Zune phone ad campaign coming?
Three agencies are competing to advertise a Microsoft product referred to as "Pink," supposedly a new Zune client and service for Windows Mobile. Deadline is end of May.
I was vacationing last week, so I missed my chance to comment on the Zune HD rumors. Microsoft had already told me that it is planning one more iteration of the Zune hardware, and given the iPhone's success, it wouldn't surprise me if it has a touch screen (though I was hoping for something more cutting-edge, like a projector).
Now it appears that Microsoft's getting ready to launch Zune for mobile phones around the same time.
According to AdWeek, Microsoft is currently staging a run-off between three advertising agencies--its longstanding advertising partner, McCann Erickson, Crispin Porter + Bogusky (which is overseeing the Windows brand campaign that's making lots of news), and JWT (which recently took over Microsoft's People Ready campaign)--for a product referred to as "Pink."
The article says only that Pink is a mobile service. But according to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley and other sources, Pink is a code name for the Zune software and services running on mobile phones.
Microsoft is due to pick an agency for the campaign by the end of May, which could mean we'll start seeing ads for Zune on mobile phones by the middle of the summer.
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