Microsoft Copilot's Brand Strengths and Challenges

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Category Advantage measures the drivers of brand strength by capturing both mental availability (likelihood a brand comes to mind) and emotional closeness (how strongly consumers connect with a brand) among all competitors. Schedule a private briefing on the full Consumer AI Category.

The bottom line up front  

• Copilot has a brand recall problem, not a product problem. People who use Copilot think of it readily and use it often. 
• But in the broader market, Copilot is being used more than it is being remembered. Usage is driven by defaults and bundling; brand preference is not keeping pace. 
• The strategic priority is to make Copilot the brand people think of first for everyday tasks, not just the AI they happen to find pre-installed.

Copilot’s competitive strengths

1. Among people who actively use Copilot, the brand performs much better mentally than it does in the total market. Within its user base, Copilot captures roughly 22% of mental market share, placing it solidly in the top tier alongside Google Gemini and behind ChatGPT. This indicates that once Copilot is in use, it is readily recalled and competes credibly in people's mental repertoires.

2. Conversion within this group is strong. Among Copilot users, the gap between mental market share and estimated share of category requirements is minimal, suggesting that when Copilot comes to mind, people are likely to act on it. In other words, Copilot does not appear to have a persuasion or product-experience problem among those already engaged.

See the full consumer AI category memo

Copilot’s challenges:

• Usage outpaces recall. In mainstream segments, Copilot's share of actual usage (~15%) significantly exceeds its share of mindshare (~6%). People are using Copilot because they find it pre-installed, not because they sought it out. This is a fragile position: if a competitor becomes easier to access or more memorable, these users will leave.
• Copilot is rarely the first brand recalled. Many consumers know Copilot exists but don't think of it first when they have a task. The brand is in memory but not at the top of it.
• Younger users are the biggest gap. Among 21-34 year-olds, Copilot's mindshare drops to ~4% even though usage is healthy. This age group defaults to ChatGPT; Copilot is a secondary option at best.

 The core insight 
Copilot is being distributed more than it is deliberately chosen. Microsoft's ecosystem advantage ensures Copilot is present in many workflows, but brand-led demand has not yet caught up. The strategic imperative is not to fix product performance, but to translate passive exposure into active mental availability, so that Copilot is remembered — and retrieved — when everyday tasks arise.

What tasks Copilot can win — and where it's vulnerable

The category is organized around functional, everyday tasks. The dominant reasons people turn to AI are: researching topics, getting quick answers, rewriting text, learning new skills, and translating content. Every major brand competes for these core jobs.

Copilot does not 'own' individual tasks in an exclusive sense, but it shows consistent relative strength across a set of high-frequency, high-utility tasks that matter to everyday consumers. In these moments, Copilot performs better than its overall mental share would predict, suggesting latent permission to grow rather than entrenched leadership:

• Getting help with job search tasks is
• Planning a trip
• Managing personal expenses and finances
• Planning the day or week
• Helping kids with homework

These represent the most credible foundation for sharpening Copilot's brand role without needing to compete head-on with generalist or entertainment-oriented AI use cases. Copilot under-indexes on entertainment and social tasks (chatting when bored, dating advice) where ChatGPT and social-native competitors lead — but these tasks matter less to the category overall and may not be worth fighting for.

Five strategic priorities for Copilot based on this research

1. Close the recall gap in mainstream segments. The biggest unlock is getting younger and less-educated users to think of Copilot first, not just use it by default. This requires brand-led communications that build memory, not just product placement that drives distribution.

2. Build deeper associations in high-value tasks. Don't try to win everywhere. Concentrate on the 'life admin' cluster where Copilot already shows relative strength: career, money, learning, and planning. Build campaigns and product experiences that cement Copilot as a credible choice for these moments.

3. Turn product defaults into brand memory. Every time Copilot appears in Windows, Edge, or Office, use consistent branding tied to a specific task benefit. Users should remember 'Copilot helped me with X,' not just notice an AI feature was available.

4. Defend the 45-64 and affluent base. These users already see Copilot as a top-tier choice. Deepen their loyalty through B2C-B2B bridges (Office, Teams, LinkedIn) and reinforce Copilot as the AI layer for serious work and complex tasks.

5. Build toward younger users with relevant tasks. For 21-34s, lead with learning, content creation, job search, and language help. Position Copilot less as 'the AI in Microsoft 365' and more as 'the AI sidekick that gets your life organized.' Ensure mobile-first experiences.

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About this research

Morning Consult conducts over 30,000 daily proprietary surveys in 45 countries covering more than 5,000 brands and 50 economic indicators. 

Our category advantage research is aimed at understanding the needs driving consumers in your category — and how your brand can own more of them. This research is built on validated principles of brand-driven growth and powered by Morning Consult’s industry-leading sampling technology.

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