Unit VIII powerpoint and video

Marketing Plan for Microsoft Corporation

James B. Christa

Columbia Southern University

Marketing Plan for Microsoft Corporation

Introduction

Microsoft Corporation is a publicly-traded multinational company in the United States. A technology business firm with branches worldwide, Microsoft Corporation develops a wide range of technological products and services. Specifically, the company produces software programs, personal computers (PCs), consumer electronics, video games, tablets, and browsers such as Internet Explorer. Founded in the mid-1970s by Bill Gates and Paul Allen (FundingUniverse, n.d.), Microsoft has, over the years, achieved so much success. For instance, a multinational corporation is considered to be among the best information technology (IT) companies in the U.S. and around the world.

Moreover, Microsoft has been ranked, by Fortune 500, among the 20 largest American business companies by revenue. Recently, it was also ranked the world’s largest software-making company. This means that the American multinational corporation has performed exceedingly better in the technology field by developing and adopting effective marketing strategies.

Competitive Analysis

Microsoft Corporation competes against some of the most formidable technology corporations in the American and international technology industry. Some of Microsoft's notable competitors are Google, Apple, Oracle, and IBM. Microsoft provides its customers with a wide range of products and services. In this regard, the company is diversified in nature. Indeed, its diversification exposes it to stiff competition from these other corporations as they are also diversifying their product offerings. Specifically, Microsoft Corporation’swell-established competitors have strategically differentiated themselves to have a competitive edge over Microsoft in several key areas. Overall, Microsoft and its competitors use differentiation strategies to gain competitiveness in the market. Microsoft, for instance, designs unique products that are affordable and simple to use by customers across all generations. Other companies such as Apple distinguish themselves by designing and manufacturing innovative products like iPhone, iPad, Macintosh computers, and the iPod (Christoper, 2010).

Strengths: One of the most prominent strengths of Microsoft is its global reputation. Microsoft is, arguably, the world's most recognizable brand due to its standing in the global technology sector. There are several reasons why Microsoft is well-known around the globe. One of the key reasons is its software development. The company has, over the years, branded itself as a major software developer. Indeed, its Microsoft Windows OS (operating system) is recognizable in every corner of the world. The other major reason that contributes to its global recognition is its customer base. Over the years, Microsoft has developed a strong customer base over all its competitors. That is to say, Microsoft Corporation enjoys a strong customer base of tens of millions of people worldwide (FundingUniverse, n.d.).

The other strength that distinguishes Microsoft from its competitors like IBM and Oracle is its brand image. Specifically, the IT Company has built its brand image on the successful design and development of its Windows software series (Butts, 2010). Undoubtedly, Microsoft Windows software is the world's most recognized computer software. Therefore, the Windows software series make Microsoft Corporation a highly visible technological brand in the world. Usually, the company has managed to create a brand image that its loyal customers believe in and use in a passionate way.

The other important strength that differentiates Microsoft from its competitors is its global presence. Unlike some competitors whose presence is concentrated in the U.S., Microsoft Corporation has active offices in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, among other places worldwide (FundingUniverse, n.d.). This means the company can easily develop and distribute its products and or services closer to its customers everywhere in the world. Also, the global tech corporation can simultaneously launch its new products and or services on all continents. This is a feat that many of its market competitors have not achieved yet.

Weaknesses: One of the major weaknesses of Microsoft is its products’ incompatibility with competitor products. To be precise, products developed by Microsoft are incompatible with different products manufactured by other IT companies. For instance, whereas perhaps an Oracle or Apple software would be compatible with IBM software, Microsoft software cannot be compatible with Oracle, Apple, or IBM software programs. Generally, hardware and software designed by Microsoft have compatibility problems that discourage consumers from purchasing Microsoft products because they are afraid the performance of their computers will be affected. Meanwhile, the other weakness with Microsoft is that it does not share its software programming codes. Often, this makes it difficult for external programmers to modify Microsoft software if they malfunction.

Marketing Strategies

Microsoft Corporation incorporates the 4 Ps (product, place, price, and promotion) of marketing in its marketing strategy. Specifically, the company utilizes the 4 Ps to promote a unique brand and stand out in the competitive market. By utilizing the 4 Ps marketing mix in its strategy, the company can maximize its sales and revenue.

Product: Theoretically, a product can be defined as the good or service a business company provides to its target customers to satisfy their needs (Singh, 2012). Microsoft offers a wide range of products to its customers. Particularly, the company develops and sells software, electronic devices, apps, and computer games (Butts, 2010). It's software products include the Windows OS and Microsoft Office, while its hardware includes PCs, Windows phones, Xbox, and tablets, among other devices. Games include Windows games, Xbox games, and other gaming software, while entertainment products like movies and music are available via its website. Whereas Microsoft entered the market as a software developer, its product diversification has immensely affected its marketing strategy. Precisely, its development of new products has forced the company to embrace marketing strategies that seek to penetrate into markets by offering unique and attractive products (Singh, 2012).

Place: Ideally, the place can be described as the site or location where an organization’s products are being distributed to customers (Singh, 2012). In simple, it is the location where goods or services have been availed for sale. The place is always critical; thus, business organizations must ensure that their products are conveniently located so that customers can have easy access to them (products) (Singh, 2012). In recognition of this fact, Microsoft Corporation uses different distribution channels to ensure its products are easily accessible to customers. The avenues that the multinational company exploits are Microsoft stores authorized dealers or sellers, and online platforms, more so its official website. Microsoft stores are physical retail shops located in areas where customers can easily access Microsoft products. At the same time, authorized dealers are agents who are strategically located in major cities across the world. The dealers help Microsoft to easily reach the target markets. Microsoft's official website or online store is currently Microsoft's major source of revenue as most customers can visit the website and download or buy products like software programs and apps.

Price: Hypothetically, price is the cost of the product. In other words, it is the financial value of a good or service. Setting the product's price is always dependent on the perceived and actual value of that product (Deshpande, 2018). Generally, a good or service price is paramount as it determines how much profit or revenue the business earns in a given period. Microsoft uses different pricing strategies depending on the value of the product. The freemium pricing strategy, for instance, entails offering a product for free but charging for extra features or additional functionality on the product. The company also uses a market-oriented pricing strategy. The strategy is determined by the prevailing market conditions, including consumer demand and competitor prices of similar products (Deshpande, 2018).

Promotion: Promotion refers to all marketing techniques that a business organization resorts to market its product (Singh, 2012). Promotional tactics include advertising, direct marketing, marketing through the social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and public relations (PR), among other techniques. Promotion aims to help the potential customer with the relevant information concerning your product (Singh, 2012). Microsoft's promotional mix entails traditional advertising, sales promotions, PR, personal selling, and direct marketing. Advertising is, arguably, the most common promotion strategy that Microsoft uses to promote its corporate image. Traditional advertising is done on print media (newspapers) or broadcast media (radio and television). Meanwhile, sales promotions like discounted prices attract consumers, while direct marketing entails collaborating with learning institutions and other establishments that would need Microsoft products in large numbers. The PR strategy of sales promotion is executed via philanthropic activities such as donating computers and software and finances, among other items, to non-profits and groups that run programs to support the vulnerable (FundingUniverse, n.d.).

Meanwhile, Microsoft's three digital methods are website, email marketing, and social media marketing. Generally, the company advertises its products on its official website. Email marketing entails sending out e-mail messages to customers. Lastly, social media marketing involves promoting products on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Competitive Advantage

Fundamentally, Microsoft has a competitive advantage in each of the four Ps (product, place, price, promotion). Microsoft Corporation's product line gives the global technology giant a competitive advantage over other competitor products in the market. Microsoft's operating system, for example, is the world's most dominant OS. In other words, most computers around the world use the Windows series of Microsoft's operating systems. These are Windows 7 and Windows 10, among others.

Regarding the place, Microsoft has diverse distribution channels through which it maximizes its reach. With many stores and dealers in most of the world's commercial areas and a functioning website, Microsoft's hardware and software are accessible to millions of customers. The market-oriented pricing strategy gives Microsoft a competitive advantage as the prices of its products are reasonable and competitive compared to competitors’ prices. Microsoft's products are well-known, giving the company some competitive edge when it sets product prices based on prevailing market conditions. Microsoft does not have any competitive advantage in the promotional mix as competitors are also using the same promotion tactics to market their products.

References

Butts, C. (2010). The Microsoft case 10 years later: antitrust and new leading "new economy" firms. Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, 8(2), 275-291.

Christoper, M. (2010). Strategy, differentiation and alignment: 5 examples from Apple. Fast Cycle Time, Relentless Growth. Harvard Business Review, 2(3), 34-45.

Deshpande, S. S. (2018). Various pricing strategies: A review. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR–JBM), 20(2), 75-79.

FundingUniverse. (n.d.). Microsoft corporation history. Retrieved from https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/microsoft-corporation-history/

Singh, M. (2012). Marketing mix of 4P’s for competitive advantage. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR–JBM), 3(6), 40-45.