Date: August 2014
Organization: Microsoft UK
Location: United Kingdom
Timeline: 3 months
Role: Communications Consultant, Art Director
Team: 4 Georgetown University Communications Consultants
SUMMARY
Microsoft UK requested a plan to build their audience of brand ambassadors. My team developed a social media and marketing plan to help meet those needs.
PROBLEM
While Microsoft Office is a mainstay on most home and office computers, the Microsoft UK digital strategy department expressed that UK customers are not passionate about the Microsoft brand. The goal of this project was to build a community that dedicated customers would be excited to join.
The initial stage of the plan that we outlined was three months. This would be enough time to build excitement and momentum for the brand ambassador community. The next stages would be cultivating that community to become Microsoft insiders who would tout the benefits of the brand to their own networks.
SOLUTION
While people may not feel passionate about the Microsoft brand, many of us do have a close attachment with Microsoft products. The problem is that consumers may not realize that the products they love are part of the Microsoft brand. The strategy was to capitalize on this by helping people to have an “a-ha!” moment about their relationship to the brand and show them Microsoft is not all business.
OUTCOMES
The Microsoft UK social marketing team was excited about the new way of showcasing brand as outlined in our proposal. The people-powered and people-centered focus of the campaign was an idea that they were drawn to. Later, they created a campaign along the same lines as our proposal, focused on using Microsoft products in new and creative ways.
