• Advertising Age, Friday, October 3, 2008 10:45 AM

It should come as a surprise to no one that Web users shared the Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates Microsoft commercials with one another at a much higher rate than the subsequent "I'm a PC" spots. For one thing, the first spots were funny (or at least tried to be) and they featured Jerry Seinfeld, who rarely makes marketing appearances--or appearances of any kind any more. Whereas the "I'm a PC" spots made no attempt to be funny; they were simply making a point.

But Ad Age nonetheless delves deep into the psychology of why the Seinfeld spot was so much more popular: It "sparked a dialogue," says the trade magazine. The original spots "built a question into the creative," according to Matt Cutler, VP-marketing and analytics at Visible Measures Corp, and gave people something to talk about. The magazine also notes that comments left on the first videos contained more adjectives, while comments for the "I'm a PC" spots used more nouns, suggesting a more emotional response to the Seinfeld ads.

After two weeks in market, Visible Measures says, "Seinfeld/Gates was still collecting more than 700,000 views per day, while the 'I'm a PC' clips had tapered off to less than 50,000 views per day."

Read the whole story at Advertising Age »