PC and Mac have been going back and forth for a while now with their advertising. Mac’s “Get a Mac” campaign has been running for a while now, which has been used to beat down the Microsoft name. Microsoft has been less consistent. They’ve had their “I’m a PC” campaign with random sprinkling of Jerry Seinfeld commercial, meant to reintroduce the brand.

Now Microsoft has unveiled their new campaign that is thought to rival Mac’s ad campaign. The premise of the “Laptop Hunter ” ads is to show people looking for laptops with certain specifications within a set budget. Microsoft offers to pay the price of the computer if they can find one within that range. This is definitely a departure from past Microsoft and Mac ads.

It’s obvious that Microsoft is taking into account the economic environment. They’re taking into account that people are more careful about how much they spend on new investments. Microsoft is showing consumers that they can buy a laptop that is personalized and unique for a reasonable price. Whereas Mac is still playing the cool card.

Apple unveiled a $2700 MacBook Pro at this year’s Macworld Expo. It might be time for Apple to shift their selling points to reflect what’s happening economically and socially. At the same time, they might be trying to maintain their status as the cooler, more expensive laptop. However, we’ve mentioned before that Apple is known for not listtening to their customers. Is this just another example of them ignoring what their customers in order to look cooler than PC?

Microsoft’s new campaign is definitely well-timed and it may prove beneficial for them to focus on price and value as opposed to the cool factor.

We have already talked about the companies that screwed up this past year. Now we want to talk about those companies that are using social media the way they should be – to interact with their customers.