Microsoft's Strategy for Small Businesses (A): The Innovative PR
Campaign for MS Office Accounting 2007
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ICMR HOME | Case Studies Collection
Case Details:
Case Code : MKTG167
Case Length : 20 Pages
Period : 2005-2007
Pub Date : 2007
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Microsoft Corporation
Industry : Computers and Information Technology
Countries : Europe, USA
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Campaign for MS Office Accounting 2007 case study
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An Innovative Campaign Targeting Small Businesses Contd...
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The launch of OAE 2007 and OAP 2007, and the aggressive marketing campaign to
support the launch of these products, were part of Microsoft's renewed effort to
gain a bigger share of the small business accounting software market that was
dominated by QuickBooks, an accounting software product from Intuit Inc8
(Intuit). The competition in the accounting software market had intensified when
Microsoft launched its SBA 2006 in September 2005. Subsequently in October 2006,
Intuit, in a strategic partnership with Google Inc.9
(Google), launched QuickBooks 2007, which enabled small businesses to use the
Internet-based services of Google to grow their business.
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Microsoft's OAE 2007 and OAP 2007 also had tools and features that provided
various Internet-based services to small and medium businesses (SMBs). These
integrated online services would allow SMBs to use the Internet to sell
their products, make and receive online payments, process reports, etc.,
while running the accounting application. Microsoft had designed these
software to provide strong competition to Google/Intuit in the market place.
OAE 2007 was available as a free download and was targeted at small
businesses that still used pen and paper, calculators, and spreadsheets for
their accounting needs.
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The premier version OAP 2007 had features that
addressed more complex requirements. The idea was to provide the
entry-level software free in the hope that the users would upgrade to
the premier version in the future. Analysts opined that the launch of
OAE 2007 and OAP 2007 coupled with its aggressive marketing campaign
showed that Microsoft was keen to become a dominant player in the small
business software market. Microsoft saw this market as a major growth
opportunity as it had remained untapped by various technology vendors.
"We are absolutely making a strategic push to small business. We are
looking for new and innovative ways to reach the target audiences,"10
said Michael Schultz, US business and marketing lead for Microsoft
Office Live11 (Office Live)... |
Excerpts >>
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