Live Issue... Microsoft upgrades its marketing for Windows 7

The marketing hype surrounding the launch of Microsoft’s operating system Windows 7 has not only served to educate consumers, but also to erase memories of the widely criticised Windows Vista.

Windows 7, which launched worldwide two weeks ago, has come during a year of broader reinvention for Microsoft. The company has put renewed focus on positioning itself as a leader in terms of products and search.

The Windows 7 launch differs from the disastrous Vista debut through a greater focus on social media to amplify the event, retail and above-the-line elements.

Vista was slammed as expensive, incompatible with many PCs and selectively dysfunctional. Microsoft’s gambit of handing out free Vista-installed computers to bloggers backfired, as it served to undermine its US$500 million ‘The wow starts now’ campaign.

This time round, Richard Francis, GM of the Windows client business for Asia-Pacific, says that the company is confident in the product. “We made a point of listening very aggressively to customers,” he says. “Eight million users tested our beta programmes from 113 countries in different languages and usage habits.”

In Asia, Windows 7 was introduced to audiences through roadshows in cities across the region. They built upon a global digital initiative that included fan pages on Facebook, ads on the Windows Live network, Windows 7 microsites and a @MicrosoftHelps tag on Twitter. Offline advertising has adopted the tagline ‘I’m a PC and Windows 7 was my idea’ to boost rapport with customers.

“Microsoft exploited the social web aspects in a very smart way and delivered upon the insight that consumers won’t be making their operating system purchase decisions without checking with the key ‘influencer’ within their circle of friends or going online to read commentary from other people,” says Andrew Tu, VP of business development for Asia at Adify. “I actually think that Microsoft did it right this time.”

Its initiatives haven’t all gone smoothly. In Japan, Windows 7 malfunctioned while two talk shows were demonstrating it, leaving the hosts to make excuses to the audiences (“It’s not Chinese, is it?” asked one). And a ‘Windows 7 Party’ viral - a video suggesting consumers host parties to teach their friends about Windows 7’s capabilities - was met with ridicule.

According to Gregory Birge, MD at F5 Digital Consulting, who was the regional Microsoft lead at Wunderman Singapore at the time of Vista’s launch, there is still too little cohesion between the campaign’s tactics. He argues that the ‘I’m a PC’ slogan has no relation to ‘Windows 7 Party’ ,  and that concept has little to do with its ‘Seven seconds’ initiative (where users have seven seconds to explain what the product means to them).

“It’s trying all these different methods and hoping you’ll be caught by one of them, but that’s the opposite of marketing. Instead of trying to get the attention of 100 per cent of the audience, it should really target the 20 per cent who matter,” he says.

But others say that, compared to the Vista backlash, the reception to Windows 7 shows lessons have been learned. According to Rob Campbell, managing partner and creative strategist at Sunshine - which has a relationship with Microsoft Advertising - Microsoft’s public relations efforts are making the campaign successful.

“Microsoft now knows that its previous campaigns over-promised and under-delivered,” he says. “Now it’s launched one of the greatest PR campaigns since the US election. Editorial around the region is really talking about the launch of Windows 7, and it’s being associated with something good. That alone is valuable.”

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This article was originally published in 5 November 2009 issue of Media.