• Ad Age, Friday, March 27, 2009 11:15 AM

Microsoft has finally jumped on the value-messaging bandwagon, Rupal Parekh reports, in a 60-second spot dubbed "Laptop Hunters" that emphasizes the affordability of PCs. Microsoft's comparison-shopping approach signals a more aggressive play against the admittedly cooler - but usually more expensive - Apple products.

Ad agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky talked to people shopping for a new desktop or laptop and asked them what they were looking for. Then they offered consumers $1,000 for the right to document their shopping trips.

The first spot in the series features a young woman named Lauren who is seeking a large-screen laptop within her $1,000 budget. First she comes out of an Apple store, declaring it sells only one laptop in her price range, and buying it would mean trading down to a smaller screen. "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person," she laments. Lauren winds up taking home a $699 Hewlett-Packard Pavillion notebook purchased from Best Buy (another Crispin client).

Read the whole story at Ad Age »