December 8, 2004
in glasgow
I’m in Glasgow at the moment, haning out with my friend, Dave Mackenzie.
Above is one of my fave photos of him. Shot on location while he was directing Young Adam.
[EARLIER CONVERSATION:]
Hugh: So, are you interested in doing TV commercials?
David: Not really. Feature films, Mate.
Hugh: Whatever. I have an idea for a commercial.
David: What kind?
Hugh: For Microsoft.
David: Microsoft?
Hugh: Yeah. Using a guy who works there called Robert Scoble. Best-known blogger at Microsoft.
David: What does the commercial say?
Hugh: You walk into Scoble’s office with a camera. You take footage of him doing his job. Scoble speaks to the camera:SCOBLE: No advertisement will tell you the truth. But blogs will.
(MORE SHOTS OF SCOBLE)
SCOBLE: Blogs are the future. If you don’t know what one is, find out.
SCREENSHOT: microsoft.com/scoble
(The easy-to-remember web address diverts to Robert’s website)DAVID: That’s it? That’s the idea?
HUGH: Yep. Pretty much.
DAVID: I like the idea. Do you think Microsoft will like it?
HUGH: I don’t know. That’s the commercial I’d make if they asked me.
Dave Mackenzie. Robert Scoble. Microsoft. I could think of worse combos.
Microsoft: If you’re going to make TV ads, make one with Robert in it. You may like him, you may not, hell, you may even hate his guts. But he is cemented to your future whether you like it or not.
So exploit it, or at least, understand it.
[AFTERTHOUGHT:] After sleeping on this one, I’m less crazy about this commercial.
I think a “Scoble” TV commercial is a good idea– especially if he uses his own words, rather than parroting the words written by an advertising guy.
And we’re not just talking about using only Scoble. Methinks Microsoft should use its considerable resources to try to get more and more people reading the Microspft bloggers. For some reason, they represent the company far better than any fancy-schmancy TV commercial ever did.
I never thought TV was Microsoft’s forte. Apple seems far better at it on an instinctive level. But Microsoft seems far more comfortable with blogs than Apple does.
TV + Blogs + Microsoft = Some interesting possibilities.
"Hugh's Daily Cartoon" Newsletter.
A new cartoon sent out every weekday morning to your inbox [RSS version here.].
A wee chuckle to start your day off right etc.
If a person doesn’t know what a blog is, then saying “No advertisement will tell you the truth. But a blog will.” isn’t going to make her trust blogs (especially when said in an advertisment).
Secondly, Scoble is and always will be a marketing [insert word]. He doesn’t actually make microsoft’s products. So why should people turn to him, if they can see what the people, who happen to do some real work, are up to through their blogs.
Anyway, a ad like that wouldn’t put a human face on MS, it would put Scoble’s face on blogging.
You’re in Glasgow? Wow. I thought you lived in New York or Paris or London or L.A.
Actually, I thought you jetted between all four in between ridiculously high-paying PR gigs.
If you ever make it to Edinburgh, drop me a line. I’ve lurked on your blog for ages, trying to drink it in; I’d love to meet you.
Anything that could help Dave Mackenzie make another film would be good. Thanks to your pimping of the film I rented it last night and I’m also going to buy it. A great film that I loved. Thanks for the pointer. Buy him a pint for me in case I never get to meet him and thank him in person. Mailing a pint just isn’t the same.
Heh.
I’d love to follow Duncan around for a day or two. I might get some ideas on how to improve the videos on Channel 9 http://channel9.msdn.com
“No advertisement will tell you the truth. But blogs will.“
The absurdity of this quote, by itself, is staggering. The fact that it comes from a Microsoft employee is priceless.
Grendel…
(A) Scoble never said that. I just wrote it as an idea. That’s what happens when you write. You try things on, see if they fit. See if the seed takes root. Sometimes it fails. Sometimes it doesn’t.
(B) I’m interested in the idea of a TV commercial where the person advocates something he believes in, that is outside and larger than the company he works for.
i.e. I think tapping into “Universal Values” is more interesting than “Go Team” company-specific values.
© “Blogging is to Microsoft what iTunes is to Apple.” Agree? Disagree?
(D) Just throwing out ideas here…
Apple (at least its current incarnation) is about style. TV remains the best way to (try to) show a mass audience how cool you are.
Microsoft desperately needs to make sure that the smart developers with cool ideas develop (and know how to develop) those ideas for Microsoft platforms. Do that, and the mass audience will follow. Blogs are the best way to reach large numbers of smart developers.
If I’m correct, then a TV ad encouraging people to visit Microsoft’s blogs would be a colossal waste of money. The key audience – developers – would feel betrayed, and the mass audience wouldn’t get it.
I’ve been reading Scoble’s blog much longer than I’ve been reading yours. (I probably found out about yours from Scoble). Hugh, I’m baffled as to why you’re so high on Scoble and blogs (espically Scoble’s blog) as the next big thing. The only thing I can think of is that you’re not reading the comments that people are leaving on his blog. It’s always a zero sum(probably a negative sum). For everything positive Scoble writes, someone points out where he was wrong or 5 other negative things he missed. By the time you’ve read all the comments it’s just a bunch of noise and you’ve forgotten what point he was making. Try as Scoble might, he can’t get any momentum. Not Scoble’s fault, he’s trying to defend a company that too many people know its dirty laundry and are all too willing to point it out on his blog. I honestly don’t see the benefits to MS coming from Scoble. Maybe you can point out something you see that I’m missing.
One more thing that bothers me about Scoble’s blog. A few months ago his comments section broke. It was causing very long load times on people’s computers. As a result, he had to remove the part next to the comments where it tells how many comments there are. It seems somewhat half done and to me isn’t representative of someone who is “the” blogger that represents MS. I’m probably not doing a good job of expressing my feelings about this whole topic, but I just don’t feel as positive about it as you do. I guess that’s ok.
OK, correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t the very fact that an advertisement is telling you that all advertisments are misleading make the whole “blog truth” thing a lie as well?!
what do you think of tv titles sequences? asn sponsorship?