Microsoft announced that they are looking at opening Microsoft retail stores as a means of working to create customer branding experiences According to Bach (Head of Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division) Microsoft are not looking at imitating  Apple’s retail stores, they are adopting this strategy as a means of creating branding experiences for their customers.
“We have plenty of distribution. These stores for us are about building our connection to customers, about building our brand presence and about reaching out and understanding what works and what improves the selling experience.” Robbie Bach  referring to this strategy as a brand and customer relationship investment as opposed to a means of increasing distribution.

What do you think of Microsofts new brand building inititiative and how effective do you think they will be in creating an expereince for their customers compared to Apple?