Advice on marketing, business strategy and of course info on factor1 projects.

Zune marketing the car lease model

Marketing — Posted by: matt adams on July 6, 2009 at 10:10 am

83249-zune

What do you think of the new Microsoft Zune ad? They say it costs $30,000 to fill an ipod. Check it out.

Do you believe this doom and gloom story? Are you now thinking that an ipod is a bad idea and you should “rent” your music for $15 a month?

Here is my issue. Nothing to do with the apple fanboy in me, but I tend to call shenanigans on any advertising that is unrealistic and confusing (yes, I sit at home and call out these ads for the new windows laptop hunter ads, most ads for beauty products, ads for hyundai saying its better than BMW, etc. Just ask my wife.)

  1. most people own cds, already completing some of their library.
  2. once you buy a song, you own it. for life. until you delete it or toss out that CD.
  3. who really ever fills up an ipod?
  4. the people who CAN fill up an ipod, usually “borrow” (read: steal) music.
  5. renting with the Zune pass is really throwing $15 a month away. Stop paying, and your music is gone. All of it.

So really, this ad is comparing apples to oranges. well, apples to microsofts if you want to be funny like I do.

This ad is like saying it costs $30,000 to buy a small car, and drive it for 3 years. but instead you can rent one for $350 a month. Ohh wait, that’s a lease. So maybe, just maybe, this Zune ad is genius?

Any thoughts? Does this ad make you want to toss your ipod and use a Zune pass?

6 Comments »

  1. $15/month = 2 CDs/month. If you consume more than 2 CDs/month, and only like new music (crowd following if you will), then a Zune makes sense. However, if you like browsing older CDs or buy less than 2 CDs a month, a standard media player is a better buy. I’d say be glad you’re not the Microsoft Zune Marketing person.

    Comment by Eric — July 6, 2009 @ 12:26 pm

  2. agreed.

    If microsoft called me today to have us work on a project for them, i would have a hard time helping. Its hard to market a product you dont believe in. Or at least you feel needs a lot of work.

    Comment by matt — July 6, 2009 @ 12:33 pm

  3. I find for the most part Pandora works fine for what I need and if I need a specific song, itunes will suffice. The days of buying full CD’s so you can listen to the two goods songs are over.

    I have no personal vendetta against Microsoft (we are a Microsoft house), I’m glad they finally have competition. Competition only helps further benefit the consumer, however their marketing for the Zune is poor.

    I’m not an apple fan either, but they are far better marketers than Microsoft. Apple eats their marketing Wheaties while Microsoft assumes it will have the market advantage forever…poor assumptions.

    Comment by Travis — July 7, 2009 @ 1:14 am

  4. ohh how I love pandora. Works wonders on my computer and blackberry.

    I agree competition is great. It fuels ingenuity, creativity, and the advancement of technology and ideas.

    Outside of the xbox, microsoft advertising has always been odd to say the least.

    Thanks for commenting Travis!

    Comment by matt — July 7, 2009 @ 9:02 am

  5. I apologize for the double post. Can delete the first post since it is the one that has a few grammatical errors in it.

    My wife uses Pandora on her blackberry as well. It is a great service for me, especially for the long nights working in front of the computer.

    Comment by Travis — July 7, 2009 @ 1:34 pm

  6. I dont see how this works… Unless you got access to any song for the specified rented amount… There are a lot of ways to get free downloads…

    Comment by Shaun McGowan — August 6, 2009 @ 5:23 pm

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