Microsoft says goodbye to the social

AdAge has a piece profiling the "180" Microsoft made in marketing the Zune; many have already seen this year's far less, shall we say, esoteric ads, but few (including us) realized the new hardware's marketing onslaught was the result of Microsoft's doubling -- even quadrupling -- its Zune ad budget, switching advertising firms (which resulted in those trippy Flash sites), and, oh yeah, killing off "the social". Sorry obsessive Zune guy, we hate to be the bearers of bad news but the truth can be hidden no longer. "You make it you" is officially confirmed as the new brand tagline and the ever-so-slightly-less-grammatically-correct "Welcome to the social" is deader than a WiFi-shared song after three plays. So now that we don't have to worry about the ever-lingering peer pressure to get social, does that mean we can loosen up a little and start to proudly love our still-virginal Zunes just as they are?

[Via PaidContent]

[cashmonee @ Nov 5th 2007 11:54PM]

Wow! I thought "Welcome to the Social" was bad! "You make it You"? What the hell does that even mean?! Did they really pay someone to come up with that?

[stitifier @ Nov 5th 2007 11:57PM]

I'm reminded of those "self-esteem" animated films they made us all watch in the second grade to make sure we didn't develop major depression ten years later when we didn't make it into college.

[Young @ Nov 5th 2007 11:57PM]

This reminds me of that annoying Soulja Boy song...

[Carbonize @ Nov 6th 2007 1:05AM]

If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

[rwfu666 @ Nov 5th 2007 11:58PM]

gg no re

[Irwin @ Nov 5th 2007 11:55PM]

Hearing a song for 3 days? That sounds decent to me..if i heard my friend correctly, he said that if you have an ipod, you can't share anything with anyone. if you try to, it deletes everything in your ipod and replaces it with the library u just tried to sync with.

drag-n-drop ftw

[paul34 @ Nov 6th 2007 12:01AM]

I think it does that if you select auto-sync. I don't have an iPod so I can't be 100% sure, but if you turn off auto-sync it should stop doing that.

[Dan @ Nov 6th 2007 1:22AM]

You can share songs on an ipod. Thats why earbuds have 2 speakers buddy.

[Tim @ Nov 6th 2007 5:10AM]

Yeah, iPod's will only sync with one library, so if you sync on someone else's computer, it will clear all of your stuff and replace it with theirs.

[salut @ Nov 6th 2007 6:48AM]

iPod have both auto sync & manual drag-&-drop.

You can use auto-sync with an exclusive library, of manually drag-&-drop if your iPod is used with 2 or more libraries.

[Thomas @ Nov 6th 2007 8:57AM]

If you want to share your iPod music with your friends on their computers just download a little program called PodPlayer (http://www.ipodsoft.com/site/pmwiki.php?n=podplayer.Homepage) onto your iPod. Just plug your iPod into their computer (with iTunes closed) and run that program. It will let you play all your music and download whatever you want from your library onto their computer.

[Eric Leung @ Nov 7th 2007 1:00AM]

@Dan

I thought earbuds had two speakers cuz i had two ears? or maybe is that just me?

[mark @ Nov 6th 2007 12:03AM]

I am glad they upped the budget, it looks like a great device.

[michael @ Nov 6th 2007 12:00AM]

Microsoft has never had any 'really' good advertising at all...

But they're at least getting better at it. Maybe this time they got an ad company the recognizes the difference between lame and cool. Leaning towards the cool of course.

I for am getting a Zune 80.

[Tavis Veighey @ Nov 6th 2007 1:30AM]

I have a brown Zune I snagged from Woot for $80.00

If I decide I want/need more space I'll just replace the drive in it with a bigger one. I have read where drives upt o 160 have worked just fine...

However I have 30 gig of space, and I have 10 gig free, so I think I am fine for now.

[michael @ Nov 6th 2007 1:43AM]

@Tavis:

I have an original Zune as well (black), but I'm mainly interested in getting a Zune 80 for my brother.

He was interested by the Zune before, but would never get the Zune for it's size and whatnot. Now the Zune 80 is good enough for him, and I'm getting one for his b-day.

I love my Zune. No problems like the iPod.

[jrb @ Nov 6th 2007 4:03AM]

and of course, with zune software you get the option of recompressing your entire library when it syncs. non-destructively keeping the higher quality library on your computer.

and oddly, wma @ 64 or 128 sounds entirely decent. at least as good as mp3 @ twice the bitrate. I took my 60gb library and converted it down to around 15-20gb on my zune. now that's what i'm talkin about!

[freakmarket @ Nov 6th 2007 10:44AM]

WMA does have good compression.

[Richard @ Nov 6th 2007 10:38AM]

@ Michael

Never any good advertising????

I'd say the "Start Me Up" Win95 campaign was one of the most successful in PC software history.

But maybe you were a preschooler then and missed out on it? :P

@ The rest

I picked up one of those $80 browns, and I'll tell you, after owning 3 different generations of iPods, the Zune owns them all. By a large margin.

And the Z2 software should make the gap even larger.

(I'm no anti-Apple guy here... I actually own: MP2100, NeXT Cube, Powerbook Al, Macbook, and a multitude of others over the years... but credit goes where credit is due. The Zune OS is fantastic.)

[Mehool @ Nov 6th 2007 10:54PM]

@Richard,

now that was some constructive commenting, thanks for leaving the fanboy stuff out. I am looking forward to receiving my Zune in a couple of days (bought from sellout.woot.com) I'm now excited to see how good the interface is

[Thomas @ Nov 6th 2007 12:05AM]

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=ebf46c74

I just got this email today from Creativity Online, and an ad they have shows "Social"....

I'm confused on why it's not in this one... or why it is in that one... hm...

[sburko @ Nov 6th 2007 12:07AM]

"You make it you"??? I like microsoft but, damn. The wow starts now because you make it you, jump in and welcome to the social.

[Invisiblemoose @ Nov 6th 2007 12:13AM]

Lol, nice.

Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I ought to go into marketing... Must be a pretty open field.

[m16 @ Nov 6th 2007 12:15AM]

do people even give a rats ass about these catch phrases that MSFT pays these drones to drum up? Its all so ridiculous and wasteful of corp funds.

and lol at sburko's comment :)

[Tarek Salti @ Nov 6th 2007 12:20AM]

Im glad they killed it. I dont need another social network consuming my life. XboxLive, Facebook, Social? etc.

This also does seem to add to a more personable Zune. Unlike the generic everyday ipod. Im glad MS is taking a different approach.

[Bent Cardan @ Nov 6th 2007 12:21AM]

Bent Cardan says: the new Microsoft "you make it you" thing is a less catchy version of what apple has done with its various "i"products. -Bent Cardan

[Taylor @ Nov 6th 2007 1:35AM]

Did you put your name in that post enough?

At the moment, I've got a new iPod nano and I'm happy with it. The zune does seem mighty appealing, and I'd get it if it supported the Mac and it was out in Australia.

[Golferal @ Nov 6th 2007 8:04PM]

Golferal says there's a limit of one use of your name in the third person here on Engadget.

[michael @ Nov 6th 2007 12:23AM]

It would be best if Microsoft added NO tag lines.

Just keep it simple.

Zune should sell itself on the features and the device itself. Creating a tag line for all the stuff Zune does, or the experience, or whatnot is silly. It just dilutes the product itself, and associating something with a tag line means you have to keep true to it. Not easy at all.

Microsoft definitely needs a better ad firm, maybe this one will actually do justice.

[Tim @ Nov 6th 2007 9:39AM]

If only corporations listened to common sense instead of marketing execs, eh? haha

[dave95 @ Nov 6th 2007 9:48AM]

Yes kind of like when they proclaim "Brown is new black, is new white" - Now they've since dropped brownie brown.http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/03/zune-unboxed-on-camera/

Or used the embarrassing and definitely uncool "Squirting"

The iPod was labeled cool not by Apple but by the market (consumers) - remember that Microsoft

[Steele @ Nov 6th 2007 12:31AM]

You make it you? Does that mean the new zune software will be an open platform for us to modify? lol jk jk

[Alberto @ Nov 6th 2007 9:06AM]

Oh, yeah, sure! :)

[Chris @ Nov 6th 2007 12:33AM]

How is Welcome to the social "ever-so-slightly-less-grammatically-correct"?
so·cial /ˈsoʊʃəl/ Pronunciation Key
–noun
13. a social gathering or party, esp. of or as given by an organized group: a church social.

It's like saying "Welcome to the party", you fools.

[Richard @ Nov 6th 2007 10:40AM]

It's like these tards have never heard of terms like "Ice Cream Social".

[Joseph @ Nov 6th 2007 12:43AM]

Microsoft Zune (Formerly Doey McDee) aka Tattoo Guy is like
"Aw Ef!"

[Joseph @ Nov 6th 2007 12:53AM]

Originally on his blog Microsoft Zune posted
"It will be the catch phrase, "welcome to the social" and I will have it tattooed on my back from shoulder to shoulder"

Originally I said he was bitching out. But i guess it was more of a calculated risk. Now he just needs a small cover-up instead of a whole back.

[Spooky @ Nov 6th 2007 1:07AM]

Now if they change the logo, Tattoo guy will obviously kill himself. From the looks of him, he's already dead inside.

[Joe @ Nov 6th 2007 1:23AM]

Microsoft... the "Poochie" of Simpson's fame.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_characters_within_The_Simpsons#Poochie

[Jonno @ Nov 6th 2007 8:22AM]

Wait, I thought that was for stereo sound?

[hurricane @ Nov 6th 2007 1:23AM]

Well, didn't they kind of have to lose the whole "Welcome to the Social" thing? I mean, the maiden voyage was intended to welcome us to the social and now it's time for round two.

"You Make it You"? Well, if they were going for a phrase that was more "catchy" than "Welcome to the Social", I guess it worked... it does kind of catch your attention... maybe not in a good way, but at least you'll never forget it, which is probably what they were going for.

[Kit @ Nov 6th 2007 1:48AM]

Althought Zune Advertisment doesn't carried on the social networking feature, I think it is important Microsoft show-off Zune other feature as well while the "sharing" is not good enough.

Since Microsoft released Zune, people fuss about the wireless feature is usless and Zune users will never get someone else to share music... And now, they bring us wireless sync. It's good enough to me.

I really think Microsoft has great ideas about music feature, and I believe the new Zune software will really bring Microsoft's social concept to every Zune users.

In the future when Zune's user base build up, the social thing will be much impressive!

Zune 30 owner, who really want a device can be my portable media center.

[Jeff Lewis @ Nov 6th 2007 3:27AM]

I'm going to assume no one's bothered to look at the new UI - because right there - fourth item on the main menu screen... "Social".

In fact, to compensate for the WiFi sharing features being relatively useless without a lot more Zunes out there, they've moved the social aspect directly to a Facebook like system with the social networking being shared through the web... and through Zunes if you can find other Zune users (probably through the web side of the thing).

Personally, I think the two aspects are complementary - and I like the concept of making your music player more of a reflection of yourself. I just got a chocolate-mint Zune last week from Circuit City ($150 new) and the first thing I did was to take one of my own drawings and turn it into the background.

Microsoft's sent around a note that the new firmware drops Nov 13. It'll be interesting to see how that works and how much customisation it allows.

As for the Zune Journey site - I'm sorry - but what the HELL is that site about? I liked the indy feel a lot better than the "Yellow Submarine" feel. Could someone let MS know the 60s called and want their pictures back?

Thanks.

[DeoWulf @ Nov 6th 2007 8:28PM]

Dude, I thought it was pretty interesting (Zune Journey). They had Great Lake Swimmers "Your Rocky Spine" on there, that's awesome enough. Yeah, I guess the art is a bit trippy, but why not?

[crescentdavid @ Nov 6th 2007 4:13AM]

They can advertise however they want, but nobody is going to switch to the Zune if it isn't significantly better and significantly cheaper than comparable iPods or Nanos. It's just the way of the world and no amount of ad dollars is going to change it.

MS really has to pay in order to play. This isn't a social, after all.

[Tim @ Nov 6th 2007 5:30AM]

In no way did Microsoft drop "the social". They may not be pushing the tag line anymore, but it's still a very prominent aspect of the Zune's marketing, and I've got a bunch of signage sitting around for next week's launch to prove it.
Hell, you can even see the word SOCIAL printed in the middle of the screen in the picture on this article.

You don't have to like the Zune, but quit ignorantly trying so hard to hate it. Being a dumb fanboy doesn't help anybody.

[Kizorblade @ Nov 6th 2007 6:02AM]

So you're calling those who are bashing the names a "dumb fanboy" oh person who has
"a bunch of signage sitting around for next week's launch"
And having "SOCIAL" on the screen doesn't mean anything: It's like Apple having a tagline for the iPod touch:
"YOUTUBE - friends, family, anyone"

Can't we just all hug and agree that the new tagline isn't as good as the previous one?

[Tim @ Nov 6th 2007 9:36AM]

Oh, no, I wholeheartedly agree with that. The new tagline is absolutely horrid.
I just find it entirely irritating that everyone can fawn over the iPod and then turn around and say the Zune is an awful device. They're practically the same thing, and the features that differentiate them are so minute that it comes down to a matter of preference instead of an actual matter of which one is statistically better.

You know, I actually read a review on the 30gb Zune a while back that listed the lack of clickwheel as a con? I mean, honestly. It's like some bizarre spinoff of 50's conformity ideals being applied to consumer electronics.

Sorry for sounding like such a dick about it. It's sort of a pet peeve =P

[Ed @ Nov 6th 2007 5:45AM]

Saw this Comming...

Look at their new ad. At the end, It Highlights Music, Photos, and Video, but not social. (Although Social is still there on the menu.)

[Le Master @ Nov 6th 2007 7:04AM]

Is anyone else digging the upskirts of that chick in the new ad?