Problem Statement- As of 2022, Teams has over 270 million monthly active users. Launched in 2017, with 2 million monthly active users, they have been able to grow their users more than 10x times in only 5 years. You’ve recently joined as VP of Product with Microsoft Teams. You realized your forte has been to cater mainly to businesses and educational institutions up until now, with the entire application built around making collaboration better in workspaces and schools and colleges. However, with offices and schools/colleges opening up, you fear Teams might become obsolete and start losing the growth trajectory they have been on up until now. You want to break your synonymity with only offices and educational institutions and want to bring changes in the current app to acquire more users who are looking to communicate with others.

1. Customer acquisition strategy
for Microsoft Teams
PM School case study challenge
Presented by-
Biswadeep Ghosh Hazra

2. What
• What is the problem statement?
• What is the current situation of MS Teams?
Why
• Why is the solution proposed?
Who
• Who will be the target customers?
Where
• Where will the solution reside with respect to the Teams
application?
When
• When can the solution be implemented?
How
• How will the solution impact Microsoft Teams?
5W1H framework
The subsequent slides will try to answer the following questions-

3. Problem statement
As of 2022, Teams has over 270 million monthly active users. Launched in 2017, with 2 million monthly
active users, they have been able to grow their users more than 10x times in only 5 years. You’ve recently
joined as VP of Product with Microsoft Teams. You realized your forte has been to cater mainly to
businesses and educational institutions up until now, with the entire application built around making
collaboration better in workspaces and schools and colleges.
However, with offices and schools/colleges opening up, you fear Teams might become obsolete and start
losing the growth trajectory they have been on up until now. You want to break your synonymity with only
offices and educational institutions and want to bring changes in the current app to acquire more users
who are looking to communicate with others.

4. Overview of MS Teams
of Fortune 500 companies
use Teams phone
>90
%
Bank of Montreal, Chevron,
LVMH, NetApp, and General
Motors
Recent
customers
During the pandemic, MS teams users increased at a CAGR of
~54%, as work from home as a preferred model of working
picked up the pace.
$96.57
$110.36
$125.84 $130.68
$166.09
5.94%
14.28%
14.03%
3.84%
27.10%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
$0.00
$50.00
$100.00
$150.00
$200.00
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Microsoft’s financials over the last 5 years (in Mn)
vs growth rate
Net Revenue Revenue Growth
In the first three quarters of 2022, Microsoft surpassed more
than 88% of its 2021 revenue. Additionally, the huge jump in
growth from 2020 to 2021 is proof of its Covid gains.
Educational institutions are
using MS Teams for remote
and hybrid learning
>240,000
Advantages of using teams
for education-
• Immersive experience
• Assignments and insights
for students
• Collaboration using the
whiteboard

5. Proposed solution and features
Channels
Communities
Communities
Communities are creator-focused
and provide a chance for fans to
interact with their favourite
creators and enable fans to watch
game streams of creators.
Channels
Channels are like broadcasting
zones where creators and
companies can update their
followers about the recent
developments and engage in
meaningful conversations.
Teams gg (gg stands for Good Game, in gaming terminology) is a sub-application that nests in the main Teams application.
This is designed specifically for gamers and will fit into the current Microsoft ecosystem of products and services. The
importance of creator-focused products and services cannot be ignored especially considering products like YouTube, Twitch,
and Discord are extremely popular with the masses. The pandemic has further boosted their popularity amongst people.
Teams gg will cater to gamers and try to build an inclusive gaming community that strives to take the gaming industry
forward, by leaps and bounds. Teams gg will come free with Xbox game pass subscriptions and can also be purchased as a
standalone feature for a specific feature.

6. The importance of the Activision acquisition
$68.7
$26.2
$19.7
$8.5 $8.1 $7.5
$0.0
$10.0
$20.0
$30.0
$40.0
$50.0
$60.0
$70.0
$80.0
Activision
Bliizzard
LinkedIn Nuance Skype ZeniMax
Media
GitHub
Acquisition value (USD Bn)
The scale of the acquisition can be appreciated to a greater extent when we consider that at $ 68.7 Bn, it is only $ 1.3 Bn short of
the combined value of its next five biggest acquisitions. The addition of Activation games into the subscription services will help
Microsoft further position its subscription service as a preferred alternative to Sony’s PlayStation Plus. With the acquisition, Xbox
will become the third biggest gaming company by revenue after Sony and Tencent. This trend of acquisitions is expected to
continue for Microsoft as they will always be on the lookout to acquire popular gaming titles to their Xbox portfolio.

7. Microsoft and Activision synergy
Activision has a good presence in
the e-Sports industry as its
subsidiary, Blizzard entertainment,
owns massive IPs like Overwatch,
StarCraft II, and Hearthstone, which
are some of the best-known first-
person shooters (FPS), strategy,
and turn-based games,
respectively.
Xbox can now use Activision’s
existing player base of 400 million
active players spread across 190
countries. This will also help Xbox
add subscribers to its cloud-based
gaming subscription service, Game
Pass, which is already 25 Mn
subscribers strong.
Activision owns popular games like
Call of Duty, and World of Warcraft
which sold millions of copies to
date. With the current
subscription-type revenue model in
gaming combined with Activision’s
massively popular IPs, Xbox is well-
positioned to benefit to a great
extent.

8. A brief snapshot of the gaming industry
$84.80 $93.10
$106.50
$121.70
$138.50 $145.70
$155.89
$178.37
$197.11
$217.06
$0.00
$50.00
$100.00
$150.00
$200.00
$250.00
Year-wise value of the video games industry (in $ Bn)
Year wise value of the video games Industry (in $ Bn)
45.0
28.0
19.0
6.5 1.5
Video game market share 2021
Smartphone Games
Console Games
Downloaded/Boxed PC Games
From pixelated characters on screen to stunning visual graphics and player experience, the gaming industry indeed has come a
long way. It is a multi-billion-dollar industry currently and is expected to cross $ 200 Bn in 2023. Gaming has been an integral
part of society, and as the world goes increasingly digital, the prospects of the gaming industry look even more enticing. The
total gaming market is expected to balloon further as mobile penetration increases amongst the masses.

9. Activision’s share in the continuously popular eSports market
$279.15
$129.35
$111.34 $90.04
$42.98 $41.29 $36.25 $32.21 $31.12 $26.69
1590
6081
750
2665
388
73
6283
765 74
948
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
$0.00
$50.00
$100.00
$150.00
$200.00
$250.00
$300.00
Prize money (in Mn) vs number of tournaments held for top 10 games
Prize money (in $ Mn) Tournaments
Esports is gaining popularity and acceptance amongst the masses and is aided by digital mediums like YouTube and Twitch,
where streamers play their favourite games and earn donations from fans. Activision’s heavy presence in the graph above
cannot be denied as its subsidiary Blizzard entertainment owns massive IPs like Overwatch, StarCraft II, and Hearthstone,
which are some of the best-known first-person shooters (FPS), strategy, and turn-based games, respectively.

10. The Microsoft ecosystem to be leveraged
c
Cloud Support
Gaming
Microsoft already has the ecosystem in place to put together Teams gg. It can even leverage its now closed Mixer streaming
service capabilities. Mixer used a low-latency streaming protocol known as FTL ("Faster Than Light"). This enables an extremely
fast, near real-time streaming experience for viewers. The entire architecture will be supported by Azure, and companies and
creators get daily analytics of their performance via Power BI custom dashboards.
Communication
Analytics
Streaming

11. User personas
The pro-gamer An average gamer A game enthusiast
• Name- Richard Tyler Blevins
(Ninja)
• Age- 30 years
• Pain points-
o Lack of seamless
streaming options
o Lack of dedicated game-
related engagement
mediums
• Wants to-
o Communicate seamlessly
with team-mates
o Update fans with the
latest developments
• Name- Mary Adams
• Age- 22 years
• Pain points-
o Lack of meaningful ways
to really connect with
fans, especially for smaller
creators
• Wants to-
o Grow her name within the
gaming community by
engaging with fellow
creators
o Effective monetization of
her streams
• Name- Sean Blake
• Age- 35 years
• Pain points-
o Not satisfied with the
current streaming options
• Wants to-
o Have a dedicated
community where
members who share
similar interests can get
together
o See his favourite streamer
stream, and record
streams to capture epic
moments

12. TAM-SAM-SOM
3.24 Bn
1.21 Bn (400
Mn from
Activision)
~328 Mn
(25 Mn from
Xbox Game
pass)
The total number of gamers in the world is an estimated 3.24
Bn. That becomes the total addressable market for Teams gg.
Going by estimated 25% market capture, it brings to 810 Mn Service
Available Market which excludes 400 Mn of Activision’s player base.
This 400 Mn comes from the acquisition.
Even if Microsoft targets 25% of the SAM, it comes to 302.5 Mn excluding
the 25 Mn members who already have a Game pass membership. This
brings the total SOM to a healthy 328 Mn users.

13. Exploring Teams gg
Teams gg
Teams gg present on the main Xbox
website. Teams gg will be part of the
Xbox Game Pass subscription
Although Xbox Cloud Gaming allows gaming over cross-platforms (PC-mobile-console), Teams gg will first beta test with the
website version (PC gaming) as it will allow for a wider range of dedicated players playing first-person games

14. Exploring Teams gg (Channel)
Popular comments Add a
comment/reply
Like/dislike the
post
Find my latest video about Elden Ring here!
Search channels
Hoodie Gamer
Step into the shoes of Ash Williams or his friends from the iconic Evil Dead franchise and work
together in a game loaded with over-the-top co-op and PVP multiplayer action! Play as a
team of four survivors, exploring, looting, crafting, managing your fear, and finding key items
to seal the breach between worlds in a game inspired by all three original Evil Dead films as
well as the Starz original Ash vs Evil Dead television series.
Your channels
Channels
Communities
Evil Dead The Game
24-05-2022 (1 hour ago)
22-05-2022
24 May 2022
22 May 2022
Profile of
user
Message about
latest
developments
Interactions
Profile of
creator/company
Broadcast Zone
Evil Dead The Game
Hoodie Gamer

15. Exploring Teams gg (Communities)
Elden Ring
(1-5 PST)
GTA V
(3-6 PST)
Marvel’s
Avengers
(2-5 PST) Call of
Duty
(4-7 PST)
Fall Guys
(8-11 PST)
Creators can add members to their
respective communities and appoint
moderators to ensure the community
functions properly.
Gameboy Supreme
Streaming calendar
for creators
Creator video
streaming
Number of
community
members
Total recorded
streaming time
Creators can interact with their fans and see
daily analytics within communities.
Profile picture of the creator.
The Live signal notifies fans
that the creator is currently
streaming
Keywords most
used by creator

16. Exploring Teams gg (Communities)
Gamer boy
abc@microsoft.com
Xbox Game pass member
Add a Teams account
User profile picture
and email details
Provision of adding a
normal teams account
to the Teams gg
account

17. Success Metrics and KPI
Feature KPI Metrics
Channel • Number of active users in 24 hours
• Number of active users in 30 days
• DAU/MAU ratio = (daily active users / monthly active
users) x 100
• Number of users who use the feature in a set time
period/number of users who use the feature in a
previous time period
• Total amount of time spent on feature/total number of
users
• Monthly active users (MAUs)
• Daily active users (DAUs)
• Engagement metric for the channel
feature
• Feature retention rate
• Average feature session length
Community • Total number of fans in all communities/total number of
creators
• Total recording hours/total creators
• DAU/MAU ratio = (daily active users / monthly active
users) x 100
• Number of active users in 24 hours
• Number of active users in 30 days
• Number of users who use the feature in a set time
period/number of users who use the feature in a
previous time period
• Total amount of time spent on feature/total number of
users
• Average community size
• Average stream recording per creator
• Engagement metric for the community
feature
• Monthly active users (MAUs)
• Daily active users (DAUs)
• Feature retention rate
• Average feature session length

18. Prioritization
Feature Reach (out of
100 users)
Impact Confidence (in
%)
Effort (in
person
months)
Score Priority
Channel 85 4 80% 4 68 2
Community 95 5 100% 6 79.166 1
Score calculation= (Reach*Impact*Confidence)/Effort
Impact (1-3)
1= Minimal impact
2= Low impact
3= Moderate impact
4= High Impact
5= Huge impact
Confidence
100%= Highest confidence
80%= High confidence
50%%= Medium confidence
<50%= Low confidence
Communities with their potential for engagement between fans and creators rightfully emerge as the first feature to be
prioritized.

19. Revenue strategy
The default number of community members is 5,000. There
will be a pricing mechanism to increase community
member numbers, e.g., $4.99 per month for additional
5,000 members.
Companies can boost their posts with the help of
promotion tools in Teams gg. This will increase their reach
on channels and help Teams gg earn revenue.
Creators Fans
Fans can highlight their messages to their favourite creators
by purchasing custom badges and emojis using gg coins.
The ratio of a particular currency to gg coins can be set by
the management.
Fans can also increase the stream limit that is associated
with their accounts. The default stream limit time would be
set to 5 hours. Further hours can be purchased and added
to the account, e.g., a one-time payment of $9.99 for five
more hours added permanently.
Companies
Creators can purchase gifts for their top fans, ranging from
one-time customized badges to rare game equipment and
skins.

20. GTM Strategy
Solution
development +
Testing
Pre launch Beta launch Feedback cycle Full release
For both features,
extensive research
on competitors and
trends impacting
market demand is to
be carried out
before delving into
the solution
development and
testing phase.
The product will be
launched in the
target geographies-
Asia has the highest
impact in terms of
gaming, so
launching in
countries like South
Korea, Japan, and
India, and that too
for 1-2% of the user
base.
Beta Launch to be
done in multiple
geographies after
understanding the
expected feasibility
and impact from
each geography.
The beta launch will
be accompanied by
a pre-order button
on the Microsoft
website
The full release will
encompass all
regions and be
accompanied by
celebrity gamer
endorsements who
will act as
influencers for the
larger gaming fan
base.
A sample of every
1,000th user to be
used for getting
valuable feedback.
Other sampling
methods can be
used as per
convenience.

21. The websites have helped form the data, statistics, and overall reasoning of the solution proposed by me-
• https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-teams-surpasses-270m-monthly-234320102.html
• https://www.geekwire.com/2022/microsoft-teams-surpasses-270m-monthly-active-users-as-growth-slows-from-early-days-of-
pandemic/#:~:text=In%20daily%20active%20users%2C%20Teams,used%20Zoom%20video%20conferencing%20service.
• https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-teams-now-has-more-than-270-million-monthly-active-users/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1033742/worldwide-microsoft-teams-daily-and-monthly-
users/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20daily%20active,of%20second%20quarter%20of%202021.
• https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-teams-now-has-more-270-million-monthly-active-users
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/earnings/trended/quarterly-income-statements.aspx
• https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-teams-now-has-more-270-million-monthly-active-users
• https://www.esportsearnings.com/games
• https://multiskills-ng.com/why-more-schools-are-adopting-microsoft-teams-for-
education/#:~:text=According%20to%20Microsoft%20Reports%2C%20more,for%20remote%20and%20hybrid%20learning.
• https://newzoo.com/products/reports/global-games-market-report/
• Top Games Awarding Prize Money - Esports Game Rankings :: Esports Earnings
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/annual-reports.aspx
• Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device - Stories
Sources

22. Thank you!
Presented by-
Biswadeep Ghosh Hazra