Microsoft changes its marketing tune for lackluster Zune; Giant kicks up spending, ditches old strategy and agency for MP3 player.(News)

Advertising Age, November, 2007 by Cuneo, Alice Z.

Byline: ALICE Z. CUNEO

Outgunned 8-to-1 in share by the unstoppable iPod, Microsoft is overturning its marketing strategy for Zune-and will rely more on traditional media to go after the white blight.

Good luck.

It was a year ago that Microsoft launched Zune, an MP3 player that competes with Apple's higher-priced products and has flipped the two companies' rivalry on its head. With a modest ad budget by Microsoft standards, $9 million in measured media for 2006, Zune gained a 10.8% market share in the $250-plus-hard-drive segment, barely a shadow of Apple's 86.1% share, according to NPD. Microsoft's share of all MP3 players is a mere 2.2%.

As if that wasn't enough pressure on Zune going into the big gift-giving season, SanDisk and...

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