Microsoft Windows Live Case Study
Introduction
This document details the role in which I have played in the procurement, facilitation and lead of the Micrsoft Windows Live Campaign roll out for its Wave 4 release. It also outlines briefly the scope entailed, the process involved and the organisation of the various specialist teams and our overall teamwork in seeing through the project to its completion and success.
Legal
I am obliged to respect all legal requirements regarding privacy and confidence of my former employers and so request that no circulation of this document be made without my prior consent failing which standard legal penalties may apply. The purpose of this document is so that potential employers may understand better my abilities and experience in working on macro digital projects of a scope such as what you are about to find.
Jef Tan 11 January 2011
About the Project
We were first introduced to the project when we were invited to participate in a 3 way pitch involving 2 other agencies which were known in Singapore for their digital and below-the-line work. The Brief was challenging: help the world see Microsoft's Windows Live Suite of products* in a more human and inextricable part of social life with a big enough idea that is malleable enough to fit any mass communication vehicle (abovethe-line and mainstream advertising to social media). With an extremely short preparation week of less than a fortnight, Tonic International (previously Tonic Communications Dubai) worked its way to victory.
*Details in upcoming pages
The Products)
‌consisted of 3 major components: 1. Hotmail 2. Messenger 3. Web essentials Each of these are products in its own right. Hotmail having been the oldest of the three and the only one suffering from a poor public perception problem, Messenger which was then (and still is) a market leader amongst all the popular chat applications and the newest, Web Essentials which takes (especially Microsoft Office users) cloud computing on a more accessible level. Despite their differences, the Windows Live team needed to announce the exciting new product features for Hotmail and Messenger while introducing Web Essentials thereafter. Each of these products have uniquely separate challenges. We needed to correct Hotmail's poor public perception issues before launching into its new raft of features. In the case of Messenger, we needed to cement its place against the rising tide of new mobile chat applications and the rising tide of social networking.
Target
Beginning in Singapore, we identified our target audience of early adopters and influencers to be an equal ratio of males and females between the ages of 18 to 28 years who are tech savvy and not necessarily geeks. These individuals lead an active lifestyle and constantly mobile. They are at the early stages of their career and hence more active with their social lives be it online or off. These alpha types will most likely be trendsetters in their own respective fields and may pride themselves to be “first� in everything. It is also very likely that they will also influence their peers into trying out new technology and will be very vocal in expressing their opinions. (eg. 1 = 20) We gave this group a name: the YSMs or Young Social Mavericks.
YOUNG SOCIAL
S K C I R E MAV
social network engagements, forums, feeds, broadcasts and blogger advocacy
general safeguards and damage control preparation, publicity stunts, events, press engagements
Scope
We were tasked to launch 3 separate products in
Organisation-wide engagement,
their own respective times (one after the other)
rally and involvement
in 6 different markets in both online and offline channels. “on-network� banner ads, press advertisements,
e-newsletters, e-mailers
radio add-libs, viral video
Thailand Vietnam
Malaysia
Singapore Indonesia
Philippines
The Team
A project as huge as this involved teams beyond just those of the agency. In our case, we worked with the incumbent PR company Weber Shandwick and a local award winning digital agency, Yolk Interactive*
Tonic Singapore Within the Microsoft team, there were the
Strategy + Ideation
Windows Live Team that involved product
Planning, Art direction support
managers, brand managers, legal and internal
Finishing
publicity departments, not to mention the various country managers for the various markets in South East Asia.
Tonic Dubai
Tonic Cape town
Yolk Interactive
Copywriting and
Art direction
Digital roll-out
general messaging
Social Media
“Independent advocates� Endorsements, mainstream media
The Big Idea
The idea that won us our seat in the project was the result of several rounds of brainstorming. We had to take on board the main intention of the campaign which was to create emotional appeal on products that would have otherwise been seen as mere tech tools. It would be an idea that possessed a good conversational quality and more importantly “huge� enough for Microsoft to claim and own. Our idea was to create an entire movement in itself. Being picked out of the two rival pitch contestants was but a foot in the door. We understood that for the idea to survive, it had to endure a Perseun journey of challenges comprising prevailing (internal) organisation mindset, product-orientation bias, legal insecurities, hierarchical tennis and lastly focus group testing. Fortunately the idea remained intact with the ticks of approval by everyone involved. A Focus Group workshop attendee sums it all best about what this campaign promised: Suddenly Microsoft is human again.
Time line
Diary of a Movement
The basic time line details project commencement to current roll-out. The diagram below does not spell actual specifics as different deadlines apply for the different markets.
Strategy
After a rigorous Focus Group workshop we worked with the client to identify what they
review and pre-launch fine-tuning
strategy and planning
considered to be "pain points" that needed
review
addressing. These were the fundamental conversational touch points that were popular grouses experienced by the Young Social Mavericks (not necessarily pertaining to the client's products).
JULY
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
internal advocacy
JAN
FEB internal advocacy
teaser
These were then matched against the KPIs that were finalised by upper management. teaser site
ongoing online advertising official website launch
ongoing online advertising
facebook, twitter etc Blogosphere
ATL Public relations monitoring
ATL
Creative Direction
Messaging: Getting the message style right was crucial. For the client, copy style was paramount. We knew we got it right when our headlines were catchy, succinct and “geek-cool� not at the expense of sounding too much like a B2B trade ad. Art direction: We opted for a raw and gritty style that was a bit of a homage to political propaganda posters of a nostalgic past. Using basic everyday iconology we communicate the obvious but juxtaposed in an intelligent way to appeal to our Young Social Maverick audience.
Movement identity
Every movement needed it's rallying flag. Ours was refined to look (see right) more streamlined and straightforward.
G iv e r clutteee p. th e c lea n
sw
Keep your inbox clear of spam and greymail with Sweep and Smartscreen Technology in the new Hotmail.
savesocialenergy.com
Outcomes
Within the Microsoft Corporation throughout South East Asia, the internal evangelization rolled out in full force. This is part of the democratic culture of Microsoft where campaigns had to be tested internally before they saw the light of day. Suffice to say we scored well in this area. Campaign messages were strategically placed in social areas where staff congregated or rested. These included toilets which are not shown here. Internal buy-in response was better than expected as reflected by sign-ups for the internal advocacy membership.
Outcomes
The Public Relations aspect helped to spread the Movement word with events planned throughout Malaysia and Singapore, in tandem with the Social Media exercise co-executed with Yolk Interactive. Wherever possible, all public encounters with the Movement and it's spokespersons (internal evangelical types and appointed bloggers), expressed the rallying cry: Save Social Energy. At the Teaser phase, the movement was introduced to get public emotional buy-in. It was crucial at this phase not to reveal too much about Microsoft's role.
Slogans:
save your social energy for me socially Conscious Kid Teach me to be me
Outcomes
This page is just a sampler of the kind of internet banners that were used in the digital media buys for this campaign. Digital media buys were undertaken by Yolk Interactive.
Sea of emails (symbolized by mail icon)
The entire “sea” is sifted downwards…
Staring eyes pop up everywhere.
Slowly they disappear, pair by pair…
Paperclips of all sizes fly into view..
They inundate the screen
… filtered and sorted into a nice, neat range.
Eyes close, signifying a calm repose as the answers are just a frame away.
…they make their exit
Outcomes
This is a capture of the more recent pages of the Save Social Energy website. Product placement aspects were not very apparent at the early stages.
Outcomes
We cannot forsake social media platforms if we are selling social products. Working closely with influential bloggers and platforms like Facebook we keep the buzz going, rolling out timed releases of information from an editorial content outline. As of this writing the total members of the Save Social Energy Facebook group has totalled 15,620 members.
Conclusion
Fading fast are the days of hard-sell. For a behemoth like Microsoft, it is rare and brave for them to have embarked on an endeavour to keep their products relevant while finding new audiences by believing in this Movement idea. Today, we must help our clients do just that and embed their products in the daily conversations, ritual and communication radar of their customers. In short, we need to place their brand where it matters most: their customer's hearts. For this to happen, their message and story (s) must be anchored to something much larger than themselves and sometimes it may be as simple as a call to values. The writing is on the wall.