The commercials, which are expected to launch on television on Monday and to be followed with print and outdoor placements, are the cornerstone of an unprecedented, nearly $500 million global marketing push by Microsoft this year. Two other campaigns will focus on the company's MSN Internet access service (that one already has started) and the forthcoming Xbox gaming console. The new ads also represent something of a coming-out party for ad agency McCann-Erickson, a unit of Interpublic Group, which became Microsoft's sole outside US advertising partner about two years ago.

"This is probably the first major consolidated business campaign that Microsoft has done," says Mr Michael McLaren, a McCann-Erickson executive vice-president. "This is like a new frontier for Microsoft."It is appropriate, since Microsoft is entering new frontiers in its core businesses. While the Redmond, Washington, company is still best-known for its desktop software, such as Windows and Office, much of its future growth will come from more powerful "server" software. That technology helps businesses run internal networks, manage inventory and host electronic-commerce sites, among other functions.

"We're the underdog in this business," says Ms Mich Mathews, Microsoft's marketing chief. Ms Mathews acknowledges it has taken Microsoft a while to get its server products competitive. But now that new products are out, Microsoft is ready to try to build a trusted brand. When corporate chiefs today think of providers for their back-end systems, Microsoft isn't "the first name that comes to mind," Ms Mathews acknowledges.

Now, Microsoft wants to supply "software for the agile business," a tagline of the new campaign. Microsoft CEO Mr Steve Ballmer says "software is the hero of the game," showing that Microsoft is staying true to its heritage even in this new business arena.

Ad-industry executives say Microsoft needs to build its brand image, since its most memorable campaign may have been the Windows 95 effort that centered on the rock tune "Start Me Up." Observes Mr Rich Silverstein, co-chairman of Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners: "If you think a brand image is one Rolling Stones song, forget it."

One new TV spot opens with the camera panning over a clean, white room filled with humming, lit-up servers. "Last week, this company's Website went live," narrates actor Mr William H Macy. A stray, red balloon floats into the frame. "Yet, no one has visited the server in days, because no one has had to," Mr Macy continues. "Always reliable, and never needy. Enterprise software from Microsoft." The ads have an understated, quiet tone. That might be part of Microsoft's attempt to soften its image a bit after its high-profile antitrust trial, the damaging event that spawned those feel-good, Bill Gates TV ads.

Some wonder if Microsoft's campaign is coming too late, and if it is too similar to IBM's e-business ads. (Remember the one showing company officials sitting around a conference table on a Sunday, slowly realising that they have no one to call - not even their snowboarding Web designers - to fix their complicated computer network?)Mr Michael McMahon, CEO of online ad company Exile on Seventh in San Francisco, said Microsoft's "Where Do You Want to Go Today" campaign - a branding and product tagline still used by the company - was "kind of convoluted." Microsoft will have a tough time topping IBM's ads, he says, which "probably blow away anyone in the tech space."

The Wall Street Journal