Microsoft Plots Billion Dollar Ad Blitz

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For those of you who doubted that Microsoft was planning to get behind Kinect and Windows Phone 7 with the full extent of their resources, prepare to meet a billion reasons why not. They’re all named George, and that slightly obtuse metaphor is the introduction to a billion dollar ad blitz Microsoft is looking to stage around its two new products.

It isn’t a precisely even split, mind you–word is that Microsoft is looking to shell out about $400 million bucks promoting the Windows Phone 7 while spending around a half-billion to talk up the Kinect. And they’ve got plenty of targets in mind for where to shell out that kind of loot as well.

They’re looking to take over YouTube’s homepage, buy ads on Nickelodeon and Disney websites, get time on Dancing With The Stars as well as Fox’s Glee, get some ink on People and InStyle, get promotions going with Burger King, Pepsi and Kellogg (the cereal folks) as well as stage a promotional event in Times Square.

That’s an ad blitz of incredible dimensions, and you’ve got to hand it to Microsoft for skill in timing: it’s mid-October as it sits, which means we’re going to start getting news about Black Friday deals literally any day now. Some stores already have their Christmas decorations up (I remember almost weeping with sheer dismay at a Menard’s that put some of theirs up just in time for Labor Day), so it’s definitely getting close to time to start the pre-Christmas rushes.

Are they risking serious oversaturation in the market? Sure they are. But if they space that out over, say, a couple months they likely won’t have a problem given the amount of spread they’re putting into this. And even better, they’re not focusing on any one medium–there’s equal love for TV and the web as well as print and physical presences. But either way, you can tell that Microsoft’s definitely got a dog in the fight, and they’re not going to walk away without giving Kinect and Windows Phone 7 the best shot they can get.