Three reasons why Microsoft is cool again

Oct 21 2009

Three reasons why Microsoft is cool again

PC and MAc

One of the points that differentiates me from other bloggers: I’m old enough to remember when Microsoft was cool. They were the college drop-out geeks who conquered the world. Then David turned into Goliath. And nobody likes Goliath.

But I just get this sense that Microsoft is recaputuring its mojo. Let’s see if you agree.

1) Those ads. As a marketer, I loved the ninja move they put on Apple. Apple’s ad campaign famously defined their competitor as a pasty-faced, clunky slug. Instead of fighting this deeply embedded image, Microsoft incorporated it into its own ads and flipped the “Apple cart” by highlighting the breadth and depth of the Microsoft user base. This was simply inspired marketing.

2) Real service. The last time I went to an Apple Store with a technical problem, they said “no.” I never encountered that as a service option before or since. They would not fix my product and would not even recommend somebody who could. The only option was “you’ll have to buy a new one.”

I have had enough hair-pulling customer service disasters from both companies to make me repulsed by the thought of a service call. But my last experience with Microsoft was very different. I got a live person on the first ring, which left me momentarily paralyzed. The India-based technical leader took control of my computer and solved a debilitating problem in 10 minutes. But when he sent me back to customer service for a refund on a purchase, I hit a stone wall. The technical leader, who had not abandoned the call, jumped in and asked if I could be put on hold while he addressed the problem. Thirty seconds later he came back on and explained that my money had been refunded. I was impressed that the technician took accountability for the entire customer service experience and had enough authority to do the right thing on the spot. Well done.

3) The Bing Thing. The best companies constantly re-invent themselves with Madonna-like regularlity. But Bing out-Googled Google by upping the ante on search performance features. Consumers rewarded Microsoft’s innovation by moving to Bing in droves. It’s no easy feat to grab share from a famous and entrenched market leader. Google will respond. Microsoft’s aggressive and innovative market entry will speed the evolution of the platform and benefit us all.

In a few days, Microsoft will release their latest operating system evolution. Here’s hoping the Big Guy stays on a roll. We need that.

Filed in Marketing Solutions | Mark

8 Comments

By Joseph Fiore, October 21, 2009 @ 7:57 am

Hey Mark,

Thanks for sharing this inspirational turnaround story! Perhaps the past has much to do with what guides Microsoft towards enlightenment and nimble prosperity. They were listed #5 in a recent study on the most engaged brands in social media, so maybe this has something to with a brand who has fixed their eyes and ears on circumstances brought forward by Web audiences. They are listening, addressing concerns, and building dynamic models of outreach on consumer and public demands. According to that study, these are the brands who seem to be on the path towards financial prosperity, but its posts like yours that prove they are brands that might also capturing the attention and imaginations of Web audiences. If Microsoft keeps this up, it may well mean having to write a second chapter on “reputations that take a licking and keep on ticking.”

Joseph
@RepuTrack
By Mark, October 21, 2009 @ 9:26 am

This is a great point, Joseph. Reason number 4 why Microsoft is cool!
By Nitin Gupta, October 21, 2009 @ 4:38 pm

I am not a huge Microsoft fan and feel that they have been too lazy (sitting on their cash cows). While nobody can deny the size and reach they have, MSFT was late to the Internet, late to Social Media and have buggy products called Windows and Office.
However, we are seeing winds of change. With Bing, the deal with Yahoo and their latest announcement to fully integrate Twitter feeds and plan to integrate Facebook, (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/microsofts-bing-to-intergate-twitter-facebook/?src=tptw) they are headed in the right direction.

Sorry Mark: I am not going to call them “cool” yet!!
By Mark, October 21, 2009 @ 9:31 pm

@Nitin. Agree. Agree. Agree. But I still think they have found their groove again.
By Mark, October 21, 2009 @ 11:38 pm

Somehow I missed the fact that Microsoft has a social media listening platform called Looking Glass in closed beta. Radian6 and the others have got to be nervous about this one.
By Jeremy Victor, October 22, 2009 @ 7:13 am

Two things have sparked me to begin thinking like you about to Microsoft.

First, BING. Initially, I scoffed at it thinking, “here they go again late to the game, Goliath is spending money where they should have long ago stopped”. Then I actually used BING solely for a week and I learned there are only a small group of people responsible for it. My perception went from, “you kidding me” to, “this matters.” The Yahoo – Bing deal solidified that even more.

Then on 9/24 I watched Michael Arrington’s interview with Steve Ballmer on Tech Crunch. [http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/24/microsoft-ballmer-interview-exclusive-techcrunch-bing-mobile-azur/]. I’d encourage MSFT ‘haters’ to check it out. Ballmer seemed different. He seemed humbled by and respectful of the competition. This new attitude appears to be reflected in their new approach to all things digital. For sure, the battle between GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, FACEBOOK, APPLE, AND TWITTER will be fun to watch in the days, months, and years ahead.
By Jeremy Floyd, October 22, 2009 @ 9:13 pm

Apple is so sexy. Its mystical spell lures geeks and turns them into fanboys (easy to say as I bang out keys on a mac ;), but I have really been thinking about this issue over the last few weeks.

Like @nitin, I have thought that microsoft has been lame in social media, but last week, I came across this article [http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/10/07/os-x-vs-windows-web-2-0-face-apple-gets-thrashing]. Microsoft actually seems to have a higher level of engagement than Apple.

Because MS is the Goliath, it is often easy to forget the overly corporate world that they entered and empowered small businesses to compete with the big corporations. For a fraction of the cost they enabled broad competition and efficiency in small business.

Now, with programs like Bizspark, http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/BizSpark/Pages/At_a_Glance.aspx, MS is allowing startups to use their software for free to get the business off of the ground. Of course, they are planting the seed of dependence but startup expenditures for a design firm trying to build an apple/adobe shop can bankrupt a company before they begin.

Competition, of course, is good. Ideally, both companies will continue innovation where the consumers can benefit.

As for the mojo, in school we all liked the cool kids, until they realized that they were cool. I agree about reinvention. It’s time that Apple drop the chic fanboy spokesman before they are too cool for school.
By Mark, October 23, 2009 @ 8:15 am

@Jeremy Thanks for the terrific insights. I am not a techie by any measure so I appreciate when more savvy folks like you pipe in! I think the point about Bizspark is excellent.

One of the things that is challengeing is to figure out who really competes with who.

Is Twitter a search engine? Is Facebook? If you can soon get these results through Google does it minimize their relevance? Are they competitors or suppliers? And if they are simply a supplier, how do you monetize that???

Who owns apps for small business? Yahoo? MS? Quickbooks? I recently featured a blog post on a search engine http://www.freesourcing.org where you can find just about anything to support business for free. Can anybody “own” that niche? Somebody probably should.

How will social media measurement pan out? Most results provided by even the big boys can be assembled for free. The real battle will be in interpretation of sentiment. Can anybody compete with MS once they get in th battle? You won’t out-spend them!

We are living in is such an interesting time!!