MIcrosoft to take the channel route for Windows 7 marketing in India from oct

Ranjana Kaushal, New Delhi
Mail Today
Despite the economic slowdown pinching the IT budgets of corporates, Microsoft India is hopeful that its latest product Windows 7, scheduled to be launched in October, will attract a huge number of small and medium businesses and retail customers. To make the product a success, the company is adopting a new marketing strategy, which entails promoting the product through channel partners. The idea is to create excitement among partners and showcasing the upgradation opportunities.

To begin with, the company is planning a 16- city partner roadshow in October. During August to September the company will reach out to over 1,800 partners across several cities including Ahmedabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Indore besides the five metros. During the course of the drive, Microsoft will educate partners, provide demos and highlight the potential opportunities. G. Ramesh, director ( Windows client), Microsoft India, said, “ The roadshow will help showcase the product to partners. We are targeting SMBs as a big business opportunity for the product and through our 350 partners we plan to penetrate this segment.

The idea is to get maximum trails through all initiatives and convert leads into business.”