Advertising Coming To A Windows 7 Desktop Near You

In an interesting move, Microsoft has announced the launch of a pilot program that involves selling advertising space on Windows 7 desktops.

A number of high profile brands, including Coca-Cola and Porsche, are participating in the pilot scheme.  Advertising will appear in the Windows 7 interface itself as well as add-ons to the Internet Explorer browser, according to Microsoft.  There will also be downloadable Windows 7 Themes designed by the brands.

Why are Microsoft making such a move, and will it be effective?

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Advertising spend for four global brands

An interesting chart from the excellent Business Insider delves into company accounts data to see how much some global brands are spending on advertising…

A Microsoft Marketing Mishap

There are many examples of disasters when it comes to international marketing.  Most are related to differences in language, or in some cases customs.  The latest example, from Microsoft, was perhaps more avoidable.

In a bid to promote their business products, Microsoft used the following image in a series of adverts in the US:

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Microsoft and Google compete head-to-head

A dramatic shake-up for the information-technology (IT) industry is coming.  Google is promising to release an operating system (like XP or Vista) for personal computers.  This represents a direct attack on Microsoft, the world’s biggest software firm. 

Bing - the battle for search engine market share is on

More than 70% of the global internet searches are made using Google - a point that is not lost on Bill Gates.  But now Microsoft is about to launch its Google rival - named simply...Bing

Is this a sensible strategic decision by Microsoft?

It seems like an odd decision - to launch a retail business in the depths of a global recession.  But that’s what Microsoft is planning…

Now thats what i call a takeover

There are small takeovers.  There are big ones.  And then there’s Microsoft’s offer to takeover Yahoo - announced this morning!  The price tag is a cool £22.4bn.  This deal looks like it could be a fantastic case study for business teachers and students, raising all kinds of issues about fair competition, growth strategy, economies of scale and competitive response (what will Google do?).