Will Marketing Impact Consumer Perception of the Media-Centric PC?

Andrea Wood | May 31, 2006, 11:11 AM

In addition to marketing campaigns by Microsoft, various computer manufacturers and Intel, AMD recently announced plans for a unique branding campaign for the entertainment PC. Will all these initiatives make a difference in consumer adoption?

These campaigns are all great to raise brand awareness. If done well, consumer understanding of the entertainment PC will also increase. However, information overload can also occur. Like in many cases, too many options can be just as bad as too few. With only 12 percent of consumers reporting they own a PC with a TV tuner or Windows Media Center Edition, there’s lots of room for growth. Initially, I’d bet these campaigns will either go unnoticed by most consumers, or will be a little confusing. In the end, consumers will only care if the computer can handle their tunes, videos and photos, and that they aren’t paying an arm and a leg for the functionality.