Case 1 Marketing Excellence Microsoft Microsoft is the world's most successful software company. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded it in 1975 with the original mission of having "a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software.\" Today, Microsoft is the fth most valuable company in the world and has a brand value of $61.2 billion. In the early 19805, Microsoft developed the DOS operating system for IBM computers. The company leveraged this initial success to sell software to other manufacturers, quickly becoming a major player in the industry. Initial advertising efforts communicated the company's range of products, from D05 to Excel and Windows, and unied them under the Microsoft brand. Microsoft went public in 1986 and grew tremendously over the next decade as the Windows operating system and Microsoft Ofce took off. In 1990, Microsoft launched Windows 3.0, a completely revamped version of its operating system, including applications like File Manager and Program Manager that are sll used today. It was an instant success; Microsoft sold more than 10 million copies of the software within two years, a phenomenal accomplishment in those days. In addition, Windows 3.0 became the rst operating system to be preinstalled on certain PCs, marking another major milestone for the industry and for Microsoft. Throughout the 19905, Microsoft's communication efforts convinced businesses not only that its software was the best choice but also that it should be upgraded frequently. Microsoft spent millions in magazine advertising and received endorsements from the top computer magazines in the industry, making Microsoft Windows and Ofce the musthave software of its time. The 1998 slogan \"Where Do You Want to Go Today?" promoted not individual Microsoft products like Windows 98 but rather the comoanv itself. communicating that Microsoft could help empower companies and consumers alike