CPB's positions Zune as "music discovery device"

Via AdWeek:

In a commercial introducing its new Zune 3.0 digital music site, www.zune.net, Common talks about his musical influences such as Africa Bambaataa, who appears along with the rapper in a collage of video windows on a computer screen that also includes a fan talking to the rapper about his recent "Universal Mind Control" release.



The spot, which began running last night on NBC's Heroes, showcases Zune's "mixview" option that when clicked brings up related selections to the song being played. The ad ends with an invitation for viewers to download the free desktop software and the "Turn your PC into a music discovery machine" tagline. A second spot shows a similar exchange between Kings of Leon and Robbie Robertson.

The process of music discovery through the Zune brand is central to the communications effort, said Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing and entertainment at Microsoft. The home page of the Zune site introduces Zune 3.0 as "The Future of Music Exploration." "Experiencing the music is the most important thing," said Stephenson.

My take
I'm a big fan of the Zune, and I'm excited to see it get the right marketing that it deserves. It's a fantastic device, and the wireless networking component is seriously cool. I was out at Microsoft a few months ago visiting a friend, and from his Zune I could see the libraries of 20 or 30 people, send and receive songs, and so forth. Products and services that can bridge the gap between online and offline like that are the ones that truly take off: AIM, Facebook, SMS, etc.