Windows Vista Is Pretty in Pink

Joe Wilcox News Analysis. Microsoft's hot pink Vista bundle, with 12-month Windows Live OneCare Subscription, courts the Japanese market.

The bundle and other marketing collateral at the Microsoft Japan Web site are quite clever. There is some good Microsoft marketing going on somewhere. The bundle also raises questions about Windows Live OneCare bundling with the operating system.

I don't read Japanese, but based on what I could decipher, the promotion isn't new; it started in February, or so I believe. (The photo below comes from the Amazon Japan Web site.)

According to a machine translation of the Microsoft Web site, the bundle includes "Windows Live OneCare's anti-virus software free of charge for one year." Such a tactic could cause Microsoft problems in either the European Union or United States, where the company is under government oversight for antitrust violations.

Amazon lists the bundle for 18,088 yen, tax included, compared to 16,856 yen for the Vista Home Premium upgrade. Windows Live OneCare separately sells for 3,463 yen. Purchased separately, the OS upgrade and security suite would cost $20,319 yen from Amazon; the bundle saves $2,231 yen. The figures do not factor in the potential value of the book.

Since I was looking at Vista pricing, I couldn't resist doing some Japan-U.S. price comparisons. The Vista Home Premium upgrade sells for $168.82 in U.S. dollars at Amazon Japan. Live OneCare is $34.69. Here, Amazon sells the OS upgrade for $130.99 (for gold release) and $94.99 (with Service Pack 1). Windows Live OneCare is $34.49, just 20 cents off the Japanese price. Caveat: The Japanese prices include tax.

The combining of two or more products for a discounted price is a common bundling tactic. Companies do this kind of thing all the time. It's good customer value, although with Microsoft some competitors might squawk about monopoly competition.

It's the pink packaging that grabs my attention. I presume that the flower motif is supposed to appeal to women. Whether aunt Yoko or teenage Mariko, Microsoft wants buyers using security software. Microsoft's original design profile for Windows Live OneCare was the aunt or mom; so the pink bundle is consistent with the development goal.

My looking around the Microsoft Japan Web site warranted exploration of other marketing material. The Windows Vista vs. Windows XP showdown is quite clever, and perhaps shows how widespread are Microsoft problems with the older operating system dragging sales of its successor.

There are some interesting cross-cultural challenges for U.S. companies marketing in Japan. Anime and Manga art forms put emphasis on the eyes, which are large. Culturally, Japanese detect more emotion from the eyes than, say, Americans, who look more to the mouth. The differences have interesting implications for instant messaging, where U.S.-based companies put emphasis on the mouth—smilies.

I've long suspected that this difference in facial inference is one—perhaps the—major reason why avatars are so popular among end users in some Pacific Rim countries. Avatars tend to be more expressive, particularly the eyes.

To my surprise, the Windows Vista vs. Windows XP showdown emphasizes the mouth over the eyes. The pattern of mouth over eyes is consistent throughout the Microsoft Japan Web site. The mouth can be important, too, as seen in this Sony Ericsson marketing manga, which offers better balance between the eyes and mouth.

My favorite Microsoft marketing gimmick comes from Korea, not Japan. Three years ago, Microsoft Korea posted an animated, Flash rap song about Visual Studio Team System. It was hilarious and fun, even for non-Korean speakers like me. Microsoft Korea removed the link ahead of the Visual Studio 2008 launch. Too bad, it was classic.

[Via I Started Something]