Blogosphere Corrected: WP7 Marketing To Exceed $200m in 2012 US Only; Nokia $2:$1
Thurott has done it again. Tired of inaccurate reporting that’s been going around he’s revealed details of Microsoft memorandums that he’s viewed and it’s a different picture than what’s been painted. Here’s the juicy stuff:
Microsoft and Nokia will not spend "in the neighborhood of $100 million" to market Windows Phone this year. The companies are spending much more than that.
And that’s just in the United States. In this most crucial of markets, Microsoft has one goal and one goal only: Convince consumers to purchase millions of Windows Phone handsets in the first half of 2012. Doing so will require a new set of phones–as I exclusively detailed previously in Microsoft’s LTE Plans for Windows Phone–as well as stepping up engagement with tech enthusiasts, increasing retail worker recommendation rates through training ands sale incentives, and other means.
But most of all, it’s going to require a lot of money.
Nokia is helping, but so are other Windows Phone hardware partners like Samsung. (As you may recall, Nokia previously stated that it would spent more marketing Windows Phone in the coming year than it had on any previous initiative.) According to the internal Microsoft documentation I’ve viewed, the total cost of this marketing tsunami is in the neighborhood of $200 million, not $100 million. And again, that’s just for the US. And on AT&T at least, Nokia is outspending Microsoft 2-to-1.
Included in the plan are sales incentives for retail workers aimed at getting them to finally start recommending Windows Phone as an alternative to Android and the iPhone. The amount of payments are $10 to $15 per handset sold, depending on the number sold, for some handset models.
Yes it’s a lot of money and that’s just in the US but more importantly is the sales incentives. Allt he ads won’t overcome the fact that the guy selling you the phone gets a few extra bucks to push iPhone and slam WP7 so this will level the playing field. I have a feeling there’s a lot more news coming at CES and more new devices that are waiting to be revealed.
Related Posts
About The Author
What I do see happening is that Microsoft will outspend their competitors in the Mobile OS marketing campaigns. The fact that Nokia will be given significant push is a win all by itself. In fact its what most people feel is one of the most glaring needs to gain marketshare.
The new LTE phones released this spring will be really good phones but new ones won’t come out after that until Apollo hits. This is fine because two major rounds of phone releases per year is a good number. The releases will be rolling so that means almost every month there could be a new Windows Phone to soak up the spotlight.
I keep getting the feeling Verizon is going to screw themselves badly. By the time they decide to get in the game for real Microsoft will have some real leverage and won’t forget how Verizon tried to play them.
In any case I would like Microsoft to spend somewhere around $500 million with at least $100 million of that going to opening stores in major cities. I also would have loved to have seen incentives be in the $25 dollar per phone sold range. Does anyone work at any carrier stores and can shed light on how much the incentives are for pushing iPhone and Android phones?
I totally agree with you Murani. Nokia Ace will push the other WP7 makers to the edge to release competitive devices and increase their marketing efforts and improve relationships with Microsoft.
I hope so. MS should be ashamed at how abysmally poorly they’ve marketed their product.
Are there any WP devices in the 5″ screen range coming? That is about as large as I want to go, and I am not looking to get any smaller either.
I am looking forward to the Sony Tablet P, dual 5″ screens in a clamshell,
or I could settle for the Samsung Note due soon on At+t.
Still hopefully for WP, I am not sure why I am rooting for it though.
Conflicted!
Peace
JRDemaskus-never say never in mobile with regards to size. That being said I find it very hard to believe that we’ll get anything larger than the 4.7″ screens that are out and coming now. The reason is two fold-one a phone has no business being 5″ and would not sell very well. Two-Kindle Fire type tablets are 7″ and provides the next logical upscale in screen size.
MartiM-Yes MS should be ashamed about their marketing efforts. You have to think the Windows Phone team has been shaking their heads because they have been going balls to the wall in outreach and promoting the product. I often wonder how aggressive the marketing would be if a guy like Brandon Watson was leading the marketing charge. Insanely crazy thats what always comes back to me.
Nokia didn’t back down when negotiating with AT&T and Nokia. AT&T was a little more willing to give Nokia the benefit of the doubt because they are a GSM carrier and they know there will be a third significant mobile player regardless of size in respect to Android and Apple. Nokia wasn’t going to lay down for Verizon and knows that the reception of the Lumia 800 has given them a spike in consumer interest. No need to bend over for Verizon when they see such promise in restoring their standing globally.