The Surface Phone Debacle
“If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad then Muhammad must go to the mountain.” — proverb dating back to 1625…….
I was recently asked to provide an example of a specific, large-scale branding “challenge”. Moreover, the Fortune 500 BOD explicitly requested that I speak to a possible solution as well — once the problem is adequately described.
It seems to me that there is no better example … than the death of a Windows Phone!
The most common reasoning behind Windows Phone challenges — points to the obvious:
- Not enough phones sold — in comparison to iPhones and Android phones
- Not enough apps — in comparison to iPhones and Android phones
- Not enough high-end features — in comparison to iPhones and Android phones
- Not enough, not enough, not enough … etc., etc., etc.
All the “doom and gloom” predictions were usually followed by a wishful-thinking exercise and the entire laundry-list of high-end smartphone features — that would have constituted a winning value proposition. To be fair, in some cases, the bloggers did realize that one would probably need to take a second mortgage — to afford such a high-end phone.
Yet, IMHO, the solution to Windows Phone malaise was much simpler and much more elegant than the brute-force approach. As the inventors of a Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) so elegantly elaborated in the past (http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/book) — I also highly recommended for Microsoft to consider:
- Creating NEW AND UNCONTESTED MARKET SPACE
- Instead of competing in the existing market
- Creating & Capturing NEW DEMAND
- Instead of trying to exploit the existing demand only
- Making the competition IRRELEVANT
- Instead of trying to beat the competition at their own game
My recommendation: instead of building an expensive high-end phone, Microsoft could have simply incorporated the phone inside its upcoming … Surface Pro tablet!
It would have further enhanced the brand value of already HUGELY popular Surface Pro (SP) tablet. But even more importantly: it would also allow Microsoft to ship a decent quality Windows phone to all the new buyers of its high-end SP tablets — ABSOLUTELY FREE.
Ratchet it up a notch, and Microsoft could also offer free Windows Phones to all its Cloud, Exchange and Office365 subscribers — for free, or at a very low cost …… and without breaking the bank!
The result of such strategy would immediately address and rectify Windows Phone shortcomings and at the same time — significantly boost the cloud-based subscription model at Microsoft.
A perfectly good phone finally finds a good home (in massive numbers) and an already valuable SP brand is SIGNIFICANTLY reinforced, too. Offering free of charge “Surface in your pocket” device — could have boosted long-term subscription rates. Plain and simple …
Win-win is POSSIBLE …… but Muhammad must go to the mountain.
BTW, make no mistake, demand creation for any product or service — is easier said than done. The journey usually starts with building customer’s awareness and ends, hopefully — with the customers’ decision to buy.
In between, one needs to consider the entire slew of strategies and tactics. One of my FAVOURITE strategies is to offer an Irresistible Value Proposition ABSOLUTELY FREE. Especially, when it leads to increased loyalty and more new sales — by the order of magnitude!
In some of my next blogs, I will describe a real example of one such strategy — from which I learned a valuable lesson. The above perspective on Surface Phone Debacle — is a direct result of lessons learned.
The Bottom Line:
Utilizing Microsoft’s Factor Endowment can lead to innovative sales strategies and remarkable results. For example:
- On the one hand, millions of Surface Phones could be incorporated/bundled with Surface Tablets and/or Laptops — significantly raising the number pf phones shipped, overnight!
- On the other hand, hundreds of millions of Surface Phones could be bundled with Office 365 subscriptions — offering low-cost/free phones against predetermined subscription levels
Using Windows Phone as a tool, can turn Windows 10 subscription models into Irresistible Value Proposition! But, hey, what do I know — in comparison to Microsoft’s infinite wisdom …
Oleg Feldgajer is President & CEO of Canada Green ESCO Inc. Oleg is positioning the company to become a leader in financing AI enhanced green energy projects and ventures. CGE’s mission is to guide DISRUPTIVE businesses in ENERGY & TRANSPORTATION toward profitable business models. Oleg is passionate about such mission, and firmly believes that without AI based innovation, we will all prematurely choke on polluted air and dirty water. CGE delivers 100% financing (levered and unlevered) to its clients — and utilizes large equity pools, and non-recourse debt. Oleg offers creative, fresh ideas to open-minded businesses — that embrace both: logic AND opportunistic intuition. CGE stands against mediocrity & its modus operandi is quite simple: If CGE is not invited to join your BOD, or Advisory Board — we failed!
