Case Study - Lumia Business Transformation

13 Most commercially successful campaign:

Lumia Business Transformation Programme for Microsoft by The Marketing Practice

02Entry category 13: Most commercially successful campaign

Summary

Microsoft knew that it needed to transform the fortunes of its Lumia smartphone range in business to deliver on its “mobile first, cloud first” strategy. However, at the beginning of 2014, few businesses were considering Lumia and its market share fell well short of powerful competitors, such as Apple and Samsung.

The Lumia Business Transformation Programme was a comprehensive marketing initiative driven by the simple insight that whilst few decision-makers were actively considering Lumia, once they actually tried them they tended to love them.

This umbrella programme linked together a whole range of activities including:

#OfficeLove: a multichannel brand campaign based on the provocative creative platform that “8 out of 10 relationships start in the office”, which resulted in 21% increase in consideration for Lumia.

Accelerate: a lead-generation initiative which built upon the #LumiaBizTrial VIP trial offer to achieve 185% of its pipeline target.

Overall, the Lumia Business Transformation Programme has had a far-reaching commercial impact, driving an increase in Lumia’s share of the business market to 26%1 from a starting point of 12%2.

Furthermore, the programme has built a firm foundation for Microsoft to deliver its broader strategy in 2015 and beyond.

1: Source: http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2015/03/20/microsoft-ready-for-major-consumer-war/

2: Source: http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-announces-lumia-business-trial-campaign-for-uk-businesses/

Increased market share to 26% from 12%


About the client

Microsoft has a long heritage of transforming the way people live, work, play and connect. As more business activity moves from the desktop to mobile devices, Microsoft offers customers a seamless experience across all screens. In support of its “mobile first, cloud first” strategy, Microsoft acquired Nokia’s mobile device business in early 2014, giving it ownership of the Lumia smartphone line and the ability to deliver a full Microsoft ecosystem for mobile environments.

raise the profile andreputation of Lumia among business users


Strategy

Since the launch of iPhone, the mobility landscape in business has seen a radical shift. Nokia, previously the dominant force in mobile, had seen its market share shrink significantly before its acquisition by Microsoft.

Mobile devices are now heavily commoditised, and the market is intensely competitive. To create a winning strategy for its devices, Microsoft needed to raise the profile and reputation of Lumia among business users – a natural target for many Microsoft products.

Fundamentally, we knew that the Lumia proposition was strong. We confirmed this with independent research that showed that when people use Lumia for work 8 out of 10 would recommend it to other businesses.

However there was a clear gap between perception and reality, and the Lumia Business Transformation Programme was designed around a series of sub-campaigns in order to close this gap and transform Lumia’s commercial performance.


Objectives of the campaign

The overriding objective of the programme was to drive a significant increase in business market share.

To achieve this we knew we would need to:

• Improve awareness and consideration of the Lumia brand for business

• Drive preference by getting the right decision-makers to trial the products

• Generate a solid pipeline of opportunities to be fed to Microsoft’s channel partners

• Ensure that the Microsoft teams and their partners are fully equipped to convert opportunities into sales


The target audience

The Lumia Business Transformation Programme was primarily targeted at mid-market organisations across the public and private sectors, with campaigns targeting subsets of this audience.

The programme was guided by two overriding audience insights:

1. Decision-makers were not considering Lumia because they didn’t think their peers were

2. Once decision-makers and end-users try Lumia, a significant percentage would go on to make a purchase

We knew that end-users were increasingly influencing the choice of device at work and so whilst we needed to target the key business decision-makers, we also needed to positively influence business end-users.


Media, channels or techniques used

The Lumia Business Transformation Programme was an overarching initiative that encompassed a number of sub-campaigns as illustrated in the timeline attached.

The programme included support elements such as the deployment of a regular newsletter, a social media support stream and a content marketing stream. However, at the heart of the programme were three core initiatives:

#OfficeLove: strengthen brand considerationDesigned to boost consideration of the Lumia brand for business and based on findings from independent research, the #OfficeLove campaign used the provocative creative platform that “8 out to 10 relationships start in the office” to drive a far-reaching multichannel campaign. The channels and techniques used included online advertising, social media competitions and engaging “tease and reveal” videos to deliver a compelling message to both decision-makers and end-users.


Media, channels or techniques used

Lumia Accelerate: drive preference and build pipelineCentred upon a compelling offer of a VIP trial experience of the Lumia, the Accelerate programme used simple, clear messaging tailored to a range of vertical markets delivered primarily through email and nurtured through an Inside Sales calling programme to generate a strong pipeline of leads.

Sales Enablement: equip the teams to convert opportunity into salesWe knew that building brand awareness and the generation of leads would be futile if the sales teams and channel partners were not equipped to convert opportunity, so we built a complete library of sales-enablement materials including case studies, product brochures, presentations and sales guides.


Timescales of the campaignThe Lumia transformation programme ran throughout 2014.

Jan 2014 Jun 2014 Oct 2014 Dec 2014

26%marketshare*

12%*market share

44:1PIPELINE ROI

18%*market share

192%*content read target

21%*market share

Source:12% http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-announces-lumia-business-trial-campaign-for-uk-businesses/18% http://www.phonearena.com/news/Microsoft-wants-its-Windows-Phone-to-be-the-king-of-the-enterprise-market-by-the-middle-of-2015_id5725921% https://news.microsoft.com/en-gb/2015/03/10/a-growing-appetite-for-flexible-working/26% http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2015/03/20/microsoft-ready-for-major-consumer-war/

21%increase in Lumia

consideration

185%pipeline target

Trial packs sent

LumiaBiz trial

The Pitch content programme

Accelerate lead generation programme

Ongoingsales enablement development

Ongoingsocial media activity

#OfficeLove brand building

An overarching initiative to uplift Lumia fortunes in the Business market.


Budgets

The programme was Microsoft’s major B2B marketing investment during 2014 and the budget was split as follows:

• Brand awareness and consideration: 25%

• Brand preference and lead generation: 40%

• Sales enablement: 20%

• Programme support: 15%

Confidential


Results

The success of the Lumia Business Transformation Programme was that by the end of 2014, the programme had driven a dramatic increase in business market share – to 26%1 (from a base level of 12%2), significantly closing the gap on the market leader.

Each of the sub-elements of the programme played an important part in delivering this overall commercial impact, for example:

• The #OfficeLove campaign delivered 21% uplift in consideration for Lumia against a targeted uplift of 14%

• The Lumia Accelerate lead generation and nurture programme delivered 185% of pipeline target

• The LumiaBizTrial programme delivered 44:1 pipeline ROI against a 21:1 target

• The Pitch SMB awareness content programme delivered 192% of content reads target

• The Lumia newsletter received over 10,000 reads from a database of 12,000 contacts

Whilst the commercial impact for the programme in 2014 should not be underestimated, the significance will be felt across the wider Microsoft business in 2015, providing a far firmer base for the delivery of the “mobile first, cloud first” strategy in the B2B markets.

1: Source: http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2015/03/20/microsoft-ready-for-major-consumer-war/

2: Source: http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-announces-lumia-business-trial-campaign-for-uk-businesses/

The programme hasincreased Lumia’s shareof the business market to 26% from a starting point of 12%


Client testimonial

“The strategic importance of the mobile market for Microsoft cannot be underestimated. Twelve months ago, we faced an uphill battle to take share from Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry – now we are establishing a very firm foothold in the business market.

“The programme has been instrumental in building the profile of Lumia as a serious business alternative – contributing directly to our market share more than doubling. That’s an incredible turnaround – and a fantastic illustration of how marketing investment can be a catalyst for strategic business transformation.”Angela Munroe, B2B Marketing Lead, UK, Microsoft Devices