Megan Kloeblen

Alex Welch

Megan Widdis

Steph Shields

Kelly Marble

• Microsoft– History – Recent PR Issues

• Strengths• Weaknesses• PR Mistake on Twitter• Opportunities & Needs• Treats• Recommendations• Conclusion

• Founded in 1975

• Created by Paul Allen & Bill Gates• As of March 2012, Microsoft has 93,163

employees

• Main products: Microsoft Windows & Office

• Other Products: MSN, Encarta, PC Accessories, Xbox, & Windows Phone 7

• Microsoft uses Waggener Eastrom World Wide Rapid Response for PR

Public Relations Issues

Bing competing with Google

Twitter PR Mistake with Japan in 2011

Bing is not doing anything incredibly different from Google. The Bing PR campaigns: Paid celebrity endorsements, Bing-financed concerts, Bing-themed contests, etc.

-May have helped some but in all was a waste

-Microsoft sees Bing as a reusable component and asset that will be built into more and more products, while the world sees it as Number 2 to Google

PR Mistake on Twitter

• In 2011, a earthquake hit Japan – Someone on the inside of Microsoft’s Marketing

team tweeted from the Microsoft account

“How you can #SupportJapan –http://binged.it/fEh7iT. For every tweet, @bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K.”

Apology :

“We apologize the tweet was negatively perceived. Intent was to provice an easy way for people to help Japan. We have donated $100K.”

Strengths

• “Working Without Walls” PR Campaign

• MSN Newsroom

• Twitter/Facebook

Weaknesses

• Battles with Google

• No easy to use apparatus

• Competition with Apple

• Too large

• Website

• Cannot keep up with the expansion of the internet

• Relaying information to the public

Opportunities & Needs

• Focus on relating products to customers

• Create a way of improving communication with public

• Can build the image the Microsoft are the “good guys”

• With a company this large they need to humanize the company, its such a large company too much is going on for a successful PR campaign– Think too much about the marketing (changing the layout or the

name) of their products. Need to use this opportunity to improve the quality of their products and engage in what the public is looking for.

ThreatsMicrosoft communicates internally through channels

1. Lync (Video Chat)2. Sync (Messgae Chat)3. Corporate Email Accounts4. Retail Net (MS Server, Domain, TPM)

All of these channels are woven together. If a hacker breaks into Microsoft’s server sensitive information is at stake

Microsoft Communication with the Public

1. Social Media (Twitter & Facebook)

2. Blogs3. Websites4. Retail Stores

*Although Microsoft has several different ways to communicate with their consumers, they have areas where they can approve

Threats

• Apple Ipad

– Decrease in desktop sales & increase in Netbook sales, which doesn’t gain as high of profit for Microsoft

– The Ipad has become a threat to Microsoft products

Recommendations

• Beware of bribes: criticized in the past for giving out products early to select bloggers/influential people

• Concentrate on safer areas. It’s hard to tell a company this large to focus on one particular aspect, but they are so spread out that some areas are harder to keep track of.

• Making new partnerships instead of competing with everyone.

• Become more ethical in general. Many issues with PR/Communication dealing with Microsoft derive from this area.

• Promote green initiatives; emphasis on high ranking in best places to work

Microsoft has a large company that has too much going. The company needs to improve the communication internally and with the public. Microsoft could use to revamp their website. Focus on what products the public wants, throw out the image of competing with others, and humanize their image.