Microsoft want to spread Bing to beat Google and they are working deeply and in correct way to make this real. Starting today Bing is going to throw up results of Twitter messages for search queries. Let me explain how. If you search for 'A R Rahman', you would find @arrahman tweet messages as well! Brings out more realistic and live information online. This is very exciting because there are numerous companies who are trying to build and design widgets which would broadcast Tweets to personal mail boxes, blogs and websites. Now Bing wins it all and throws them into oblivion.
This is really one step ahead of Google but there might be few problems. Consumers expect more intrusion and the privacy factor is at stake and most celebrities would opt out and the search results might be more cluttered and irrelevant. Google is waiting and watching. For now Microsoft has 1 point more then Google. The game has begun.
You can follow me on Twitter at @Vamshiavk. Search for Vamshiavk and you get all my tweets!
Showing posts with label Microsoft marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft marketing. Show all posts
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Why I don't care about IE8's marketing campaign
When Microsoft wants to compare its IE8 with competitive browsers it should have done something better than this. When the consumer sees the table with most of he ticks missing on the copetition's list then something goes wrong with his trust. The other bad side is that IE* has all the boxes ticked. I don't at all buy into this comparison. Markets are way more competitive than the story Microsoft wants us to believe with this comparison table.
I wonder who is the target of Microsoft's campaign. Most of IE's users have IE on their desktop and they'll continue to use it. This campaign doesn't change much to them so as a target they are ruled out. If it is targeted at users using Firefox, it has got to do much more than a mere table. To stop me from using Firefox, Microsoft has to bring out something great, wonderful and useful and wait for me to decide that IE8 is much better than Firefox. This I think needs a lot more than what IE8 has got. The other option was to show me a reasonable table like the car comparisons.
Coming back to the table we are discussing, this treats me, the consumer, like a moron, especially when you consider that I'm using Firefox and have pre-existing views on many items on the comparison table. So to break that belief Microsoft should have showed me videos that when IE8 crashes, it gets back with all my tabs back working. Unless you do that your marketing campaign is greens down the drain.
I wonder who is the target of Microsoft's campaign. Most of IE's users have IE on their desktop and they'll continue to use it. This campaign doesn't change much to them so as a target they are ruled out. If it is targeted at users using Firefox, it has got to do much more than a mere table. To stop me from using Firefox, Microsoft has to bring out something great, wonderful and useful and wait for me to decide that IE8 is much better than Firefox. This I think needs a lot more than what IE8 has got. The other option was to show me a reasonable table like the car comparisons.
Coming back to the table we are discussing, this treats me, the consumer, like a moron, especially when you consider that I'm using Firefox and have pre-existing views on many items on the comparison table. So to break that belief Microsoft should have showed me videos that when IE8 crashes, it gets back with all my tabs back working. Unless you do that your marketing campaign is greens down the drain.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Information is free
Ars Technica Reports...
Microsoft will discontinue both its MSN Encarta reference Web sites as well as its Encarta software, which have both been surpassed by rising competitors, like Wikipedia. In a message posted on the MSN Encarta Web site, Microsoft says, “Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.”
Online, Microsoft offered a limited selection of professionally edited content for free and a larger selection for a subscription. But the offerings paled when compared to those at sites that could use the work of thousands of contributors. Wikipedia, for instance, offers 2.7 million articles in English. Google’s Knol, which like Wikipedia depends on user-generated content, has more than 100,000. Encarta has 42,000 entries. Encarta did try to adapt, inviting users to submit suggestions for changes to articles, but those suggestions first had to be checked by a member of the Encarta staff. And Encarta did not allow users to submit new entries.
The decision to cut Encarta also comes as Microsoft looks to cut costs. The company has discontinued several products this year, including its Train Simulator game. A Microsoft spokeswoman would not say whether any jobs would be cut due to the closing of Encarta. “The decision to exit the Encarta business is one piece of a broader strategy to continue to evolve our product offerings to address the next wave of people’s search and research needs,” she said. “We will continue to evaluate online reference business opportunities and will consider how Encarta and key learnings acquired over the past nearly 20 years of developing it can inform and strengthen our future educational solutions.”
Microsoft will discontinue both its MSN Encarta reference Web sites as well as its Encarta software, which have both been surpassed by rising competitors, like Wikipedia. In a message posted on the MSN Encarta Web site, Microsoft says, “Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.”
Online, Microsoft offered a limited selection of professionally edited content for free and a larger selection for a subscription. But the offerings paled when compared to those at sites that could use the work of thousands of contributors. Wikipedia, for instance, offers 2.7 million articles in English. Google’s Knol, which like Wikipedia depends on user-generated content, has more than 100,000. Encarta has 42,000 entries. Encarta did try to adapt, inviting users to submit suggestions for changes to articles, but those suggestions first had to be checked by a member of the Encarta staff. And Encarta did not allow users to submit new entries.
The decision to cut Encarta also comes as Microsoft looks to cut costs. The company has discontinued several products this year, including its Train Simulator game. A Microsoft spokeswoman would not say whether any jobs would be cut due to the closing of Encarta. “The decision to exit the Encarta business is one piece of a broader strategy to continue to evolve our product offerings to address the next wave of people’s search and research needs,” she said. “We will continue to evaluate online reference business opportunities and will consider how Encarta and key learnings acquired over the past nearly 20 years of developing it can inform and strengthen our future educational solutions.”
Friday, March 20, 2009
Windows vs Mac
Microsoft got it right this time with its marketing efforts paying off. Its $300 million marketing campaign for Windows helped it reap huge rewards. U.S. retail Windows PC unit sales rose 22 percent year over year in February compared with a 16.7 percent Mac sales decline. By revenue, Windows PCs posted modest 1.4 percent growth, compared with a stunning 23.3 percent Mac revenue decline.
Many financial analysts point to pricing as the major reason for Mac declines. In February, the average selling price for Macs was $1,500, down from $1,628 a year earlier but up from $1,482 in November. Consumers and small businesses must pay more to join the Mac club than to continue using Windows PCs during a recession.
There's a spirit of entrepreneurship that many Americans associate with Windows and Microsoft. The recession is bringing it out.
Many financial analysts point to pricing as the major reason for Mac declines. In February, the average selling price for Macs was $1,500, down from $1,628 a year earlier but up from $1,482 in November. Consumers and small businesses must pay more to join the Mac club than to continue using Windows PCs during a recession.
There's a spirit of entrepreneurship that many Americans associate with Windows and Microsoft. The recession is bringing it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)