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  #1  
Old 10-16-2009, 06:00 PM
Jason Dunn
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Default The New Windows Phone Marketing: Does it Work?

Microsoft is starting to promote Windows Mobile phones under their new moniker: "Windows Phone". Here are two commercials that are presumably airing on TV - has anyone seen them yet? Better yet, what do you think of the commercials? Do they hit the mark? Personally, I think they're pretty good - they make the connection that the things people care about the most on their computers can also be found on their Windows Phone. I think Microsoft is going to have an easier time branding the term "Windows Phone" over "Windows Mobile". Now if only Microsoft's Facebook client wasn't so awful...

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Old 10-16-2009, 08:37 PM
Gerard
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Am I missing the point? Commercial 1 seems to be about hiding the fact that the guy is goofing off in a meeting, attempting to flirt with a co-worker during said meeting, by showing off a spreadsheet open on his phone. Commercial 2 seems to indicate that stealing a bicycle (and helmet!?) is perfectly okay, if one is lame enough to leave one's WM phone on a bus. Inappropriate work behavior is okay if you have a WM phone... Stealing someone's transportation is okay if you're trying to recover your (stupidly) lost WM phone... Clever marketing? Sure, it's 'catchy' in a rather uninformative (misleading - as you say, consensus has it that the WM Facebook app is terrible) way. Okay, so it shows that you can open a spreadsheet or messaging app on your phone, but those have been available for many years in WM phones and PPCs, nothing new to see here. Where's the connection to WM6.5's advantages? Where is the hook that's going to make people realise that the biggest single advantage of a WM phone is the vast library of shareware and freeware available for the platform? If these were commercials for a PPC back in 2000 I'd say sure, great, they liven things up a bit and grab attention, and potential users may be inspired to dig deeper for more information. Maybe even in 2001. But it's almost 2010, and the only updates I'm seeing are Facebook and Twitter... which aren't even Microsoft products!
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  #3  
Old 10-16-2009, 10:06 PM
Jason Dunn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
Where is the hook that's going to make people realise that the biggest single advantage of a WM phone is the vast library of shareware and freeware available for the platform?
Do you really believe that the mainstream market understands or cares about "shareware and freeware"? I mean, come on... People are starting to understand that "apps" matter - thanks to Apple's ads - but toss the term "freeware" or "shareware" at the average person and they'd stare at you blankly. Frankly, the only software that's going to matter in the mainstream sense is what comes on the phones, or what's available in the Marketplace. Only a small % of people will go through the silly process we do now of downloading a setup.exe file, connecting our phones to a desktop computer, installing the app, etc. Or, even more esoteric, getting a CAB file, moving it to the device...

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Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
If these were commercials for a PPC back in 2000 I'd say sure, great, they liven things up a bit and grab attention, and potential users may be inspired to dig deeper for more information. Maybe even in 2001. But it's almost 2010, and the only updates I'm seeing are Facebook and Twitter... which aren't even Microsoft products!
The thing to remember is that the market as a whole really doesn't understand what Windows Mobile even is. Microsoft is starting, more or less, from scratch. Sure, they sold 15 million phones last year, but most people don't understand that they're buying a Microsoft operating system.
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Old 10-17-2009, 12:08 AM
Gerard
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Okay, I see your point on the software thing. Though frankly it's a mystery to me how tapping on a CAB file is complicated. If anything it's too simple, as evil folk could (and probably do) use CAB files as a delivery system for malware, and probably less than 1/10,000 WM users have any sort of AV software on their devices, maybe not even 1/100,000. But a CAB itself is dead simple; download, locate in File Explorer, tap. Done. Surely the average potential WM phone user is not so idiotic as to mess that up. Or maybe I over-estimate people's intelligence? Actually I have to say you're the one doing that a bit here. I have quite a few clients using iPhones, and whenever I've seen them using the things there is always a new app being used, often with quite pretty interfaces and really obvious ease of use. I've seen several musician-oriented tuning applications for instance which looked well worth using. There are similar apps for WM devices too, and they're not exactly brain-busters to install and use.

But the other point, the actual apps indicated in the ads (by giant foam rubber icons with legs), why not use the 'e' of Pocket IE? Surely that's recognisable. Is Microsoft as embarrassed about the WM6.5 version of PIE as I am? To be fair, I may have missed the 'e' in those quick flashes of video showing the icons. What about an email icon though? At least according to forum users, Messaging has improved here and there enough such that MS need not be too ashamed. It's certainly a better app than it was back a few years ago, and the integration of voicemail alerts and text messaging is somewhat useful.
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Old 10-17-2009, 01:00 AM
Jason Dunn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
But a CAB itself is dead simple; download, locate in File Explorer, tap. Done. Surely the average potential WM phone user is not so idiotic as to mess that up. Or maybe I over-estimate people's intelligence?
It's less about whether or not they CAN do something versus how many barriers to the end goal there is. Let's make a list:

1) Go to the developer's site
2) Find the CAB file...which will likely involve figuring out the operating system (which Microsoft does a great job of hiding), possibly the screen resolution etc.
3) Connecting the device, transferring the CAB file over
4) Open File Explorer on the device, find the CAB file, install it

Let's compare it to the way app marketplaces tend to work:

1) Open Marketplace
2) Find the app you want to install
3) Install the app

Both lists are simplified, but you can see which one is much easier - there's a reason why a CRAZY number of app downloads has happened (1+ billion I believe).

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Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
I have quite a few clients using iPhones, and whenever I've seen them using the things there is always a new app being used, often with quite pretty interfaces and really obvious ease of use. I've seen several musician-oriented tuning applications for instance which looked well worth using. There are similar apps for WM devices too, and they're not exactly brain-busters to install and use.
Again, the big thing is how stunningly easy it is to install, try out, and uninstall apps on the iPod Touch/iPhone. And here's the best part: in the 60+ apps I've installed and uninstalled, my iPod Touch is just as fast and trouble-free as the first day I bought it. I could only dream of that kind of stability on a Windows Mobile device...over the years I've actually weaned myself off of almost all third party apps because so many of them de-stabilize the phone.

It feels strange to be "defending" the iPod/iPhone, but their app store is done really, really well.
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  #6  
Old 10-17-2009, 02:06 AM
Gerard
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You have the advantage of actually using the iPhone, something I've not done. I was trying to think more about comparing the relatively un-washed, people who are making the jump from a 'dumb' phone to a smart one. After all, this is the crowd to whom both Apple and Microsoft are aiming commmercials such as this, right? It's not quite at the Coke vs. Pepsi stage yet, competing for existing market share. We're somewhat past the early adopter phase with smart phones, and just getting into establishing initial market share, at least when using blinkers a bit and looking only at Microsoft, Apple, and Google's Android. It's no longer the wild West but it's still frontier days...

So what I'm saying is that a new user coming in does not know that it's difficult to select options when choosing the version for a particular WM phone. Microsoft and many MS partner developers (award winners like Resco and SPB and such) have already begun efforts aimed at simplifying such choices, with Resco being rather obviously good at it already once a user has a single app installed from their vast selection. Their included 'Resco Update' app, which comes with everything they sell, automagically seeks out and lists any CAB files pertinent to the device being used. It's a 'no brainer' quite literally, involving a simple decision as to whether or not to download and install with a tap or two. I'm kind of confident that Microsoft's app store will continue this effort, making it far less daunting for users who are not yet familiar with installation protocols. Uninstallations are a bit fussier, and I certainly agree that there should be much more strict requirements placed upon WM developers forcing them to delete all related registry and file data on uninstallation. It should not be necessary to have such applications as 'Remover' or any other registry cleaning application, just to keep a device running smoothly after testing and dumping apps. This is one of the several themes I'll be bringing to the next conference call amongst MVPs and WM's developers if given the chance. The registry has long been a bane of Windows users' existence. It's long overdue, making keeping it clean a priority, as we all know how bogged down a device can get...

Your step 3 is not really relevant any more. By that I mean that downloading the CAB over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection is simpler, and that many developers do offer CAB files. Or even standalone executables in some cases.

But I'll drop it, agreeing that it could be simpler, easier. I don't think it's quite as breezy as MS seems to be making out with these commercials, but perhaps that's quibbling.
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Old 10-17-2009, 02:18 AM
Russ Smith
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Default back on topic...

I like the commercials. Of all the things that WM offers, I think the ability to carry your stuff with you is one that translates well to all levels of tech expertise. Using the term "windows stuff" helps stick the idea that what's on your computer at home can be on your handset along with you without getting too specific and losing some potential buyers.

Apple was tremendously successful with "there's an app for that" even though we knew that there was an app for that on our phones too It just needs to translate into "this phone could work for me" in the heads of the viewers.

I realize that the vast majority of phone users have no loyalty and probably no actual knowledge of what OS their phone uses. They just want it to work for them.
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Old 10-17-2009, 02:41 AM
Sven Johannsen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
Am I missing the point? Commercial 1 seems to be about hiding the fact that the guy is goofing off in a meeting, attempting to flirt with a co-worker during said meeting, by showing off a spreadsheet open on his phone. Commercial 2 seems to indicate that stealing a bicycle (and helmet!?)
Don't know if I'd get that literal on these. First guy was playing during the meeting, but he wasn't flirting, just justifying his phone use to all the attendees with the spreadsheet. Unless the girl overpowered the messenger guy, I would guess she asked to borrow the bike. I think they are kind of cute, though I have only actually seen the original one on TV where the guy is leaving his house, initially assuming his Win stuff can't come. Seen that one twice. Seen lots of other carrier and phone platform ads LOTS. Specially that T-Mo google thing. I think these get the point across that you can take your Windows stuff along. Hopefully they evolve into showing how broad the range of stuff you can take along is. We probably have an app for that too. And if we want to adopt the old Apple/Palm philosophies, if we don't have it, you probably don't really need it.
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Last edited by Sven Johannsen; 10-17-2009 at 02:46 AM..
 
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  #9  
Old 10-17-2009, 02:50 AM
Gerard
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Originally Posted by Sven View Post
And if we want to adopt the old Apple philosophy, if we don't have it, you probably don't really need it.
Have to disagree there a bit, based on a bunch of years of browsing for and testing a LOT of WM apps. I'd say it's closer to 'If you don't need it, we probably have an app for it anyway... in fact probably a dozen variations on what you don't really need.' There are loads of programs for WM devices which perform perfectly meaningless functions, such as the many thousands of wallpaper 'apps' which are really nothing more than sets of background imagery coupled to font scaling and such. The way so many of these are broken and get in the way of proper functionality doesn't help matters. Then there are the thousands of games, most of which hardly worthy of being called games as they are close to unplayable. And so-called 'PIM replacements' which do no task better than slowing down access to PIM data - though there are certainly a few which enhance it, and those tend to be the survivors.

Okay, so maybe I'm being overly critical of the commercials. Not being a TV viewer makes me more than a little resistant to commercials generally. I've tried watching the Superbowl commercials to see what's so dang funny about them, but always quit after a few because there's a sense of being insulted by the corporate machinery.
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  #10  
Old 10-17-2009, 11:52 PM
Jason Dunn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerard View Post
Your step 3 is not really relevant any more. By that I mean that downloading the CAB over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection is simpler, and that many developers do offer CAB files. Or even standalone executables in some cases.
Please tell me though that you understand the vast, HUGE difference between:

1) Clicking on an application named Marketplace that's already on your phone to find new apps to install

versus

2) Opening up IE Mobile and browsing to a developers site - a developer that you already have to know about and already know what they offer, and hoping they actually offer a mobile site - all to find a CAB file to download

There's absolutely no comparison between the two...
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