Marketing Plan for Microsoft Corporation - Essay Example

Microsoft is currently set to market its new personal computer operating system entitled Windows Herald™, a software system designed to improve user functionality as well as provide free Internet service for a period of one year under the Microsoft Internet brand. Windows Herald™ will provide an entirely new operating platform including deleted document retrieval, something that no other operating system currently provides. This new product will allow users to retrieve documents and files which may have been deleted from the recycle bin by accident, giving the user better control over their computer systems.

Importance of Marketing to Microsoft Success

             Competition is a major issue for Microsoft as there are a wide variety of competitors in the marketplace which develop and distribute various software and technology packages. Because of this high competition volume, Microsoft must utilize marketing tactics to ensure that their product is positioned better than that of their competitors (in the mind of the consumer) and ensure that potential customers understand what specific features and advantages will outperform competing software brands. The company must establish an appropriate pricing structure as well as ensure low-cost distribution (as a portion of the marketing mix) to save corporate dollars and ensure higher profitability. Marketing, when described as a set of processes to developing and communicating advantages for the delivery of value to customers, is extremely important for Microsoft to ensure that potential buyers recognize that Microsoft products are superior to the competition. Because Microsoft maintains an advertising and marketing budget, the company must ensure that costs are monitored and their sales increase through the correct strategies for not only pricing but specifically at which retailers their products will sell the most.

SWOT Analysis for Microsoft Corp.

Product Strengths:

• Windows Herald™ offers free one-year Internet service to new buyers
• The product allows for the retrieval of long-deleted documents and files
• The product is priced $10 less than other competing operating systems on the market
• Extensive clip art gallery with over 600,000 images

Product Weaknesses:

• Windows Herald™ requires extensive internal labor to manufacture, costing the firm 8% more than the previous operating system.
• The product maintains other software which is only licensed to Microsoft for use in the product, which allows other companies to receive royalties per sale.

Opportunities:

• No other competition currently has a new version of their own operating systems on the market, giving Microsoft a significant competitive advantage.
• India and China's growth will allow for worldwide marketing efforts and distribution to occur, further driving up potential sales volumes.

Threats:

• Competitors are aware of the new features of Windows Herald™ and are currently developing their own deleted document retrieval feature which could lessen future sales volumes.
• Previous negative consumer word-of-mouth advertising regarding perceived defects and lack of usability of the previous version, Windows Vista, has given many consumers a negative view of Windows software (Miller, 2008).

Recommended Marketing Research Approach

             Microsoft maintains an advantage in determining its target markets, as nearly every age group and other demographics currently use a personal computer. This will provide Microsoft with tremendous opportunities to appeal to a wide variety of consumers in the firm’s marketing approach.

            The primary research will involve a series of focus groups that will be allowed to use the product in a testing environment and offer feedback about its functionality as well as their overall opinion about the product's potential strengths and weaknesses. These focus groups will allow the company to redevelop portions of the product as needed to ensure a more quality product.

            Secondary research will be conducted by comparing corporate invoices with actual sales volumes to determine which areas of the country are witnessing higher sales growth. This data will be compared to consumer demographics in these regions to determine specific market segments which are most apt to find the new product’s strengths to be superior to the competition, thus providing Microsoft with the data needed to develop a stronger and more effective distribution strategy (and save costs).