duh), it’s that Apple is still focused on the “whole widget” idealology. That’s fine because Apple should sell the whole widget because it’s kicks ass, but Apple can barely handle the user base they have now, it would be interesting to see how they would handle more than 5% of market share. Apple thrives as the underdog, and some of their tactics are about as noble as MS’s. I think Apple has superior products, but as a company, they are just as, if not more, ruthless than alot of other companies. People who love Apple need to realize that Apple keeps themselves in a little bubble, so we needn’t keep asking why few people use their products. Some people can’t afford the whole widget, and 3’rd party developers aren’t going to waste their time on a small demographic. I can see the pros of keeping computers “modular”, unlike what Apple does. Microsoft exploits the modular nature of the PC, and doesn’t have to focus on the whole widget. That allows multiple companies to gain success in selling their products, and is why there are so many sold. It’s somewhat symbiotic with PC makers, that even though MS is the market dominator, you can have other companies creating all the different components. With Apple, it’s just Apple. My point is, it’s OK that Apple isn’t the leader in computer sales, or even music sales. They have proven that they can’t be the leader, for not a lack of innovation, but for trying to wear too many hats for too many products. Having complete control limits them to their control.
The only way the iPod will ever play files from other online music stores is if a standard is declared by some kind of “official online music consortium”
i am guessing most of yous haven’t been using windows. its fine. apart from the virus/spyware.
iown a pc and i havn’t got any spyware or virus yet with xp. why? because its common sense not to click on wierd links and disable popups. yes, security is a problem. but, i bet if apple had 95% of the world using mac os x, it will crumble faster than you can say iWant windows.
at least now m$ is doing alot about it. sp2, and its whole security campaign
i really wonder, why though, if Microsoft’s PRODUCTS, not its business strategy, is so shit as you say it, why then, 90% of people use windows and still not a mac.
you guys are giving mac users are really bad reputation of being just too pro apple. do you know what the pc world thinks of us???
‘Plays for sure’ – mmm, sounds like the kind of hook line a high class call girl would use …
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Microshaft are no doubt banking on “Plays for sure” customers to “pay for sure” for anything and everything to do with its music service.
It can only be a matter of time before virus’ disguised as WMA’s (or whatever format they eventually decide to use?) start to appear, and are downloaded to users PC’s.
Who’ll touch the site then?
plays for sure…
pfft.. this proves that with all the money in the world, you can’t buy good branding..
they consulted many high priced marketing firms, and THIS is what they came up with..?
yikes
If you want to see the real Microsoft, Google the words “Microsoft Guilty” � You’ll be amazed at what happens.
A Cure? Nuking Redmond?
You asked…
Seems the most powerful government in the world can’t stop Microsoft. Because Microsoft has been a part of the US Government for ages.
I have proof that Bill Gates was instructed to keep his OS “loose” so as Windows took over the world it would reap a intelligence bonanza for the NSA/CIA.
I know for a FACT, that the military hacks into your average K-Mart or Spy Stores computers to check their purchase records and inventory.
Information is king, and Windows PC’s are your silent snitch.
Get a Mac, it has the option to encryt your data on the fly back and forth from disk.