“Most people judge ads by what they see. Good ad, bad ad, end of story,” Ken Segall writes for Observatory. “Of course, it’s a little deeper than that.”
“As is often pointed out around these parts, there’s a little thing called ‘strategy’ — which is hashed out before creative teams start creating,” Segall writes. “Historically, Apple has been very smart about strategy, while Microsoft has been very … shall we say … un-smart.”
“Now that Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella has appointed Mark Penn to the position of Chief Strategy Officer, it’s a whole new ballgame, right?” Segall writes. “Not so fast. From what we know of Mark Penn, the gap between the quality of strategy at Apple and Microsoft isn’t about to shrink.”
“For starters, Penn has actually been Microsoft’s Executive VP, Advertising and Strategy, since mid-2012. He’s the architect of the company’s tasteless, cutesy and much-maligned ‘Don’t Get Scroogled’ campaign,” Segall writes. “Penn was a major player in Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, ultimately ‘resigning’ mid-primary season. A New York Times article in 2008 described him as ‘a sometimes brusque number cruncher with centrist corporate sensibilities [and] few friends inside the campaign.’ Penn was also CEO of ad agency Burson-Marsteller. According to a 2008 Time Magazine article, Penn’s former clients include ‘drug companies, a tuna industry group, a tobacco firm and the controversial military contractor Blackwater USA.'”
Segall writes, “I can assure you, those who work on strategy at Apple and its agency TBWA\Chiat\Day have strikingly different credentials.”
Much more about Microsoft’s new “Chief Strategy Officer,’ Mark Penn in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: So far, new Microsoft CEO Nadella has already made two major mistakes:
Changing his mind from opposing Microsoft’s purchase of beleaguered iPhone roadkill Nokia and Mark Penn.
Off to a great start Satya. We like your strategy. We like it a lot.