My Mobile Telekom Operator is Slow Like a Dinosaur

(Stockholm, Sweden) - It is so amusing to follow the mobile telecom operator’s cat and mouse game as an offer by one mobile operator is immediately counterattacked by another time after time.

Analyzing the world mobile telecom map you will find the most matured markets in Asia and Europe. In Asia, the Japanese and South Korean markets are the most prominent, while in Europe the Nordic countries are considered to be in the forefront of penetration and usage.

Taking the Swedish mobile telecom market as an example, one can notice the drastic changes it has undergone during the last two-three years. The competition has gone from being dead cold to red hot, mainly due to the entrance of the new 3G operator 3. The market is moving fast into the next evolution step since the right conditions are at hand; high competition, mature market and a mature mobile user.

Ever since the introduction of the 3G operator 3, price competition started to make a decisive impact on the market share. The competition has manifested itself in a spiral of lower prices and hence lower margins for the operators. The most decisive way to compete has been through price; fairly logical for a standardised service.

The falling prices have put pressure on the operators to find new revenue sources looking intensely at data services. This pressure is highly welcomed by the governments and is the main source for the next evolution phase, an evolution phase that will put the 3G-technology in the front seat for the development of the e-society. But to develop revenues from this new role will be much different than the telecom operators expect and are used to.

As the 3G infrastructure comes to its completion the discussion for a killer application has intensified. So far the hottest bet has been on music and e-mail services but both services has had a limited success so far. One could say that the whole market is dissolutionised not knowing what 3G-services people truly request. The next killer application that will finally elevate the industry seems to be further away than telecom experts first thought.

To be totally fair it must be said that until now the incentives to push the 3G-network have been small for most operators in Europe since the existing 2G-networks are still a major cash cow. When the introduction of the flat rate charging model will finally become widely accepted it will put a cap on how much revenues can be generated from the 2G technology.

As more and more operators get into the 3G-battle they will eventually be forced to adapt a new business model, a business model that allows them to move away from price competition and instead focus on service competition.

To understand where we are heading we need to look at the development cycles of the past and the future. As the agricultural society was overtaken by the industrial society we moved into the service society which turned into the ICT society and today’s information society. The handling and interpretation of information are today a source of competitive advantage just as Google and many other companies are example of.

The next evolution phase, the network society, has already started. Companies such as MySpace, Facebook and Flckr have enjoyed a great deal of success since they have understood the richness of network thinking. The network philosophy is a match in heaven for the mobile telecom operators since it offers a wealth of new opportunities and as I said above, enables them to move away from today’s price competition and into service competition. The conditions are already present. The question is who will dare to be the first to implement this new mindset?

Condition ONE: The operators already posses a network full of customers. If they can figure out how to turn these passive customers into active contributors of content, a new era of mobile communication can begin. The 3G-networks allow a unique interactive communication that can be turned into a gold mine if used correctly.

Condition TWO: The user is ready to embrace mobile e-services. In our research we have seen that the user-demand for mobile e-services is high but latent. As more and more people become e-literate their use of e-services are becoming a necessity. The consumption pattern of e-services are so far mainly tied to a computer, but there is an increasingly demand for taking it to a mobile platform.

Condition THREE: The distinction between the online and offline world is slowly diminishing. Online services are supporting the offline life and vice versa. This means that more and more people want to stay online an increasing amount of time, giving the opportunity to the operators to create successful services for a mobile world.

The fact is that the whole development points towards a stronger connection between the Internet and the mobile phone. As evidence one could point at the high expectations the operators possess towards making mobile e-mail a killer application. The widely popular “one killer application” thinking is extremely dangerous since it puts all eggs in one basket and does not embrace the creativity of the network thinking.

In our mind the mobile e-consumer is already out there so the problem is not consumer based but rather producer based. This calls for a more active approach from the 3G operators as they have to become 3G-service developers and not just 3G enablers. If they can involve their customers in the production process of services they can create a combination of many unique services that will as a whole serve as a killer application.

The main business model of tomorrow’s mobile market will therefore be based on 3G-services and not as today, on price. By offering a smorgasbord of 3G-services the operators can distinguish themselves from one another. For the end users the importance of what operator the mobile phone is powered by will become of great importance since one particular 3G-service might not be available on a competing network.

This is why the operators have to become more active in the development of 3G-services. As price no longer is an issue and the services that the operators offer are beyond voice calling and text messaging, the motto will be to produce attractive e-services that people truly request. Of course this is easier said than done, but one good way to start is to go all the way back to the designing of a new segmentation key that will unlock the market.

So, the future belongs to those mobile operators that will start treating their customers as a valuable network, involve them in the creation process and offer a range of attractive services. Only then will the 3G-investment start paying off. But all this requires a whole new mindset, a new business model and a new owner perspective, radical changes for many of the operators that have become large and frankly, not so innovative anymore.

Amazon for Virtual Worlds

We have talked a lot about virtual worlds, and now Amazon has considered to join the development. The aim is to produce a virtual world where people could see and buy what Amazon sells..and of course interact with others.

It is a very interesting development because it shows how shopping could be put in another dimension. Just like one of our comments about how the future of Webshopping will become interactive and nothing like todays static websites this is the future but today. Read more about the story at this link.

http://www.3pointd.com/20060623/amazoncom-headed-to-second-life/

Effective Buzz Marketing

Gillette has made a clever move to start a Buzz marketing campaign by setting up a story about NOSCRUF, the National Organization of Social Crusaders Repulsed by Unshaven Faces?

As part of a viral campaign to promote its new electric razor, the fictional organization "protests" men who go unshaven (encouraging them to use the new razor, of course). The campaign is classic viral. It uses humor promote an otherwise ordinary product and catchy, tongue-in-cheek video clips have been seeded on YouTube to make it easy to watch and pass along. Watch how a successful Buzz marketing campaign can look like: www.noscruf.org

When I choose a mobile phone

We have mentioned before that people are very emotional when it comes to their mobile phones. According to a recent study, by J.D. Power and Associates. people choose their mobile phones accordingly to five factors; physical design (24%), operation (22%), features (20%), handset durability (19%) and battery function (15%).

As you can see the most important is physical design because the mobile phone communicates to our peers about who we are and how we want to be viewed by others. If you look at your own situation you would probably agree with the above facts, although your preferences might not be in the same order.

The World Cup

The World Cup in soccer has swept us like a tsunami. Everywhere you turn you find big, medium and small companies enjoying the profits of the tournament. Restaurants have big screen TV:s, beer companies have competitions, and even luxury products are giving special promotions.

We have also noticed that the webbased business has elevated. Eurosport is a perfect example on how to integrate your e-channels with the rest of your business. Eurosport has set up a game where you buy stocks in each team. Then you can win prizes. Engaging and interesting. They also frequently talk about it on their shows.

The Web 2.0 has given companies many new tools to involve their customers in the production process. But this demands an integration of online and offline channels. A secret that many try to master but few succeed.

Confused RIAA

Today I read the most astonishing thing. RIIA will start pursuing YouTube for illegal material. People that upload music videos and other TV materials will be hunted. I can just say three words. Oh MY God. Don’t these people realise what is happening. What will the do when the Darknet will be implemented, where you can not see ones IP number? Tracing will not be possible. Have they thought of the consequences? Probably not. When that day comes they will regret their actions today. It seems like to much money makes your head spin. RIIA, what do you have to say for your defence?

Shopping Web 2.0

Almost daily one can read in the newspapers that e-trade is growing and the predictions are fantastic. Peoples shopping behaviour is still under change and e-trade will grow until this behaviour is settled. People express different emotions and experiences with e-shopping, but one thing is for certain, it can not be compared to real life shopping.

In real life one can touch, feel, smell and experience the product on a whole different level but this is where e-shopping has to become better at everything. Better at giving the customer an experience, better at showing of the products and better at creating a stickiness or if you will, impulse shopping.

The Web 2.0 offers a wide range of interactive tools that should be integrated in the shopping experience. So far we have not encountered such a futuristic webshop. Have you?