memo to microsoft: how to make windows 7 succeed

recent news reports says microsoft has hired a vice president whose task is to set up retail stores for microsoft. first time i read it, i imagined it would be a store full of windows OS and windows office. that could be a real boring retail store. they can of course add their gadgets, but considering their gadgets are really going nowhere, it would by logical inference a store full of boxes and boxes of windows OS and windows office.

"The purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy," Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft indicated that it wants to use the stores as a platform to hawk its forthcoming Windows 7 operating system. "This is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product releases including Windows 7 and new releases of Windows Live and Windows Mobile," said Kevin Turner, the company's chief operating officer, in a statement.

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_wsZ3ujT_uUqmXumH3ChOsGGcCAD96AE3NO0


"I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases," Porter said in a news release, which added that his first task would be to decide when, where and how to open the Microsoft-branded stores.


source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-microsoft14-2009feb14,0,6850234.story

the second paragraph, above, is what i am referring to - boxes upon boxes of windows 7, windows live and windows mobile. sounds exciting.

we don't know that the details are and we also don't how it will be exactly. the guy they hired for the job will only report middle of this week, but it looks like the last paragraph, above is the real reason for microsoft's venturing into retail stores - they want to give potential buyers of windows 7 a venue where they can experience windows 7.

that means the retail store is a marketing tool for them. it's not meant to make them any money, perhaps contribute slightly to building market share but its really more to give consumers a chance to get some positive experience on windows 7. people will see windows 7 operate well inside a controlled environment with the assistance of a very biased sales clerk.

building equity, in this case recovering a destroyed brand equity is a good thing to do, its what microsoft needs to do now. and doing it via the retail stores can be a viable thing to do, but is it the smartest way to do it?

we think there is a much better way of doing this - microsoft should GIVE AWAY FOR FREE their windows 7 software to all vista users.


why will that work?

• what ails misrosoft now is the product failure vista. the failed vista has caused damage to microsoft's brand image. windows 7 is supposed to remove the pain of vista from the minds of consumers and the brand. giving away windows 7 for all vista users does that in one full sweep.
• the above will certainly generate a lot of goodwill among vista users who will benefit from the miracle of windows 7. this will square things out with "disappointed" vista users.
• they should do this a few months ahead of the formal launch of vista to give vista users who now use windows 7 time to enjoy and heap praises on windows 7.
• one of the selling points of windows 7 is that it is a much better vista, this will prove that once and for all. there is no better testimonial from a former vista user heaping praises for windows 7. it will totally eradicate the fear and questions on exactly how good windows 7 is. you will now have an army of endorsers of windows 7.
• the business cost will be high but i don't think it will be as high as setting up retail stores across america and the rest of the globe. giving away windows 7 is a one shot deal, something you can do in a couple of months, retail stores is a forever thing. the cost of giving windows 7 away free to vista users will be much cheaper in the long run. it is also much less complicated.
• the real target market of windows 7 are actually the users of XP who did not switch to vista and new users. XP users still account for a large percentage of the market, 60%. they did not switch to vista because they got spooked by vista. we think the most effective way to convince XP users to switch to windows 7 is to get vista users to convince them that windows 7 is not vista and is a much better product.
• if microsoft does this, they need to take stock and prepare for what they are facing : vista users will be over-critical and over-sensitive, so microsoft need to double-up and triple-up customer service when vista users start calling to ask for help on windows 7. microsoft do not want complaints to languish and keep boiling over. they need to address them in a much faster fashion than they have done it before. this needs to be industry leading kind of customer service. remember that thinking is these vista users will be next army of endorsers for windows 7
• rather spend a lot of money on the retail stores, they should just put all of it on advertising. and these converted vista users could be source of some great materials for windows 7 ads and consistent with what they are running now. it shouldn't be what they have know, but they can find a way to make a good transition to new material coming from where they are now.
• an army of satisfied ex-vista users will be a much more potent and effective than all the retail stores microsoft will be able to put up in selling windows 7.

this idea in one stroke removes the biggest pain and smudge on microsoft's brand image - it removes from the face of the earth the failed vista. at the same time microsoft makes nice with the legions of vista users who felt bad they got trapped into it. and if windows 7 is that good, then microsoft will automatically have a whole army of endorsers for windows 7.

the above will work on the assumption that windows 7 is a great as what microsoft is saying it is - that it does not have the porblems of vista and that it performs much better than vista and XP. if they are not sure of any of those, they should not do it then. in fact, they probably postpone thee luanch of windows 7 until they get it to that level.