In spite of Microsoft’s success in selling software, the company struggles on the internet market. After numerous unfruitful attempts,  in the summer of 2011, Microsoft finally purchased Skype to ensure its significance in the market. Microsoft bought the internet telephone service for $8.5 billion, more than triple of Skype’s worth ($2.75 billion).

Therefore expectedly, this Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it will discontinue its Messenger service in all countries, except mainland China, asked its users to make the transition to Skype, merging the accounts and contacts for both services.

In my opinion, Microsoft has made a clever strategic move for the following reasons:
[1] Skype offers Microsoft a large customer base which gives the company a competitive advantage over other major competitors (such as Google).
[2] Windows Live Messenger has been on decline since other competitors joined the market (i.e. Facebook Chat, Skype). Buying Skype eliminates relative competition and gives Microsoft a new brand image.
[3] Microsoft can use Skype to enhance and promote other services that Microsoft has developed.

Image Reference:
http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/skype-windows-messenger.png?w=558&h=9999&crop=0

Sources:
[1]  http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/11/06/microsoft-skype-messenger.html
[2] http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/05/10/microsoft-skype-sale.html

External Blog Response: “9 Companies We Admire for Creating Marketing People Love”

Any company can do “marketing”, but only the companies that can consistently create marketing people love are the ones that stand out. A company’s lovability is a difficult concept to synthesize as every customer has various definitions and interests. It narrows down to whose marketing can bring marketing brings some human element to the company or interaction with their customers .

It could be their design sensibility. It could be their tone of voice talking to you on social media. The blog post lists nine lovable companies that has captured customers by incorporating these elements.

Dropbox is an example of a lovable company, because it communicates with customers on an interpersonal level.

The blog post encourages companies to seek inbound marketing strategies instead of traditional outbound marketing strategies. Traditional outbound marketing (e.g. door-to-door salesmen) intrusively irritates its way into people’s pocket. It becomes less effective over time and eventually destroys the brand image.

Instead of selling in an invasive manner, companies should transform their marketing to match the way customers buy products in order to capture their attention. To make a lasting impression, the company should create a lot of creative content (e.g. E-Book, newsletter, videos, blog posts). The creative content is the company’s permanent marketing asset, it can be distributed to different media channels as a way of promotion. The content personalizes the company and strengthens customers connection to the company.

More on Inbound Marketing:

Image Reference:
http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/images/dropbox1.png

Sources:
[1] http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33806/9-Companies-We-Admire-for-Creating-Marketing-People-Love.aspx

“Chairs are made so people can sit down and take a break. ” – Facebook’s first ad.

With more than 500 million monthly users worldwide, Facebook is without a doubt one of the largest websites ever. [1] Since the launch in February 2009, there have been over 1.13 trillion likes, 140.3 billion friend connections and 219 billion photos uploaded. Last Thursday, Facebook announced its one billion user milestone. To mark this special occasion, Facebook released its first ever, agency-created advertisement. [2]

Incorporating heart-warming images,  Facebook recognizes and honours the simple, overlooked objects in our everyday lives that make us come together. Through this marketing campaign, Facebook prepositions itself as a part of the tradition of things that connect one another. The sentimentality reflects Facebook is so much more than just a website, the human touch highlights our fundamental desire to feel belonged and connected.

The video has a gentle undertone of Facebook’s desire for people to connect with others who are separated from us by geography. This marketing strategy profoundly appealed to me as a third culture kid. Growing up in five countries across three continents, I use Facebook as a communication platform that keeps me connected to friends overseas. Via shared photos, videos and chat, my friends and I are able to learn more about each other’s most updated whereabouts, interests, and stories.

In spite of my sentimental attachment to the ad, Facebook’s commercial has received many criticisms for its “generic, silly” analogy. [3]

What do you think about Facebook’s new ad campaign? See for yourself!
The Things That Connect Us

References:
[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/facebook
[2] http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/24047/facebook-runs-its-first-ad-as-it-reaches-1-billion-people.html
[3]http://gizmodo.com/5948904/facebooks-first-ad-is-facebooks-worst-ad?post=53224654

Image Reference:
http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/facebook%20is%20a%20chair.jpg

Read Samantha’s original blog entry at: https://blogs.ubc.ca/samkho/

Have you ever exaggerated a tad on your resume in order to stand out among your fellow competitors? Have you ever re-worded your experiences to make yourself sound as accomplished as possible?

Well, over-embellishment on your resume can cause you serious trouble, some even lost their jobs during the process. Yahoo’s Scott Thompson learned this lesson the harsh way.

In May of 2012, Yahoo’s chief executive Scott Thompson was forced to reign after just four months on the job. Thompson’s resume claims that he has earned both accounting and computer science degrees from Stonehill College near Boston. However, Thompson later admitted that he has been deceitful about the latter degree.[1]

At the end of Samantha’s blog, an important question is raised: “Is it truly worth it to lie?”

My answer to that is most definitely not. If you feel your past experience is not enough to obtain your dream job, there are many justifiable ways to gain the qualifications you need! For example, you could take night classes, volunteer for relevant organizations, or find a job in the similar category. Glamorizing your resume might seem like an easy shortcut. However, fabrication says more about you as an employee than your accomplishments ever will.

Source:
[1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/yahoo-fires-thompson-and-nears-deal-with-loeb/

Image Reference:
http://www.thetelecomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/FDNewsscottthompson1.jpg