14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft rolled out not only the brand new Windows 8 operating system, but also the so-called marketing blitz, an advertising campaign supposed to make people aware that a new Windows is available.
More than half of computer users however haven’t even heard about Windows 8, a study conducted by the Associated Press and market researcher GfK has found.
52 percent out of the 1,200 US respondents said they didn’t know that Windows 8 was released, while 61 percent of them admitted having heard about it, but they have “little or no interest” in it.
While such news may come as a shock for Microsoft officials, it’s hard to believe that these figures are indeed accurate, as the United States have already been the target of numerous Windows 8 advertising campaigns.
What’s more, Microsoft released both the Surface tablet and Windows 8 last week in a huge New York press conference, with thousands of people getting in line at the Microsoft Store in Times Square to buy the company’s first tablet ever.
Microsoft’s marketing budget for Windows 8 goes as high as $1.8 billion (€1.3 billion), as the company wants to generate a huge number of impressions in the United States. It uses billboards, TV, radio and online advertisements to promote its products, with initial forecasts hinting at 5 ad impressions for every single American.
The only problem with this study however is that Microsoft has very high hopes that people will finally make the move to Windows 8 and dump older versions of Windows which, according to its very own statements, aren’t secure anymore.
Plenty of users have already expressed their support for Windows XP and confirmed they would stick to this Windows build until something more user-friendly comes up.