CHALLENGE
Despite the Surface range being highly suited to the education sector, Microsoft had been struggling to achieve targets and grow market share. There was a general lack of awareness around the benefits of the range and reasons for its premium pricing, and many schools were already tied to Apple, other Windows devices, or had an entrenched bring-your-own-device model. Microsoft’s goal was to maintain YoY growth and accelerate sales earlier in the cycle.
STRATEGIC SOLUTION
We led an intensive deep dive into the sector and identified three critical problems: a widening gap between what’s being taught and its relevance to the world of work; the declining performance of Australian students relative to their global peers; and the failure of many schools to impart real-world skills like collaboration, resilience, problem solving and digital literacy.
With these insights, we crafted a structured program focused on teaching school leaders about the role technology plays in learning; the specific features, services and capabilities of the Surface range; and how leaders, IT staff, teachers and students could benefit by partnering with Microsoft long-term.
When Covid-19 hit the education sector, we quickly pivoted the program strategy. The pandemic exposed the depth of digital unpreparedness across many schools, so we shifted focus to highlight the importance of maintaining learning excellence under any circumstance — how and why some schools made the transition better than others, the risks of falling behind, and how Microsoft could support them.
OUTCOME
Microsoft marketing, product and industry education leaders loved the strategy. It helped to localise the Microsoft surface pitch and make it more relevant for Australian schools, teachers and students. It also led to global exposure for the Australian Surface Education team with the strategy being adopted by other regions including Microsoft Singapore, UK and US