Microsoft is launching a large outdoor ad campaign in the U.K. today.
It"s no secret Microsoft is working hard to promote its new products – Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Surface – and one of the routes the company is taking to do that includes outdoor advertising.
Windows Phone 8 specifically will be getting a large marketing push in the UK, with shopping malls across the nation featuring "digital outdoor sites" that people can interact with to see what a personalized start screen would look like. According to the UK advertising trade magazine Campaign, these start screens will then be featured on billboards as part of a nationwide ad campaign.
Beginning today, attendees of 24 mall and cinema locations will be able to visit the digital outdoor sites and have their first names and photographs featured on personalized start screens. Those start screens will then be used in a national outdoor advertising campaign that will be featured in major locations such as Birmingham New Street, Manchester Hacienda and Westfield London.
The campaign is expected to last two weeks, and new personalized start screen designs will be rotated every 30 minutes. A representative from Grand Visual, the company that came up with the campaign, called it the "biggest ever" interactive digital outdoor campaign.
Microsoft"s been involved in several unique marketing campaigns following the launches of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, including sponsoring Hollywood parties and holding a large Windows 8 launch event in Time Square. It"s been estimated Microsoft is spending more than $1.5 billion to market Windows 8; the amount the company is spending to market Windows Phone 8 is unknown.
It"s estimated Microsoft spent $400 million on the marketing campaign for Windows Phone 7 two years ago.
Source: Campaign | Image via Campaign