It needs a Flagship Device, a Droid if you will. Android was barely heard of, 1 year old and had a grand total of 5 phones in the U.S. (the G1, Cliq, My Touch 3g, Hero, and Samsung Moment) had a 2k or 3k apps in the market and was only on the two smallest carriers in october of 2009. Then the motorola droid launched with a huge marketing push and people didn't want an Android phone any more they wanted a "Droid" phone. 15 months later Android is the #1 Smart phone OS in the world by market share, it has 150k apps in its market, and has unbelievable momentum. This is thanks in large part to the public awareness created by the Droid by Motorola. I am willing to bet that at least 80% of American smart phone consumers could not tell you the name of a single Windows Phone 7 device. I bet that same 80% could name 3 current android devices.
Microsoft needs to partner with a carrier and a hardware OEM to create a reference class (high end processor, big gorgeous screen, 4G data connection, Front Camera) WP7 and have a 3 way marketing blitz. Microsoft will run commercials showcasing its OS on the phone, the Carrier will showcase apps and features on its network using 4G speed (Netflix would be a good one). The OEM will run commercials that focus on the design and power of the hardware its self and how that enables the OS to look and run great. Finally it needs a catch but simple name. Something like Jet7, Sonic7, Laser7. One word no more than two syllables (a la Droid and iPhone) that sounds exciting, fast, and powerful. Mozart? Dell Venue Pro? HTC HD7? HTC 7 Pro? are you kidding me? All of those put the manufacturer first (it should be something like Sonic7 by HTC, not HTC Sonic7) and are either boring (seriously, there are "HD" sunglasses these days and who wants a phone named after a classical composer?) or overly complicated and not catchy (Venue Pro).
If Microsoft could get a carrier and OEM on board for this it could be the push WP7 needs to get in the spotlight. The other Windows Phone 7 devices could piggy back off this ad campaign with little to no additional advertising. AT&T would be a good choice for the carrier for three main reasons:
1. They need something to be there new flagship now that iPhone exclusivity is up
2. They are already advertising for windows phone 7 fairly heavily, this would just help improve and focus the ads
3. They need something to show off their 4G network. Yes they have the Atrix 4G but the long and the short of it is that nobody likes the Motoblur overlay that it runs on top of android and windows phone 7 could offer an attractive alternative flagship since Verizon is heavy with Android and also has the iPhone but doesn't have any windows phone 7 devices (and I really don't see them offering very many even once CDMA ones are available).
I think either HTC or Dell could be a good choice for the OEM because the Mozart and the Venue Pro are two of the best looking cell phones available anywhere at the moment (not just WP7 but out of ALL phones). Take the general look/feel of the Mozart crank the screen up to 4" Super-LCD, add that 1.4 GHz snapdragon that the Pre 3 is rocking, and add HSPA+, call it the Sonic7 and and advertise the heck out of it in the three front system described above. That would put WP7 on the map of every consumer.
Microsoft needs to partner with a carrier and a hardware OEM to create a reference class (high end processor, big gorgeous screen, 4G data connection, Front Camera) WP7 and have a 3 way marketing blitz. Microsoft will run commercials showcasing its OS on the phone, the Carrier will showcase apps and features on its network using 4G speed (Netflix would be a good one). The OEM will run commercials that focus on the design and power of the hardware its self and how that enables the OS to look and run great. Finally it needs a catch but simple name. Something like Jet7, Sonic7, Laser7. One word no more than two syllables (a la Droid and iPhone) that sounds exciting, fast, and powerful. Mozart? Dell Venue Pro? HTC HD7? HTC 7 Pro? are you kidding me? All of those put the manufacturer first (it should be something like Sonic7 by HTC, not HTC Sonic7) and are either boring (seriously, there are "HD" sunglasses these days and who wants a phone named after a classical composer?) or overly complicated and not catchy (Venue Pro).
If Microsoft could get a carrier and OEM on board for this it could be the push WP7 needs to get in the spotlight. The other Windows Phone 7 devices could piggy back off this ad campaign with little to no additional advertising. AT&T would be a good choice for the carrier for three main reasons:
1. They need something to be there new flagship now that iPhone exclusivity is up
2. They are already advertising for windows phone 7 fairly heavily, this would just help improve and focus the ads
3. They need something to show off their 4G network. Yes they have the Atrix 4G but the long and the short of it is that nobody likes the Motoblur overlay that it runs on top of android and windows phone 7 could offer an attractive alternative flagship since Verizon is heavy with Android and also has the iPhone but doesn't have any windows phone 7 devices (and I really don't see them offering very many even once CDMA ones are available).
I think either HTC or Dell could be a good choice for the OEM because the Mozart and the Venue Pro are two of the best looking cell phones available anywhere at the moment (not just WP7 but out of ALL phones). Take the general look/feel of the Mozart crank the screen up to 4" Super-LCD, add that 1.4 GHz snapdragon that the Pre 3 is rocking, and add HSPA+, call it the Sonic7 and and advertise the heck out of it in the three front system described above. That would put WP7 on the map of every consumer.
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