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In its 2008 fiscal year, Apple’s entire advertising budget was $486 million. Comparatively, Microsoft’s entire Vista advertising budget was $300 million. While Microsoft is a much bigger company, how effective have both campaigns really been?

Lindsay Blakely over at Bnet has dug up some numbers regarding Apple’s entire annual advertising budget, and when compared to Microsoft’s annual ad budget, it’s a rather surprising find.

According to Apple’s recent 10-k filing, the company spent $486 Million on advertising in fiscal year 2008. This may perhaps be more than most people would have estimated, however Apple’s push with Leopard and the iPhone 3G has been massive. Not to mention how hard they’ve been touting the iPod touch as a gaming device. Comparatively, Microsoft’s “Vista only” advertising budget was $300 million, while they spent $1.3 billion when combined with everything else (Xbox, Office, Windows, enterprise).

It’s important to point out that Microsoft is a much bigger company. When comparing these advertising budgets, Microsoft’s $300 million was specifically allocated towards advertising Windows Vista, which is in direct competition with Mac OS X. Apple’s $486 million was spent on advertising everything the company has to offer. Which comparatively cost Microsoft around $1.3 billion.

TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld seems shocked that Apple spends so much money on advertising. However when marketing products such as OS X, the iPhone 3G and the iPod touch, $486 million doesn’t seem like an exorbitant amount of money. The $300 million Microsoft spent on trying to “change Vista’s image,” seems like an astronomical amount of money to spend on a campaign which has had very little effect in actually moving copies of Vista. The difference between both approaches garners varying results among consumers. A quarter into Leopard’s launch, 19% of Apple customers had installed the new OS. More than a year after Microsoft released Vista, only 13% of its customers had upgraded. Microsoft has even had to deal with reissuing copies of Windows XP, Vista’s successor, because of the dissatisfaction with Vista. A problem Apple has never had to face. Arguably, Apple’s customer base are the most devoted and loyal, however those same customers would be the first to point out flaws in Apple’s products.

Apple’s commercial titled “Bean Counter”

Both advertising campaigns have their flaws. While some may find Apple’s commercials to be childish and too aggressive, focusing more on thrashing Vista, then touting OS X. Others may find Microsoft’s commercials to be completely irrelevant and totally out of touch.

Microsoft’s commercial titled “New Family” with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates.

When comparing both advertising campaigns and budgets to each other, it’s difficult to determine which one is more “effective.” Both attract eyeballs, which is essentially any advertising campaign’s ultimate goal. Whether you love the PC commercials, love the Mac commercials, or don’t care either way, the campaigns were a big part of technology culture this year.

[Thanks: http://www.macblogz.com]