Can Jack Bauer save Microsoft?

NEWS Microsoft is hoping to turnaround its public image by promoting its Windows products on popular TV shows such as FBI drama 24. After some successful forays into prime time viewing earlier in the year, Microsoft has increased funding for its marketing team - handing them a remit to strike again with a concerted effort to gain exposure on popular TV programs - particularly for the company's new Windows Media Center Edition 2004. The software, an advanced TV application with the PC as its hub, will be featured on upcoming shows of CBS's forensics show CSI as well as 24. Microsoft will set off a new round of print and online advertisements for its Media Center Edition, but it is also taking a stealth approach to boost its product image. Placing products in TV shows and other entertainment programming has become a more common tactic among marketers as the din of advertising has peaked in recent years and commercial-skipping devices like TiVo have grown popular. The campaign is part of a push from Microsoft executive Jim Allchin called "cool form factor", which charges the marketing group with buffing the PC's image to a hip shine among consumers, Ma said during an interview at the Los Angeles launch of Media Center. Allchin, head of Microsoft's Windows operating systems business, described the software's debut as part of Microsoft's transition from "geek to sleek". He made these remarks at the event, which featured an MTV-like video of young, upwardly mobile consumers using Media Center-powered devices in the living room to watch digital movies and photos and listen to music. Through the campaign, Microsoft joins other tech companies in a quest to capture the imagination - and dollars - of well-heeled 20- and 30-somethings, who largely see PCs and Microsoft products as business ware rather than stylish gear for home entertainment. Microsoft in particular faces an uphill battle in creating a hip, consumer brand image because it's historically thought of as an enterprise software company. The move also signals a bigger shift on the part of technology companies to connect with consumers - something not promoted since the dot-com heyday. Stefanie Olsen writes for News.com