You're the Windows Phone Marketing Director

[micrometers]

How do you get people to adopt windows phone?

IMO it's a genuinely innovative platform and at the very least is superior to android (and I definitely view android as inferior to iOS).

But while windows phone is innovative, it's about the same price as iOS and android phones, since the bulk of the cost is in monthly data plans and MS cannot really alter those costs. Thus, the cost advantage is not like in the PC market where a windows pc is often 40% cheaper than a comparable mac, but instead something like 10% at most.

First off, go high (lots of commercials, celebrity endorsements, product placement, etc) or low (maybe offer like 3 free months of data plan with phone purchase)?

 

[janas19]

First off, the entire premise of your post is flawed.

iOS is not superior to Android, especially when you compare it to ICS.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

How do you get people to adopt windows phone?

IMO it's a genuinely innovative platform and at the very least is superior to android (and I definitely view android as inferior to iOS).

But while windows phone is innovative, it's about the same price as iOS and android phones, since the bulk of the cost is in monthly data plans and MS cannot really alter those costs. Thus, the cost advantage is not like in the PC market where a windows pc is often 40% cheaper than a comparable mac, but instead something like 10% at most.

First off, go high (lots of commercials, celebrity endorsements, product placement, etc) or low (maybe offer like 3 free months of data plan with phone purchase)?

Offer better hardware. No one has ever won by deliberately ensuring they are third best. Ideally they should use their tight control over hardware to continuously push the platform forward such as mandating all phones for 1H 2012 be OMAP 4 powered and all phones for 2H 2012 be Tegra 3 or Krait depending on availability. The also need to ensure that the SoC of choice changes every 6 months or so to ensure they have the latest and greatest.

The Mac vs PC comparison isn't really valid, Android is the Windows of the smartphone market.

 

[dougp]

First off, the entire premise of your post is flawed.

iOS is not superior to Android, especially when you compare it to ICS.

For a non-power user, it typically is.

 

[Skel]

If they really want to start capturing the hearts of the general populace then they should start marketing what WP7 does well. Contary to what most people on this forum believe the average user doesn’t understand what the difference procs and such are. Hell most of them don’t understand the difference between RAM and storage memory, so expecting them to understand why superawesomeduelcore tegraOMAP is important is a lost cause. They really need to highlight what WP7 does amazingly and hype the hell out of that. Offering cheaper phones and plans would then be the next step to hook people in.

 

[J-Money]

If they really want to start capturing the hearts of the general populace then they should start marketing what WP7 does well. Contary to what most people on this forum believe the average user doesn’t understand what the difference procs and such are. Hell most of them don’t understand the difference between RAM and storage memory, so expecting them to understand why superawesomeduelcore tegraOMAP is important is a lost cause. They really need to highlight what WP7 does amazingly and hype the hell out of that. Offering cheaper phones and plans would then be the next step to hook people in.

I agree with all this. Exactly as I would do it too.

Especially the cheap phones. Give them away if they have to so they at least start showing up and those with them can show them to friends etc.

I personally don't know a single person with one.

 

[Red Storm]

Easy as pie. Make your phones available on the largest carrier in the US. Until Microsoft finally gets around to doing this, I don't think I can take them seriously.

 

[Skel]

I agree with all this. Exactly as I would do it too.

Especially the cheap phones. Give them away if they have to so they at least start showing up and those with them can show them to friends etc.

I personally don't know a single person with one.

You run a risk of bad perception if you give the phones away for free. The OS is so bad they have to give it away. While you might be able to get some people using it, most people would flock to the “premium” product. If you put products together, people have a bad habit of thinking that the more expensive version is a higher quality. The trick here is to be in middle ground, but subsidize them via rebates and sales.. “if you act now, you’ll get this phone normally $300 for only $50” That’ll allow people to think they’re getting a quality product at a super deal.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

I think the key for Windows Phone to take off is corporate users. Integration into the Windows ecosphere at work, especially security and management by IT and full featured Exchange and Office integration, would give them a niche that the other platforms aren't really focused on, I think.

All kinds of people at my work are issued both iPhones and iPads, but we're a 100% Windows shop and our product/service is all .NET. If Windows 8 delivers, and the Windows Phone division puts their focus in the right place, then in two year's time everybody at work will be walking around with Windows phones and Windows tablets.

 

[JS80]

Integrate with window 8.

 

[Dominato3r]

It's aimed at more social people so show them how it integrates their services together vs. the competition.

Integrate with window 8.

From what I've heard it's very easy to move the code between the two.

 

[bearxor]

That whole 'My Windows phone is faster than your phone' thing was pretty good.

Take a cue from Apple's advertising. Just show the phone doing something relevant to people's lives.

And cheaper hardware.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I think they should start a thread on each message board about how iOS & Android are better/worst than the other, the 2 camps will be so occupied arguing, they'll accidentally upgrade their next mobile device to one that runs Windows, game over.

 

[dougp]

That whole 'My Windows phone is faster than your phone' thing was pretty good.

Take a cue from Apple's advertising. Just show the phone doing something relevant to people's lives.

And cheaper hardware.

How much cheaper can you get than free?

But you are right - showing how the phone is applicable to someone's life, or how it makes it simple is great. But in the time I've seen the OneNote (which exists for all platforms, not just WP7) commercial, I see 3-4 different Apple ads, multiple vendor Android ads - and nothing WP7 centric. Personally, I feel the Nokia partnership is a fail right now - one of the phones releases without a FFC, which should be forced in this day and age considering the fact MS freaking bought Skype.

Look, WP7 needs to get developers, and it needs high end ones quickly. Games are expensive, the market is tedious to browse through and the lack of OS access that developers are used to isn't there. I know SkyDrive is being pushed by MS, but why not give me the option of DropBox AND SkyDrive? How about integrating other IM services and allowing it to function like iMessage does so I can receive those messages in the same way I would a text (while MS did go a long way towards this, the battery usage is a pain.)

I also feel a few of the handsets still feel cheap and the amount of them available confuses people. I think MS would have been a lot more successful releasing a phone under their own brand and naming it something that is not synonymous with Windows, so ZunePhone or something along those lines and NOT phase out the Zune would have given them what I'd feel is an advantage over Apple because of the Xbox and Windows inter-connectivity.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah and associating it with the name "Windows" was a bad idea.

 

[Bateluer]

MS has already failed with WP7, the next battle will be with WP8. Whether or not the learn from their myriad of mistakes with WP7 remains to be seen. They have a lot to learn if they want to play with the big dogs, Google and Apple.

But, honestly, they make more money patent trolling, so why bother to continue the WPx product line?

 

[MrX8503]

Invest in ads hardcore and pay developers to make apps for the platform.

In the ads they need to focus on iOS/Android's weaknesses and attack them. Widgets is a strength of Android, so live tiles is gonna mean jack shit to the avg consumer.

WP7's strength is similar to what WebOS was doing with synergy. iOS/Android doesn't do this, but WP7 does. WP7 unifies all forms of contact into one stream. Along with that, WP7 handles a lot of common tasks natively whereas on iOS/Android you need separate apps for the same functions. This was why WP7 was able to beat a lot of devices in speed in completing common tasks.

I think another thing they need to work on is making their devices sexier and more cutting edge. The phones need to be a monster in hardware to attract people away from Android.

 

[Mopetar]

MS has already failed with WP7, the next battle will be with WP8. Whether or not the learn from their myriad of mistakes with WP7 remains to be seen.

There biggest problem was being entirely too late to the game. If they had managed to launch at the same time as Android or at least no more than a year later they might actually be a player at this point. Almost every other problem that they've had stems from that fact. They don't have as many apps because their app store and entire platform are new, they don't have all of the features because the OS is new, etc.

If they want to come back now, they need to get the sales staff to push their phones. I've heard a lot of anecdotes about sales persons steering people away from Windows Phone. That's a pretty big problem. Having their own retail stores will certainly help. I think part of the reason why the iPhone does so well is all of the Apple stores where the staff are extremely knowledgeable about the product and there's nothing to compete against.

Going forward they have a decent chance of at least scraping a little bit of market share together. They're going to close the feature gap and reach parity with both iOS and Android, and their app store will probably hit the critical mass it needs where an average person can find an arbitrary app that suits their needs. They're also licensing fees from most most the third party manufacturers which helps reduce the cost advantage of Android.

 

[shortylickens]

I start by posting in the thread we already have on this subject.

 

[WelshBloke]

You're the Windows Phone Marketing Director

S**t! I am?

Nobody told me! No wonder were doing so badly. Sorry guys I'll try and get something done.

 

[GTaudiophile]

1. I would put all my eggs in the WP8 basket. If it's not 110% ready to compete (that means better than equal) against the competition at time of launch, then they can go packing. MS should move their best and brightest, all those who bring their "A Game" as SJ put it, to the project and have them work around the globe and around the clock to make it happen.

2. Make a world phone. Make sure it has a pentaband 3G radio, CDMA, LTE, etc. Make sure there isn't a soul on this planet that couldn't use the phone at the highest local network speeds. Heck, consider adding dual SIM slots.

3. Offer 100% profit to app developers for the first year. And then offer something competitive afterwards.

4. Offer the phone for FREE and UNLOCKED for at least 6 months after launch.

5. Don't skimp on the design of the phone. Don't skimp on the packaging. Get something as sexy as the Lumia 800/900 with a nice super AMOLED screen. Give it a package that gives it shelf presence. Make it feel like a quality product that it too good to pass up.

6. Focus group the design. Get 100 people, sampled from every demographic possible, from ages 10-80, male and female, short, tall, thin, fat, rich, poor, from every racial background possible. Find out what they want on average: physical QWERTY keyboard or not. A 3.7" screen or a 4.5" screen. 200 DPI or 400 DPI, etc. What feels good in their hand? What feel good against their ear? What antenna design will give it the best reception?

7. Create a 360-degree, Web, TV, print, social media, etc. marketing campaign. Something creative and fun. Something people can connect to. Not nerdy. Something that distances the phone from "old" Windows, BSOD, crashes, etc. but somehow manages to link it to the "new" Windows.


Have all of this culminate into a product designed to penetrate the market and gain market share. That is the only name of the game. MS did it once with DOS/Win3.1, etc. by nearly giving it all away. Time to do it again. Or else.

 

[Pliablemoose]

GTAudiophile, I agree with everything but the focus groups on the design, they need to just copy what's working, and go with quality materials, minimal plastic, Gorilla Glass or a similar product, offer it in black and white.

 

[dagamer34]

Since there are strong rumors about Windows Phone 8 being based on Windows 8, I feel Microsoft is saving it's marketing money for a major blowout then.

 

[quest55720]

I think the key for Windows Phone to take off is corporate users. Integration into the Windows ecosphere at work, especially security and management by IT and full featured Exchange and Office integration, would give them a niche that the other platforms aren't really focused on, I think.

All kinds of people at my work are issued both iPhones and iPads, but we're a 100% Windows shop and our product/service is all .NET. If Windows 8 delivers, and the Windows Phone division puts their focus in the right place, then in two year's time everybody at work will be walking around with Windows phones and Windows tablets.

From the leak earlier this week sounds like WP8 will have many more business/enterprise features. Including 128 bit encryption for security and ability to push out apps behind the company firewall. I think this is a market they can really go after and that can be the foot hold they need.

On the OP I think MS just has to hang on until WP8 launches this fall. I would say between now and then going hard at developers to have lots of apps/games to be ready for WP8 day 1. Including a new killer office since that can be a game changer. Almost a re-launch of the whole line. Get nokia working on a true flagship phone line to go day 1. A high end super phone line with all the bells and wistles. Have a couple different form factors. Ranging from 3.8 inches to 4.5 inches with HD displays and high end SOCs with top of the line cameras. Then have the current specs be the low end phones that they can give away for those who don't want to pay anything out of pocket. That and those cheaper phones be ideal for those who either break a phone out while in contract or in markets where carriers don't subsidize phones.

 

[Jeff7181]

Couple ideas...

Drop "Windows" from the name... call it Microsoft Phone or Phone 7, Phone 8, etc.
Use more modern hardware... dual core processor and at least a GB of RAM.
Pay some big developers to port over popular apps that they make for iOS and Android.