14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s marketing blitz for Windows 8 included basically all kinds of ads, as well as campaigns and launch parties across the world supposed to show people how great the new operating system really is.
Judging by Windows 8’s existing market share, Microsoft has failed in its mission to make the OS a successful product, but the company seems to be fully prepared to try the same thing once again with Windows 8.1.
WinSuperSite has revealed that Microsoft has a budget of $405 million (€300 million) for Windows marketing, up for $241 million (€178 million) for Windows 8, with the emphasis to be put on new products and bringing them in retail stores across the world.
The same source adds that Microsoft wants to spend $131 million (€93 million) on offers and incentives, while $274 million (€203 million) are reserved for marketing and operating expenses.
Microsoft’s efforts pretty much make sense, especially because the company has apparently learned from its past mistakes and is now trying to fix problems not only with products, but also with marketing.
If Redmond used dancing girls to advertise the Surface and Windows 8 ads that showed almost nothing about the new operating system, the company is now putting the emphasis on the key features of its products, just to make sure that everyone is aware that it worked really hard to tweak them.
Last but not least, Microsoft is also adopting a different strategy and is now willing to get closer to users and try to tweak its upcoming products, be they devices, software, or services, according to their needs.
Windows 8.1 for example has received a completely new Start button, as well as options to boot directly to desktop and skip the Start screen. Both have been top requests on support forums, as users were trying to make the modern OS a more familiar working environment.