From time to time we highlight issues and solicit input from the community of various topics related to Zune.
Now that Microsoft has finally finished fleshing out the Zune ecosystem or rather announced that they will this fall with the release of the XBOX 360 Dashboard update, the next obvious question is what next? For years they’ve focused on bringing the brand and it’s experiences to the computer, the television, your pocket, and more recently the cloud however we’ve heard nothing about what happens next. What are you guys thoughts? What do you think may happen next? Feel free to give us your two cents in the forums.
Without trying to sound cynical, I think their next move should be to get people to actually use Zune.
Thats not cynical at all. My question is how? Theyve stopped airing advertisements and spots on popular websites, so I guess there’s one. A better device could be another. My thing is they need a game changer.
I think they have given up on advertising the Zune HD. Microsoft’s new focus is going to be on Windows Phone 7 with the Zune service being part of that story. When someone buys a WP7 they will have to install the Zune Software. That should help name recognition. Really the only people that install the Zune software now are people with Zunes. Not a huge number.
25 million people are going to get exposure to the Zune on Xbox 360. They have it now for movies, but Netflix is probably what most people use instead. When the Zune music service comes online in the fall, give every Xbox Live member a free month of Zune Pass. People need to be educated about Zune Pass.
Let people know that they can use any music from their iTunes collection that is not DRM protected. For most people, that will be much of their collection.
Microsoft needs to make a big deal about the fact that you can stream any song you want to to your Windows Phone 7 device, or download as much as you want and store it locally. The Zune commercial they ran showing how much money it costs to fill an iPod compared to a Zune was on the right track. They need to do more advertising like that.
And as you stated, they need to advertise Zune and Zune Marketplace with the same attention that they have given to Bing.
Exactly it really is about educating the world about Zune and everything it can do. I was talking to a friend and he didn’t even know that Zune had a touch peripheral much less with HD Radio which really made him impressed with Zune… Yet, he is one of my few friends who knows the word Zune if you catch my drift…