SURFACE PRO 3

CREATIVE BRIEF FOR MICROSOFT BY MEREDITH JOHNSON AND EMILY KAWOLA

MICROSOFT PRESENTS THE

(DeCapua, 2015, February 9; Microsoft Surface Pro 3, n.d.)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe research in this report was gathered by Emily Kawola and Meredith Johnson to better under-

stand the Surface Pro 3 product, and help predict changes and improvements to not only the product, and its advertising messages.

All research was conducted using online databases such as Mintel, Redbooks, The Microsoft Com-pany website, etc. From our research we were able to gain understanding of why people use the Surface Pro 3 and what they use it for.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 3

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW PAGE 4

COMPANY OVERVIEW PAGE 4

PRODUCT INFORMATION PAGE 5

PRODUCT FEATURES & BENEFITS PAGE 6

DIRECT COMPETITORS PAGE 7

INDIRECT COMPETITORS PAGE 8

PRODUCT ADVERTISING PAGE 9, 10,11

TARGET AUDIENCE PAGE 5

PRODUCT BRAND IMAGE PAGE 12

THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING PAGE 13

RESEARCH REFERENCES PAGE 14

IMAGES REFERENCES PAGE 15

(2014, May 26)

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INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

COMPANY OVERVIEW

The technology and software industry is changing rapidly. Big companies are having to compete with much smaller companies, who are often well funded. This competition is changing the customer as well, causing them to become more demanding, seeking greater performance, better features, and more platform independence and flexibility at the lowest price possible (“2015 Technology Industry Trends,” 2015) . Ever-changing and evolving technology has created an unstable market. A company must come up with new and innovative products to continue to meet industry product standards (“Microsoft Corporation-Financial and Strategic and Analysis Review,” 2014). In the last fiscal year over 80 percent of companies in this industry have an RVG of 1 or more, meaning these companies will not only be focusing on cost cutting in the next year, but also working to create better products than the competition.

Microsoft Corporation is a leading developer of personal-computer software systems and applica-tions. The company also publishes books and multimedia titles, offers email services, and sells elec-tronic game systems, computer peripherals (input/output devices), and portable media players. It has sales offices throughout the world. In addition to its main research and development center at its corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA. (Microsoft Corporation, 2015).

Their products include operating systems for computing devices, servers, phones and video games (“About Microsoft,” 2015). They also design and sell hardware including PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, phones, and related accessories (“About Microsoft,” 2015). They also offer cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services, platforms, and content. They can provide consulting and product and solution support services, and we train and certify computer system integrators and developers.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

TARGET AUDIENCEThe Surface Pro 3 was primarily designed for

educational and professional users, such as art-ists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, business owners, freelancers, and students. These demographics heavily rely on taking notes, writing down ideas, and thoughts for various purposes. (Babb, 2015, Sept. 2). With the use of the Surface Pen, these users can write or draw out their own notes. More importantly, the Surface Pro 3 allows these users to be mobile, which is important since these users are always on the go (Babb, 2015, Sept. 2). Young, creative users are interested in the Surface Pro 3. The average user is a “Generation Y” consumer

from the age of 18 to 34 (Tsukayama, 2012, April 30). These users are also in the middle to upper class who are note-takers, content producers, and frequently switch between devices (“Microsoft Surface Pro 3 marketing plan,” 2015).

Surface Pro 3 users can be broken down into four categories; productives, connectors, mavens and media centrics. The productives category is 61% male, the mavens category is 69% male, the media centrics category is 55% male, and the connectors category is 49%. Therefore, the aver-age Surface Pro 3 consumer is male (“Meet the Microsoft Consumer,” 2015).

The Surface Pro 3 is available at Microsoft re-tail stores, Microsoft online, Best Buy and other retail locations. The price ranges from about $700 to $1,900 depending on the specifications and de-sired device storage.

The Surface Pro was introduced to the market in June of 2012. The idea behind the product is that it is the tablet that can replace your laptop and is designed for a person who is always on the go. Its lightweight properties are perfect for traveling. The tablets fully operational Windows systems, and other specifications allow for people to replace their heavy and cumbersome laptops

with this smaller capable machine. The Surface Pro has changed little over the years. One notable change is the screen size which was introduced to the market at 10 inches, but has changed to 12 inches for the Surface Pro 3. Microsoft has also made some changes to make sure that the tablet is stable, by reinforcing the kickstand to prevent any sliding.

The Surface Pro comes in only black but can be accessorized with different keyboards in various colors. The Windows logo is on the front and also acts as the home button. The Surface Pro box is a slate gray.

(Microsoft Surface Pro 3, n.d.) (Panay, 2014, May 20)

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FEATURES & BENEFITSMICROSOFT BRAND NAME

SMALL PORTABLE SIZE

DETACHABLE KEYBOARD

WINDOWS 10 OPERATING SYSTEM

SURFACE PEN

TOUCHSCREEN CAPABILITIES

LONG BATTERY LIFE

STORAGE

DESKTOP SOFTWARE

AFFORDABILITY

Microsoft is a trusted name in software and com-puters; known for high quality products.

The lightweight capabilities make traveling and work easier on the mobile consumer.

Allows consumers to switch between a laptop and a tablet depending on his or her mood.

High functioning operating system that matches a consumers with a busy lifestyle.

Allows the consumer to take realistic notes at a fast-pace.

Provides consumer with a tablet-feel when needed.

Up to 10 hours of battery life.

Available in 64GB and 128GB.

Runs Windows and Office Software.

Compare in price to other laptops and tablets.

DIRECT COMPETITORS

APPLE MACBOOK PRO & AIR

MICROSOFT SURFACE

HP PROBOOK 450

The MacBook Pro and Air have advanced Intel Core i5 and i7 pro-cessors that help you power through the most complicated technical computing tasks (“MacBook Pro,” 2015). This, paired with its Thun-derbolt 2, make these laptops more technologically capable than any other notebook on the market (“MacBook Pro,” 2015). All of these specifications make Apple laptops a direct competitor because the Surface Pro 3 runs efficiently on a Quad Core Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 processor (“Surface 3: Be Noteworthy this School Year,” 2015).

Microsoft position its Surface Laptop is the ultimate laptop out there because it is ultra-thin, meticulously crafted, and has incredible screen resolution (“Surface Book,” 2015). The Surface laptop allows for ulti-mate versatility by allowing the user to transform it into three different positions that match the way you work (“Surface Book,” 2015).

Similar to the Surface Pro 3, the HP ProBook 450 allows for consumers to work anywhere from the office, to on the go. The HP ProBook 450 also caters to laptop and tablet users alike with an optional touchscreen (“HP ProBook 450: Make Work a Touch Easier,” 2015).

(11-inch MacBook Air, n.d.; 13-inch MacBook Pro, n.d.; HP ProBook 450, n.d.; Microsoft Surface Book, n.d.)(Panay, 2014, May 20)

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INDIRECT COMPETITORS

AMAZON FIRE TABLET/ APPLE IPAD

NABI BIG TAB

The Amazon Fire Tablet and the Apple IPad offer all the standard tablet specifications, such as, fast Internet browsing, ample storage, and ac-cessibility. Customers may choose these products over the Surface Pro 3 because an attachable keyboard and other personalization options might not be important to them (“Compare IPad Models,” 2015; “Fire Tablets,” 2015).

Nabi strives to create products that are for the many, such as a whole family instead of just an individual. This is why Nabi is an indirect com-petitor because customers might prefer to purchase a tablet that every-one in the family can utilize (“Our Brand Values,” 2015).

PRODUCT ADVERTISINGMeredith Johnson and Emily Kawola gathered

a sample of five popular Microsoft Surface Pro 3 TV advertisements found on YouTube. The re-search team then used textual analysis – an in-depth primary research method used to derive what meaning humans get from the information presented – to figure out the target audience Mi-crosoft geared its advertisements towards and what meaning was supposed to be derived from the advertisements. A common theme that Mi-crosoft tried to convey in its advertisements was found through the careful analysis of the sub-jects, colors, events, and messaging used in the advertisements.

Microsoft advertises the Surface Pro 3 most-ly through TV commercials on major channels, such as TBS, NBC, ABC, and CBS, but they run digital ads as well. (Keizer, 2014, Aug. 13). Mic-rosoft ran two introduction commercials for the Surface Pro 3 that show the features that aren’t a part of the original Surface Pro. These commer-cials aren’t narrated, and simply show someone navigating through all the new features. Next, Microsoft ran a series of three commercials en-titled, “Power,” “Head to Head,” and “Crowd-ed.” These three commercials show a Apple

laptop and a Surface Pro 3 side by side, while each product’s user discusses their product’s ca-pabilities. The Surface Pro 3 user states that his product is better, and backs his arguments up with evidence in each commercial. For a typi-cal consumer, the demographics of NBC were looked at. On average, the typical consumer is usually a female who ranges from 18-24 years old (“NBC.com,” 2015). This consumer usually makes 0-50K, has gone to grad school, and is of Asian decent (“NBC.com,” 2015). Lastly, the consumer’s occupation ranges from marketing to entertainment.(“NBC.com,” 2015).

The consumers who use the Surface Pro 3 range from the ages of 20-30 years old and who hold creative jobs, because the Surface Pro 3 al-lows them to do many different things. These young professionals make an average of 50K a year, are well educated (having gone to graduate school) and a majority are from Asian decent. The main demographic of this product is fa-miliar with the different aspects of the technol-ogy world. These people are well versed in the language of the MacBook, so Microsoft has to prove that the Surface Pro is a better machine.

(Brian, n.d.; iPad Air 2, n.d.; Nabi Big Tab HD 24”, n.d.) (Crowded, 2014, August 10)

PRODUCT ADVERTISING PRODUCT ADVERTISINGBy placing these ads on main network chan-

nels like CBS, NBC and to online platforms such as MSN and Outlook.com, they are more wide-ly seen. This is because consumers can see them in their everyday live, like watching the news or their favorite sitcom or just checking their email. By doing this the consumer will be exposed to the ads on a more regular basis.

The main goal of these ads are to inform consumers about what the Surface Pro 3 is. Mic-rosoft wanted to educate consumer are what the different capabilities of the product is. It is im-portant to keep ads simple. The ads that Microsoft produced are filled with information about the Surface Pro 3. If these ads were too busy or com-plicated, it could make it difficult for a potential consumer to follow the message. It went through all the the different aspects of the product and

compared it the the ever popular MacBook. The goal was to show what the major differences were and then let the consumer decide which product will fulfill their needs.

Surprisingly Microsoft includes Apple prod-ucts in their ads. It is a bold move to include these products due to the widespread popularity of the MacBook . However by including the Mac in the ads, Microsoft is able to illustrate their point suc-cessfully. Rather than stating all of the capabilities

of their product one after the other they illustrate to the consumer why the Surface Pro is a better choice than the Mac. This is a difficult thing to do because Apple has such customer loyalty but the technology world is alway looking for the next in-novation to make our lives easier. Microsoft was able to illustrate that point to the consumers very well.

After analyzing each ad, the primary target au-dience for the Surface Pro 3 are millennials who are ages 20-30. These millennials are technology savvy, and use all different kinds for things rang-ing from business to personal. They want tech-nology that aids their creativity and flexibility, so essentially, they want something that won’t slow them down. They are relatively new to the busi-ness world, thus they don’t have the luxury of pur-chasing both a laptop and tablet.

That fact is why they under-stand the benefits of purchasing a Surface Pro 3 instead of a laptop and a tablet because it is more cost efficient, and it will allow them to switch between business and per-sonal work whenever and wher-ever. These people hold profes-sional jobs, but ones that are more relaxed, and have at least one cre-ative element. For example, they may work as a designer, blogger, advertiser, or essentially any job

that requires creativity as well as professionalism. The ads primarily featured white males, but they didn’t seem to be targeting to just that audience. The ads primarily featured white males, but they didn’t seem to be targeting to just that audience. Microsoft presented the product in a way that openly targeted anyone who holds an interested in owning a cost efficient product that can be used in any situation of the owner’s professional or per-sonal life.

The ads are targeting its primary target audi-ence by touching on some of the audience’s life attitudes and core goals. Through the use of demonstrating what the product can do, like the touchscreen capabilities, the Microsoft Software, and the detachment of the keyboard, the ads touch on the primary target audiences need for flexibility, efficiency, effectiveness, and person-alization. The audience enjoys flexibility in their lives, and are shown that the Surface Pro 3 can be flexible because it can be used almost anywhere comfortably. The ads show the customer using the technology at a desk with the keyboard, then it shows it being used on a train for personal use, then lastly, it shows it detached from its keyboard for a more tablet feel. The ads play on the target audience’s need for efficiency by showing how fast the intel processor is, which is as fast as a Mac lap-top. It shows the target audience that they can run Powerpoint presentations, use Adobe Photoshop, and use the Surface Pen to write naturally on the screen. All of these features show the audience that the Surface Pro 3 combines all of their work, whether it be business or personal, into one. They won’t waste time switching between their laptop and tablet, and they won’t be forced to bring mul-tiple technology devices around with them. The audience’s need for effectiveness is similar to their need for efficiency, they want a product that will work with them everywhere. As stated before, the ads document the customer using the product many different places, as well as for many differ-

ent reasons. This shows the audience that the Sur-face Pro 3 is effective for multiple reasons, as well as effective for the price it is given. Lastly, the ads appealed to the audience’s need for personaliza-tion. The target audience is made up of millenni-als that have been around technology for most of their life, so they enjoy customizing what is theirs. The Surface Pro 3 allows the audience to purchase different color keyboards to make it more their own, which allows them to blend business with personal. Overall, by personalizing their Surface Pro 3’s, they are reiterating that business doesn’t have to be cold and impersonal, and bringing two creative outlets together can work.

Each ad conveyed the many different features and benefits of the Surface Pro 3, but there were a few that were conveyed the clearest. These fea-tures are that the Surface Pro 3 carries Microsoft software, such as Word and PowerPoint, it has a touchscreen, and it runs just as fast as any other laptop on the market. These were conveyed the clearest because these features set the Surface Pro 3 away from other tablets and laptops. These fea-tures are meant to show the target audience that purchasing a tablet and a laptop are unnecessary, because the Surface Pro 3 can take the place of both. These features also play on the target audi-ence’s need for flexibility, efficiency and effective-ness. Overall, these features confirm and satisfy the target audience’s needs, as well as showing them the practicality of owning a Surface Pro 3 instead of a laptop and a tablet.

10 11(Head to Head, 2014, August 10)(Power, 2014, August 10)

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PRODUCT BRAND IMAGE THE FUTURE OF THE SURFACE PRO 3

AND ADVERTISINGOverall, the Surface Pro 3 does well in advertising, but there is always room for improvement. They

stress that the Surface Pro 3 is the tablet that will replace your laptop (Surface 3: Be Noteworthy this School Year, 2015). All the advertisements show how the Surface Pro 3 can compete with any laptop just based on features and benefits alone. These ads did a good job at communicating the advertising message, but there is one thing they could’ve incorporated more. We believe that they should’ve shown the typical consumer using the Surface Pro 3 in an actual job setting, as well as in a more personal setting. The ads hint at where it can be used, but we believe it would help the target audience visualize themselves bringing the Surface Pro 3 to work, and seeing that the product is professional and well as personal. The target audience needs to see that the product is lightweight and efficient enough to be taken with them everywhere, they can’t just rely on words. The ads discuss the Surface Pro 3’s versa-tility, but we believe it would help further the advertising message if the target audience could see the product being versatile.

Next time they could run a series of ads that are specifically tailored to each practical location of use, for example, one commercial could be focused around a business meeting or presentation, the next could show someone editing personal photos in a coffee shop, and lastly it could show someone using the Surface Pro 3 without the keyboard as they recline on the couch with a movie. Overall, they do a good job with the message, but the way it’s conveyed could be better.

(Microsoft Surface Pro 3, n.d.; DeCapua, 2015, February 9)

Microsoft is a trusted name in the technology arena. The Surface Pro 3 is marketed as the tablet that can replace your laptop. In conjunction with the demographics that were presented earlier, this product is targeted to the on the go consumer, who values quality, versatility, portability and power. The consumer can is comforted by the Microsoft brand. This makes them feel confident that they are choosing a well made, top of the line product.

Microsoft has established a clear place in the minds of the consumers. They have been the consistent creators of excellent products from the Windows operating systems, to the popular XBox gaming sys-tems. When buying the Surface Pro tablet consumers can feel comforted to know that they are buying a product from a company with many successful products.

The Surface Pro 3 is selling a new lifestyle to the consumer. That is a lifestyle of functionality, and convenience without giving up style and power. The Surface Pro 3 is selling the idea that though other products may be functional, their product does not allow you to have both a laptop and a tablet. The convenience and versatility of the Surface Pro 3 is the most powerful selling point.

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