Beginning with the Jerry Seinfeld commercial, Microsoft has sought to capture our attention and break us out of the proverbial box we’ve managed to label them with in the last 30 years.

It’s been 7 years since the end of the anti-trust suit, and Microsoft has begun to make some headway as it moves away from it’s corporate war-monger image to something a little more sociable. With Bill Gates retirement and his subsequent move into a consulting role with the company; as well as his executorship of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the image from the top of the company has become quite a bit more personal than in years past.

Back in the mid 90′s, Microsoft was always considered one of the trendier employers, offering sizable paychecks and an atmosphere of ingenuity…along with long work hours and a complete lack of social norm for many of it’s employees. It pretty much epitomized the standard for nerd culture as well as IT in general. Clean shaven, funny hair, glasses, a pocket protector were the norm for a software company in the hay day of the computer sector, but with the arrival of companies such as Google and the re-engineering of the Apple brand, the industry as a whole has moved away from this image; painting Microsoft to be the odd uncle in the family.

Flashing forward, the new campaign is a chance for Microsoft to reclaim their image as a trend setter in the industry, not just living off the status quo, but actually humanizing their employees and building something that can continue to be relevant, even as competition in the marketplace continues to evolve.