[Product Scene] We see | Your potential, our motivation

We see.

This is a very old advertisement, but it's one of my favorite Microsoft ads.

At the time, this ad set the tone for Microsoft's entire advertising style that year—using a white pencil to sketch the future on a photograph. This ad was undoubtedly successful—it even led Mobie to later imitate this style. The entire piece avoided hollow preaching and boring product promotion. When I took an advertising class, the teacher mentioned that large companies often shift towards emotional and brand marketing, moving away from product-focused marketing. This aligns with Sun Tzu’s saying: "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Making users psychologically love the brand and have high recognition and loyalty to it is what makes a brand strong.

I especially like the music and narration in this ad. At the time, I even had the audio of this ad on my MP3 player, which made my classmates think I'd been brainwashed by Microsoft... But I feel that throughout the ad, Microsoft didn't focus on introducing any specific product; instead, it emphasized potential and the vision of a possible bright future. Especially the final tagline: "Your potential, our passion" [您的潜力，我们的动力], which is truly inspiring. After watching an ad and feeling inspired, I think such advertisements are few and far between in China...