Microsoft Bets on Influencers To Close the Gap With ChatGPT (msn.com) 27
An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft, eager to boost downloads of its Copilot chatbot, has recruited some of the most popular influencers in America to push a message to young consumers that might be summed up as: Our AI assistant is as cool as ChatGPT. Microsoft could use the help. The company recently said its family of Copilot assistants attracts 150 million active users each month. But OpenAI's ChatGPT claims 800 million weekly active users, and Google's Gemini boasts 650 million a month. Microsoft has an edge with corporate customers, thanks to a long history of selling them software and cloud services. But it has struggled to crack the consumer market -- especially people under 30.
"We're a challenger brand in this area, and we're kind of up and coming," Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi said in an interview. Mehdi hopes to persuade key influencers to make Copilot their chatbot of choice and then use their popularity to market the assistant to their millions of followers. He says Microsoft is already getting more bang for the buck with influencers than with traditional media, but didn't provide any metrics.
[...] Using non-techies as spokespeople is meant to reinforce Microsoft's campaign to sell its chatbot as a life coach for everyone. Or as Consumer AI chief Mustafa Suleyman wrote in a recent essay, an AI companion that "helps you think, plan and dream."
"We're a challenger brand in this area, and we're kind of up and coming," Consumer Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Mehdi said in an interview. Mehdi hopes to persuade key influencers to make Copilot their chatbot of choice and then use their popularity to market the assistant to their millions of followers. He says Microsoft is already getting more bang for the buck with influencers than with traditional media, but didn't provide any metrics.
[...] Using non-techies as spokespeople is meant to reinforce Microsoft's campaign to sell its chatbot as a life coach for everyone. Or as Consumer AI chief Mustafa Suleyman wrote in a recent essay, an AI companion that "helps you think, plan and dream."
Re: In other words... astroturfing (Score:2)
Is the collective slashdot head exploding due to the confluence of "influencer" and "AI chatbot" (two things that, predictably, press its emotional buttons) in the same slashdot story?
Re: (Score:2)
Strange that they can't figure this out. Have they asked their AI how to solve this problem? I assume it's as simple as creating an AI to simulate an influencer, that can influence people to use AI more regularly. No brainer, really. Does Microsoft even have any interns left who could be tasked with this?
MS = Uncool (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Peepz be negging the 'soft, but Gatezy gotz da rizz fer shizz! MS hotbotz vibing simping suggestionz fer real yo - yer boy Clippy choppin serious paper bro!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
feelin ya homez - keep it foolish - well futile!
How about don't? (Score:3)
to sell its chatbot as a life coach for everyone.
Just fuck off already
Influeners? (Score:3)
Back in my day we called 'em shills.
Re:Influeners? (Score:4, Funny)
Time to update yourself: now they're called Influenza`s.
I'm not sure that's even possible (Score:2)
... push a message to young consumers that might be summed up as: Our AI assistant is as cool as ChatGPT
Given that Microsoft isn't cool at all, and has no clue what 'cool' even is, I think it's gonna be a long uphill slog to failure. I don't think even the most popular influencers are capable of selling folks on the concept of anything Microsoft being even cool-adjacent.
Re:I'm not sure that's even possible (Score:5, Insightful)
Given that Microsoft isn't cool at all, and has no clue what 'cool' even is, I think it's gonna be a long uphill slog to failure.
This, exactly.
The most immediate thing about being cool is that nothing that is forced, is cool. Copilot existing, with some cool demos and higher thresholds on the free version, could possibly gain some opt-in usage. Copilot being forced everywhere means that people are going to associate it with something intrusive, and no amount of marketing is going to undo that.
ChatGPT didn't force anything onto people's desktops or into their spreadsheets, they didn't run TV commercials and they didn't give sponsorships to 101 Youtube personalities...they existed, and they improved the service, and word-of-mouth was all they needed.
If Microsoft wants their level of adoption, they need to stop pushing...but the problem is that nobody will accept a slow ascent, so they need the accidental, unwanted usage to show the 'growth' being demanded by the MBAs.
One day they'll figure it out...probably the day after they have a fire sale on nVidia GPUs that have sat dormant for months.
Re: (Score:2)
I strongly agree. Copilot might be fantastic, but I'm not even willing to give it a chance because they keep on trying to foist it upon me. Unless someone tells me that using it cures cancer, I'd rather use one of the many alternatives.
This feels like MS trying to force people to use IE all over again.
No-one wants "cool" AI (Score:2)
People want helpful AI that doesn't hallucinate, code crap code, tell you to eat glue or commit suicide.
copilot parasite (Score:1)
Copilot bogs a pc down as it spies on your work looking for opportunity to be a Clippy or Microsoft Bob.
Cool as warm ice cream.
No kidding (Score:3)
"it has struggled to crack the consumer market" - No kidding? Perhaps it's the fact that Microsoft views its consumers as money bags to be squeezed. Or perhaps the anti-consumer bullshit baked into Windows. Resorting to astroturfing to push useless crap is right up Microsoft's alley. People caught on years ago that Microsoft offerings generally suck. I'm skeptical that 150 million use this crap monthly. Probably due to default installs and what-not.
Tell me your product is shit... (Score:2)
Try it before snap judgements (Score:3)
Given that Copilot uses ChatGPT tech and then has additional features from MS folks should try it rather than immediately discount it.
I try all the LLMs and each has their pro and cons. Copilot actually is quite good and given its price (for now) is free, no reason to not use it if it works for the specific task youre working on.
Re: (Score:2)
Built into the latest Visual Studio.
Marques brownlee? (Score:2)
Why? (Score:2)
If you have a good product, people will use it. If you have a shit product, then having a Matt Damon peddle it will only expose how shitty it is to even more people.
If you have a good product, organic growth will happen and you'll create brand loyalty.
Oh wait... This is Microsoft. Never mind.
And it will be as cringeworthy, as every time (Score:2)
Expanding the Sucker List (Score:2)
Microsoft's campaign to sell its chatbot as a life coach for everyone
A life coach that has never lived. People who can accept that can accept anything
Why would influencers ... (Score:2)
Encer to the rescue (Score:2)
Microsoft was falling behind, but it opened Windows and in flew Encer.