W2Forum (subscription needed) highlights an extraordinary article in the FT. So extraordinary that I’ve taken a couple of days to digest it. I don’t have access to the original article, but have no reason to doubt W2Forum’s interpretation.
In an Interview with the FT Sanjiv Ahuja identified a key change in the mobile Industry. Successful mass-market adoption can only be achieved through better customer understanding.
Developing technology in abstract of the consumer is unlikely to create success for the innovator. This is particularly the case within the mobile Industry, which facing saturated markets, increasing price competition and falling arpu have yet again turned to a technology to try and save them.
The current buzz-word within the Industry is customer centricity. People are increasingly understanding that it is not about the technology; yet are still to come to grips with ways of implementing a solution.
The case study evidence of 3G adoption shows that successful uptake is based on natural migration of existing customer bases. The right strategy appears to communicate the benefits of usage to the consumer and not try to differentiate upon the basis of technology.
Sorry? Isn’t this so basic, it’s like saying “the secret of life is not to die” or “the sun is pretty hot”?
You wonder what Marketing Directors have been saying in board meetings. Or is the Financial Director talking about how 2, when added to 2 generally equals 4, with the CTO fiddling around with tin cans and bits of string?
Marketing is and has always been about the customer. It’s that simple.
Now I know that operators have to be focused on lots of things and that technology and infrastructure is vital. Without a product, after all, you don’t have a business.
But the same can be said about the customer - without them, you don’t have a business either. And to imply that the operators are only just realisiing this is frankly, staggering.
But it does explain some of the silly initiatives we’ve seen, from the poorly executed MMS to the double think of 3’s focus on video calls.
For MMS, its not too late, you simply do this
1. Make sure every handset worked ìout of the boxî. I know itís not easy, but neither is this impossible.
2. Make sure that we have cross network compatibility. If youíre going to send a message, it has to arrive. No excuses.
3. Develop a range of content, readily available and FREE that people could use to quickly compose their MMS. Most operators try to ìdouble bubbleî by charging for content and then charging you to send it. Come on guys, thatís just greedy!
4. Drop the price. 35p (OK O2 have just generously introduced a 25p tariff ñ more than double what an SMS costs on the most expensive tariff). 10 ñ 15p seems reasonable for a premium content message. 25 ñ 35p is that greed thing again.
5. Give 1,000 or so handsets to the coolest kids and give them free MMS messaging.
6. Stand back and watch MMS usage take off.
For video conferencing, it’s just pure stupidity to focus your marketing on the one factor that is your Achilles Heal - you need to know someone else on your network to make a video call. And when a network is launched, what is there a scarcity of? Yep, other people on the network. Brilliant.
In Mr Ahuja’s defence, he does obviously get it. But when are we going to see real evidence of this customer-centricity?