Weather may have ruined the Surface Pro launch event, but the "laptop in tablet form" started selling on February 9, in Canada and United States, nonetheless. And just like with its Windows RT-powered sibling, Microsoft aired a video ad that is meant to increase awareness and promote Surface Pro as a business-oriented device. But does it?
Interestingly titled "The Vibe", the Surface Pro video commercial bears a strong resemblance to the Surface RT one that debuted in mid-October. It's a very dynamic advert with business people dancing, smiling, signing, throwing things around, acting cool and generally doing things that business people don't normally ever do while at the office. It even starts with the same guy that opened up the Surface RT ad. The Vibe is a nice concept, but a poor choice for Surface Pro.
The first issue with The Vibe: Microsoft pointlessly tries to pit the Surface Pro target audience as a cool crowd, capable of breaking away from the corporate norm, stripped of any preconceptions and let loose. That has absolutely nothing in common with the day-to-day life of business users, nor does it help promote the tablet among the intended audience.
The Vibe does not highlight any of the Surface Pro strong-suits and only shows that the device features a detachable stylus and USB port that can be used to tick something and plug in a microphone, respectively. It's a missed opportunity for Microsoft, considering that Surface Pro can do plenty more.
The Redmond, Wash.-based corporation could have emphasized the benefits of having a stylus by drawing a small sketch, plugging an external hard drive into the USB port, connecting a mini DisplayPort-compatible external display, running some resource-intensive software on Surface Pro and many more, but instead did none of that.
The Surface brand does not need to break ground anymore through an impressively-hip ad or make tablet buyers look cool because it did that before with the Surface RT. With the Surface Pro commercial I expected Microsoft to rest on its laurels and tell viewers what makes it a good choice for them by connecting with them at a more mature level. After watching The Vibe I wonder: How can anyone know that Surface Pro is not just another tablet?