Kristena Louie at Microsoft was developing a digital marketing strategy for college students, an important user segment. Research was conducted through interviews and focus groups at universities. It found that while Microsoft Office was used mainly for homework, students favored Google and Facebook apps for other tasks. Google had strong university partnerships and Facebook was integral to social life. Microsoft faced negative perceptions as aging, unreliable, and unable to reinvent. To overcome this, Louie would need to improve advertising, form university partnerships, incorporate student feedback, and develop a search engine and social network tailored to their needs.

1. Presented by- Kumud Pandey, Shweta Rani,
Himanshu Gupta, Kumar Gaurav, Prince Arora
Microsoft Office: Gaining Insight into the Life of
a College Student

2. INTRODUCTION
 Kristena Louie, April 2009 (Program Manager for Microsoft Office) was deciding on
next steps in developing a digital market strategy for the college student market
 The college students represented a critical segment, considered to be the next gen
users of Microsoft Office
 Characteristics of this segment were:-
a) Tech-savvy generation
b) High penetration level of internet and cell phone usage
c) Digitally involved generation
 Louie reflected on the most recent research received from the MBD Product planning
group

3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 To know how the Louie overcome negative perceptions of Microsoft Office.
 To develop digital marketing strategy for the college students market.

4. MBD REPORT
 A report by the Microsoft Business Division (MBD) Product Planning
Group
 Used both quantitative and qualitative methods
 The qualitative study involved the use of Ethnographic research tools
 The quantitave study involved 7 universities, individual interviews with 24
faculty and/or staff
 2 Focus groups (one for graduate and one for undergraduate) at each
university, totalling 87 students.
 The case consists of 3 exhibits highlighting the findings.

5. MAJOR FINDINGS
Google
 Gained an increasing presence on campus through official partnerships with
universities
 Student governments wanting campus-wide transition to Gmail and Google
Apps for Education
 Claims a thousand universities using Google Apps for Education with some
notable names like :-
a) North western University
b) The University of Phoenix
c) Lakehead University
d) Hofstra University
e) Trinity College

6. Facebook
 Played a vibrant role in student’s social lives, a bigger role as a productivity
tool
 500,000 new users a week, forging ahead of rivals such as My Space
 Beloved by students, who used it to stay connected with “network” of friends

7. Microsoft
 Played a limited role in student’s lives
 Microsoft Office was the homework standard, generated little enthusiasm
 Rarely used for non-homework tasks
 Top spots for e-mail were:- University email, Gmail and Yahoo while Hotmail
garnered only “junk” account status
 College students mostly cared about 4 things
a) Managing Homework
b) Creating Great-Looking Schoolwork
c) Preparing for the Workplace
d) Sharing and Communicating

8. Analysing the Microsoft Situation
 Attempts to engage the student audience through commercials, which led to
negative perception
 Engaging students through campus ambassadors and discounted student pricing
 The key competitors were able to “excite” the student community with ads,
applications and programs
 Microsoft had the reputed brand image, however had the following negative
considerations among the community :-
 Aging
 Less reliable
 Unable to reinvent
 Inadaptability

9. Ethnographic Research
 Participant observation
The research by the MBD shows multiple number of first-hand insights from various
graduates and undergraduates of different Universities. This often leads to copious, rich
data. However the researcher can interfere in the process leading to the potential of
skewed results
 Focus Groups
 they can provide a broader range of information.
 they offer the opportunity to seek clarification.
 Might face the problem of dominance of one individual imposing his opinion on
others

10.  Individual Interviews
 Accurate screening.
 Keep focus
 Capture emotions and behaviours
 However this faces problem of limited sample size, cost and individuals might feel
defensive
 Ethnographic and observational research helps in creating a deeper
understanding of the consumer when compared to traditional research methods.
 Real time responses and feedback
 Research can help in designing an effective ad-campaign which would more
relate to the target community and the users of Microsoft office
 The research can also help in clarifying the possible reasons for negative
community response and give useful insights to improve upon

11. KEY QUESTIONS
1. How could Louie overcome negative perceptions of Microsoft Office and
make it an attractive and compelling package?
2. How could she enable it to go toe-to-toe with its younger and savvier
competitors and effectively meet the needs of the college students?

12. SOLUTION
 Microsoft should improve its advertisement strategy
 The company should cater to the needs of college students by forming
partnerships with universities and campus student clubs
 Microsoft should incorporate user’s feedback into its design just like
Google in order to develop their features according to the student needs
 Students mostly used Google search according to the findings and
responses from the undergraduates, so Microsoft should develop its own
search engine for academicians
 The students can use that search engine along with the Microsoft tools to
have an integrated way of doing their work
 A well developed and improved social network should be developed
specifically for the college student audience

13. Thank You