The Sugababes love Windows 7

GuyClapperton 0 268 Views

My thanks to @girlygeekdom on Twitter for highlighting what must be the most surreal Internet marketing plan ever - . There is a website called 'sugababeslovewindows7' to announce it.

I'm as flummoxed as anyone by this. Let's take to one side the fact that I'm a 44 year old man and not at all in the Sugababes' market - what exactly is this trying to say about the brand? That it's easy to use? OK, check - but surely it's no longer acceptable to dismiss young females as incapable of mastering difficult stuff. I know, I have a nine year old daughter and she already speaks more Spanish than I do.

So maybe it's supposed to be trendy? OK, maybe...but it's an operating system, guys, not an item of clothing or new dessert. Mac OS is arguably more fashionable but that's how you get about 5 per cent of the market. This stuff needs to be fashion-proof. Perhaps they think it's going to appeal to a particular demographic? Again I see no reason it should do so; a good OS should ideally be suited to everyone (and compared to Windows Vista, Windows 7 is doing a good job on that score).

I'm the last to blame the Sugababes, in case anyone's wondering. I have no doubt Microsoft is paying plenty for their promotional services and it's not in me to wish less income on anyone. It's Microsoft's view I find completely bewildering. I suppose coming from the same company that chose the Rolling Stones' 'Start Me Up' for the launch of Windows 95 only to have to edit it so the line 'You make a grown man cry' wasn't heard, this isn't a surprise. But even so...a girl band?

Dani AI

Generated

This thread highlights a familiar marketing tension: celebrities can buy attention quickly, but attention is not the same as product fit. captures the surprise many feel; ’s cowboy remark and the jokes from and show how quickly a stunt becomes entertainment rather than persuasion. That split between buzz and usefulness is the useful starting point for analysis.

Celebrity tie-ins can work when they do three things at once: reach an audience that otherwise would not notice the product; reinforce a believable benefit; and include a clear, measurable call to action. They fail when the creative leans on patronising stereotypes or when the celebrity has no credible connection to the product — both of which make the message short-lived and easy to mock.

Practical checklist for anyone planning a celebrity-led tech campaign:

  • Define the primary objective (brand awareness, trial downloads, upgrades) and match the celebrity to that goal.
  • Map audience overlap: quantify how much of the celebrity’s following matches the target user base.
  • Test authenticity: can the celeb credibly demonstrate the product in a believable way?
  • Creative safety-check: screen for jokes or staging that reinforce negative stereotypes.
  • Set KPIs up front (conversion, installs per impression, brand-lift surveys, sentiment) and tag all assets for attribution.
  • Plan a content lifecycle: short-form clips for social, deeper demos for product pages, and follow-up assets to capture interest.

For readers looking back at this campaign, the sensible measures are not the jokes it provoked but the data: did awareness translate into trials or upgrades, did sentiment shift positively, and what learnings were captured for future messaging? Treat the stunt as a hypothesis: interesting if it increases reach, dangerous if it undermines credibility.

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cookdominic 0 Newbie Poster

Should it have been Girls Aloud then? We at Symantec have a more logical way of promoting migration to Windows 7 - we use cowboys..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2pXeXJzL58

Edited by cookdominic because: n/a
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GuyClapperton 12 Staff Writer

I'd have negotiated with McCartney and got the Beatles - added some air of permanence and reliability, but what do I know..!

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kaninelupus 275 Practically a Posting Shark

I don't know, I thought the message was loud and clear. If chicks clearly as thick as that can use Win7, then anyone with a 30+ IQ score should be able to as well :D

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webagentspro 0 Newbie Poster

I like how they’re navigating the laptops as if they’ve come across aliens and have no idea what to do.

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