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Bill Gates and Paul Allen launched Microsoft on April 4, 1975, and the company has been around ever since. Founded by Harvard dropout Bill Gates and pal Paul Allen, Microsoft is now the most valuable software company in the world. Since its founding, it has become one of the world's most valuable businesses. Until the early 1990s, Microsoft was predominantly a hardware company. To attract people like that, they set out to find a certain demographic (Zhu, 2019). Sales to end-users have been Microsoft's primary source of revenue as technology has advanced and personal computers have become more popular. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first software company to achieve revenue of $1 billion or more. In response to the continuous introduction of new versions of Windows, Microsoft's share of the PC industry climbed gradually over time.
In a sector as dynamic as Microsoft's, technology and business ideas are always expanding. Impact in the industry gives us the opportunity to produce new products, technologies, or ideas that will help us expand our firm and change the industry even more in the future. To stay ahead of the curve and meet the ever-changing demands of customers, businesses, and the market as a whole, Microsoft invests heavily in research and development. Compared to the previous year's earnings, Microsoft's fiscal year 2021 net income of more than $61.27 billion was a record high. Microsoft's sales peaked in FY2021 at $188.009 billion (Moussa, 2019). Increasingly, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, making Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft some of the most powerful companies in the world today. With billions of dollars in yearly IT spending, these IT firms are well-positioned to continue to prosper in the years to come.
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(Source: Halim and Halim, 2019)
For Microsoft, the ideal customer is someone between the ages of 16 and 64, from both urban and rural locations (Kreiss and McGregor, 2018). Targeting young people who are generally students, workers or professionals and who are devoted to the brand is also an important part of their marketing strategy.
“Microsoft's products include operating systems for personal computers (PCs), smartphones, and other intelligent devices, as well as server programmes for distributed computing environments, productivity applications, video games, desktop and server management tools, etc”.
For Microsoft, “to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more” is the company’s business mission (Park, 2020). This mission statement shows that the company is all about empowering individuals and groups.
“To help people and businesses throughout the world reach their full potential” is the company vision statement for Microsoft. According to this company’s concept, its business and computer solutions are presented as instruments that individuals and organisations may utilise to further their own progress.
The Ansoff Matrix can be used for the new product development of Microsoft:
All four of Ansoff Growth Matrix’s strategy choices are used together by Microsoft.
Market penetration. The term “market penetration” refers to sales to present clients. Customers may purchase Windows software and other Microsoft products in 116 Microsoft stores across the world and via online channels and authorised distributors as part of the company's effort to expand its global market share (Park, 2020). Microsoft Rewards might be a marketing tool for the multinational technology company.
Product development: In order to extend the market, this growth approach involves manufacturing new products and selling them to existing clients. When it comes to product development, Microsoft follows a rigorous approach. Microsoft's research and development (R&D) spending increased by $1,7 billion (or 13 percent) in 2018 over 2017. (Zhu and Gao, 2019). The money spent on new features and innovations may thus be increased to further enhance Microsoft's Surface devices.
Market development. New markets may be found for current items via market development. Every time Microsoft sees an opportunity to expand its offerings, it does so. For example, the HoloLens was originally exclusively accessible in 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Zhu and Gao, 2019). As the worldwide demand for HoloLens grew, the business began offering the device in November 2017 in 29 new areas with lower buying power, such as Croatia, Poland, and Turkey.
Diversification. In order to diversify, a company must create new products and offer them to new customers. Diversification is something Microsoft does on occasion. Because of this, the business may decide to take a more diverse approach to developing its surface products, such the Duo 2 phone and the surface Laptop Studio.
“The IT giant employs behavioural and demographic segmentation tactics to split the market into several sections. Demographics may be used to categorise products such as operating systems and application software. Microsoft's Windows operating system and Windows mobile phones are examples of products that use behavioural segmentation (Kozlovskyi et al., 2018). Hardware and software interests run the gamut from operating systems to mobile manufacturing and sales businesses.”
In light of the company’s vast array of offerings, Microsoft employs both distinctive and undifferentiated approaches to marketing (Urdea and Constantin, 2021). Office and Windows, or operating systems as a whole, have a homogeneous user base, and their intended audience is everyone with a computer. “Microsoft, on the other hand, must have a distinct focus in the mobile and developer tool markets, where there is a lot of rivalry and the market is segmented according to the features supplied”.
“The firm just completed a major rebranding effort to portray itself as a value-based company that aims to better the lives of its customers throughout the globe”. There is no disputing Microsoft’s supremacy in the industry when it comes to operating systems and other applications (Kingsnorth, 2019). Because of Microsoft’s strong reputation, each new product it introduces is sure to be well received. But in certain circumstances, it may not be at the front of your thoughts. “In the smart phone industry, for example, Microsoft’s mobile phones compete with Samsung’s and Apple’s offerings”.
Strategic plan
Business plan
The achievement of the corporation’s declared objectives is the organization’s principal aim. The objectives of the business organisation are to strengthen the company’s brand image and increase sales by introducing the new product into the market. If the marketing communication system is successful in achieving this business objective, Microsoft will profit as a result (Kreiss and McGregor, 2018). It is critical to contact as many customers as possible in order to boost the company’s brand image and to raise consumer awareness of the brand. The goals will be achieved within a three-year time period.
Marketing plan
The firm will make use of integrated marketing communication channels and technologies to engage with consumers and share information about product specifics, pricing, and numerous other features and benefits associated with the company’s goods and services (Park, 2020).
The primary objective of the firm is to grow its market share and improve the image of its brand. These marketing objectives will be achieved by Microsoft’s marketing team using social media marketing, ads, mobile marketing, public relations, and sales promotions, among other tactics (Zhu and Gao, 2019). The marketing strategy will be developed for a period of two years.
Operational
Marketing communication plan
The product description will be shared on social media channels by the marketing team. In order to communicate messages to consumers about the goods and services, they will use a variety of marketing communication methods. It will assist the firm in reaching the greatest number of customers possible in order to market the company’s goods (Kozlovskyi et al., 2018). Because social media platforms are popular among people, they may assist a firm in developing a communication system with its clients by assisting them in obtaining all of the necessary information about the items.
Campaign plans
The marketers will create campaigns to promote the company’s goods on social media channels in order to increase sales. Customers will be able to provide vital feedback on the items as a result of this arrangement. They will also be able to submit comments on the product, which will be useful to other customers in the future. Advertising media such as television, broadcast, radio, and newspapers will be used to spread the company’s message about its goods to clients. Promotional activities will also be carried out in these media to reach a wider audience (Urdea and Constantin, 2021). This will aid in raising the company’s overall brand awareness and recognition. The campground will be adaptable, and the marketers will execute their marketing campaigns via a variety of social media sites, as well as through public relations and mobile marketing campaigns, as needed. The campaigns will run for a period of two years.
Nevertheless, the key prospects of the campaign are as follows:
Objective: To launch the new products onto the targeted markets effectively
KPIs: To raise the revenue from the products by 30% by 1st year of marketing
Initiatives: To venture into the potential markets of China, Hongkong and India to streamline the product sales more extensively. Thus, Microsoft’s marketing managers may utilise sales promotion as a marketing channel to promote the company’s goods and raise consumer awareness as a result of this development (Duralia, 2018). Offering discounts, coupons, and special offers to consumers and marketing managers may help to attract new clients to their businesses.
Activities: Microsoft may utilise an advertising communication tool to generate networks with the use of accurate and correct information by offering accurate and correct information. It is essential that the marketing messages utilised in advertising be accurate. Marketers attempt to tailor communications to meet the needs of consumers in order to persuade them to purchase a product or service (Kingsnorth, 2019). As well as enhancing their brand image and brand familiarity, the marketing managers at ASOS may do so by providing consumers with relevant information and messages via advertising. General and product information is communicated to clients via various media such as television, billboards, radio, print, and other forms of communication.
The campaign will formalise a substantive impact on the key stakeholders of the business and its key functionalities. In the following the key aspects of the influence of campaign and how it will affect the obligations and functionalities of the business is tabulated.
In conclusion, it can be conceptualised that by using a well-integrated and formalised marketing strategy and integrated communication plan, Microsoft will be able to launch its products effectively on the desired markets and substantiate a prolific performance through its decisive activities and initiatives which will aid the business for a longer haul.
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