Bill gates Microsoft has been an iconic brand of our era. There are 100’s of lessons which business graduates can learn from Microsoft. However, here we present 8 marketing strategy lessons from Microsoft.
1) Network Marketing
The first and most known strategy of Microsoft is Network marketing. This is because each windows product is compatible with another windows products. Your office documents can be opened on most computers because of the number of people using Microsoft. Thus it has established the concept of Network marketing perfectly.
2) Regular product launches
Microsoft is present almost everywhere, be it the music market with its Zune, the computer peripherals market, it is the market leader in operating systems, it has its own tablets, it has revolutionized gaming with XBOX 360, it is now involved in Cloud computing and it generally comes out and gives tough competition to the current players in the market. This expansion helps build up the deep pockets of Microsoft.
3) Follower strategy
One problem in the strategy of Microsoft has been that it has had a follower strategy in the past decade or more. It has rarely come out with an innovation. Check “Microsoft office” from 2003 to 2010. You will see that except for graphics, they have been almost the same products over and over again. In hardware too, there has hardly been an innovation in Microsoft. Ipod launched in 2001 and Zune launched in 2006. Need we say more.
4) Learning and adapting
If you look at Windows, you will find that XP had the most security holes, Windows Vista had several too, Windows 7 has quite less security problems and Windows 8 too is expected to be even better in security. Thus Microsoft is learning fast and adapting to the environment. Microsoft knows that nowadays people need security and it is providing the same to them.
5) Build a cash cow
Even though I am repeating this point, but this is important. Microsoft has a cash cow – operating systems as its backup. And its whole empire is built on the basis of this cash cow.
6) Be customer focused
There are a lot of jokes about the customer service of Microsoft but if you really look at it, then the reason why Microsoft is actually working is because help is available offline as well as online. Your computer might crash for any reason, but generally you are able to specify the reason for the crash and if you are a techie you will be able to rejuvenate it. Even a 10 year old nowadays knows how to correct windows.
7) Ease of use
Make products which can be used by the youngest to the oldest in the easiest manner. Like Nokia in mobile phones, Microsoft OS is known for its ease of access. The start button has been revolutionary.
8) Build brand equity
Today Microsoft is amongst the top 10 companies in terms of its brand equity due to many different consumer and business to business products that it has. Building such a high brand equity has paid off for Microsoft with it becoming a highly trusted household name.
The above are some strategies of Microsoft which has helped in making Microsoft one of the topmost brands in the world. Can you think of some other strategies which have helped Microsoft grow? We would love to hear about it!
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9) Smear campaign against it’s competitor. Microsoft invented the FUD campaign to keep people from using it’s competitor’s product.
10) Hire a negative political slime-bucket strategist like Mark Penn to bulldoze its competitor.
From the time Windows began to upgrade, beginning with the software of Windows Vista, and then later with the program upgrade of Windows 8, complaints have been “more than not” when it comes to reasons of being user-friendly. For example, online students have had to pay extra costs to “downgrade” their programs back to Windows 7 in order to retrieve school material in addition to constructing school documents.
With consideration that ” Even a 10 year old nowadays knows how to correct windows,” is not always the “consumer population.” In appreciation of the population who is not computer savvy as described in this article, please revisit the consumer population in order to better support users who maintain the preference of personal computer uses of Microsoft, over your competitors.
I have had to replace my laptop to an HP2000 Notebook which came with Windows 8. Because of the non-user friendly “tiles” in addition to preloaded programs that were unnecessary, I had to pay extra for the following “changes:”
Changed from 32 bit to 64 bit;
Changed from Windows 8 programs to Windows 7 programs;
Installed Microsoft Office 2010 Professional
USER FRIENDLY SUGGESTION:
When a customer goes to a retail business to purchase a new desktop or laptop computer allow the customer the option to choose what program grades work best for that customer’s needs, in an “ala cart” selection.
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