Microsoft has recently landed a deal with Channel 4 cartoon, The Simpsons, in Microsoft’s first sponsorship of a UK television programme. The deal also ties in with the 20th anniversary of the cartoon series and has become the very first technology company to get behind the show and provide them with a sponsor.
The sponsorship deal will help push a major advertising approach for their new search engine deal, Microsoft Bing. Microsoft has invested millions to encourage more people to start using the search engine and build a better presence online, hoping that the broad spectrum popularity of The Simpsons will assist with this.
Specially designed Microsoft Bing adverts will be shown before, after and in commercial breaks of every Simpsons show on Channel 4 and Channel 4+1. The adverts will depict families using Microsoft Bing as their preferred choice of search engine.
Microsoft had previously been the main sponsor for another cartoon series, Family Guy, but stepped back from the deal after deciding that the sometimes offensive, adult content of the show did not fit the company’s brand.
The adverts – which are using the tag “Bing and decide” – aim to show viewers how the search engine is different to any others. The TV campaign will be supported by Microsoft Live, MSN, partner sites and online news providers.
With Google currently leading the search engine market, Microsoft is putting together a massive advertising campaign to meet their goals and become Google’s closest rivals – a title currently held by Yahoo. Google search massively dominates the field at the moment, taking over 80% of the global search market. With large investments and company time Microsoft Bing will certainly try to change these figures to their advantage.
