Microsoft is getting more aggressive in its attempt to drum up attention for Windows Phone.
The company announced today that it’s planning to air the “Windows Phone Challenge” ad above starting this week during the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, touting the camera in the Nokia Lumia 920 vs. the Samsung Galaxy S3.
It’s an evolution of the company’s “Smoked By Windows Phone” marketing campaign, featuring Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph. That initiative, which started last year, was previously limited to online ads and videos. This is the first time that Microsoft has expanded the campaign into a bona fide TV ad.
The timing is interesting, given that Samsung just announced the Galaxy S4, scheduled for release next month. It’s also notable that Microsoft chose to target Samsung, not Apple, with this first ad. But whatever the target, the company clearly needs to start getting more bold to give Windows Phone some momentum, and this appears to be a step down that path.
Whether or not the Lumia 920 is an “upgrade” from the Galaxy S3 depends on your perspective. The camera on the Lumia is definitely very good. But it would be more interesting to see what Brittany thought about the size of the Lumia 920 — a.k.a. the “Pop-Tart” — after using it for a week. Maybe Microsoft can follow up on that for a future ad.
