MICROSOFT GEARS UP FOR WINDOWS '95
By Adnews Staff
The Rolling Stones are leading the parade for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows '95 with their song Start Me Up. The $200 million(US) global marketing blitz for the U.S.-based software giants new operating system for personal computers gets rolling on Thursday, to the beat of the 1981 release from the elder statesmen of rock. The song is a fitting one because Windows 95 is launched by clicking a start button on the computer screen. A Microsoft spokeswoman is quoted in The New York Times as saying the company paid "a couple million" dollars for the tune. TV ads will be set to the song while print ads will relate the four colors of the Windows '95 flag to features of the new product. The campaign theme "Where do you want to go today," showcases the power Windows users have with the Start button at their fingertips - or mouse tips. "The creativity, music and energy of these ads bring the power of Windows '95 and Start to life. By highlighting all that can happen once the user pushes the Start button, we hope to further our message that personal computers can take you where you want to go," Microsoft executive vice-president and CEO Bob Herbold says in a release. Wieden & Kennedy of Portland, Oregon created the TV and print ads. Anderson & Lembke of San Francisco produced the business-to-business and trade press ads. In Canada, Microsoft is gradually unfolding a 160-metre banner on the CN Tower in Toronto that will reveal the Windows logo on launch day. Microsoft is hosting a four-day event at the tower to promote Windows, with product demonstrations, prize give-aways, face painting, jugglers, balloons for kids and a rappelling demonstration down the CN Tower. In Canada Chiat/Day Advertising does advertising for Microsoft while Hill & Knowlton is handles public relations.