Week 2 Case Study: I’m a pc case Study Discussion Questions

Week 2 Case study: I’m a PC

Consumer Behavior

DeVry University

1. 
   Can we consider avid computer users as a subculture? If so, how can marketers incorporate this bond in their messaging strategies? - A subculture can be defined as a group ‘whose members share beliefs and common experience that set them apart from others’ (Solomon, M, R., 2011). Due to various factors that make them members of a subculture, people belonging to subcultures can be differentiated from people who do not belong to that sub culture. In my opinion, avid computer users are also a sub culture as they are a group that spend a large amount of time on computers, are passionate about the machines and technology that they use, are very specific about forums and groups they subscribe to, and are generally fit into a age group of young people or people who are in the starting stages of their careers. Based on these factors, they can be differentiated from the rest of the people, thus forming a very active and distinct subgroup. Marketers can connect with this subgroup as part of their marketing messages by incorporating the behaviors and typical actions of this sub group such as the products they use, the way they dress, the language they use and the places they go to, which differentiate this group from others, and help them identify themselves when these images are presented to them via marketing messages.
   
2. 
   Was stereotyping effective in the Apple ads? Did they stereotype ethnic or racial groups?- Apple tried use stereotyping to make users of Apple products look cool and happening while making look users of Microsoft products as dull and boring. Given that this was done with the objective of increasing sales and creating a strong brand, and given facts from the case that their sales were increasing and they were gaining share against the PC, we can say that the stereotyping that they was effective. They did not stereotype based on race or ethnicity but on lifestyle. They associated the products that people used to the way they are and how they behave, projecting desirable and aspirational images of people who use Apple products, thus wanting people to buy them.
   

1. 
   Launch a direct campaign against Apple as a retaliation strategy – Given that Apple is directly trying to project Microsoft as being boring and uninteresting, Microsoft can put its thinking and resources behind coming up with a come back campaign where it directly tries to take Apple head on and shows a negative stereotype of Apple while making itself positive. This will ensure that Apple new can face the consequences of its doings and would over a period of time stop targeting Microsoft in a direct manner. However this could be perceived as a negative approach by customers and competitors and hence would not be a good long term strategy (Hodock, C., 2009). It could also fall back on Microsoft and harm its image further should they not execute it well or if Apple comes back with further retaliation.
   
2. 
   Launch a campaign that describes what Microsoft is about, and bringing out features and benefits of the products – The second alternative would be not to care about what Apple is doing but launch a very aggressive and widespread marketing campaign on what Microsoft and its products are about. This will help in projecting that though Apple is coming at Microsoft, it actually is much better than Apple, and hence it is focusing more at its product but not at what Apple is doing. Over a period of time, if its advertising is good, this will lead to Apple stop its attack on the PC and look at other ways to promote itself. However, this does not directly address the problem on how it can eliminate the stereotype that Apple has created, and may not be effective as Microsoft’s earlier attempts to do such a thing have not been very successful.
   
3. 
   Launch a campaign that focuses on the end user of PC products, and shows that they are fun and interesting and they love using Microsoft products – The third option is for Microsoft trying to gain a very good understanding of who its customer is, how its customers are different from computers users, how its customers are different from Mac users, key personality and lifestyle attributes of its customers and make profiles and define how its customers look. This could end up in Microsoft ending up with 7 or 8 different customer profiles that cover different age groups, nationalities, ethnic groups, backgrounds etc. Taking this as the input for a marketing campaign, the company should look at launching a very aggressive, widespread marketing campaign that shows people representing these customer profiles doing various things that are representative of the target customer group and also using Microsoft products in a manner that creates value and helps them lead a better life. This is an approach that could really work as this is based on the customer profiles that Microsoft has, it’s a multi dimensional campaign that addresses may customer profiles and hence would cover many subcultures. This will also ensure that the campaign tries to identify will people of all target attributes that Microsoft sees in its target customers, and does not restrict itself to one generic target group of computer users (Brookins, M., n.d.). If Microsoft can do this well for a sustained period of time, and with a lot of repetitiveness, then it would be able to erase the image of a PC user that Apple has built up in the minds of its target customers and ensure that it is able to create a very strong brand and position itself for success in the long term. The drawback of this option could be that it may be an expensive and long drawn campaign, but this is not an issue as we can see in the case that Microsoft has put an very good marketing budget that it wants to spend on the campaign.
   

From an implementation perspective, Microsoft should first invest in Marketing Research through personal interviews and focus groups to gain an understanding on whom its customers are and draw up profiles of the different types of customers it has. Based on this, it should have a theme for the overall campaign, and then create individual advertising with each of its target customers. It should first do a test marketing to gauge audience reaction, modify and tweak where necessary and then do a national roll out of the advertising campaign.

Brookins, M. (n.d.). How to Create a Target Market Profile & Positioning Statement | eHow.com. eHow.Com. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://www.ehow.com/how_5928868_create-market-profile-positioning-statement.html