Mobile is Not Like PCs
The biggest mistake I have made, and I’ve made it for years, is to think about the phone like I think about PCs and the Web. I have erroneously tried to categorize mobile apps and technologies as analogous to aspects of using the Internet with a laptop.
This is absolutely wrong. Phones are absolutely different. How?
1. A phone is personal. It’s is more “yours” than a computer that someone shares with their parents or roommate or other students in the library. You carry it with you everywhere. Thus, personalization – of making it yours – is more of an option, and more attractive to the user. It is worth the effort.
2. A phone is fashion. A desktop is more akin to a doorknob than a cell phone. It sits somewhere. It doesn’t go with you. Except for the couple of percent of Apple users, it really isn’t expected to be fashionable. OK, there are now PCs being designed for looks, but most are still putty color. A laptop is an appliance. It does things for you. Like a refrigerator. Or a TV. A sexy laptop can be a status symbol for a geek, but generally people keep a computer for a lot longer than a pair of Vans. And if I am really fickle, I can get a novelty faceplate.
3. A phone is a badge. It is a form of self expression. Is that overstatement? I don’t think so. Look how Samsung sells the Juke, their new music phone:
Now look how Dell sells a laptop:
Different, huh? Now phones have brand names like Chocolate. And they are deliberately designed to be absolutely sexy. Check out this new model from LG, the VX9400:
4. They are unique. With PCs, I pick form (laptop or desktop), screen size, speed, and graphics card. Possibly color. And of course I am speaking generally here. With cell phones I get colors, camera or no, size, orientation, color or no, Internet or no, QWERTY keyboard or no, different data capabilities, positioning (is it a smart phone, a music phone, a texting phone, etc.) – the list goes on. I get to pick “my phone” versus the PC I can afford or need.
5. They are cheap. Throwaway, or almost. Lots more people can come up with $49 or $99 or $149, or even $299 than can come up with a thousand dollars or more. I can get the small Sanyo S1 for nothing from Nextel. The new Mac Air will set me back more than $2,000 when I get all the add-ons that I need. Maybe a better term than cheap is affordable status.
6. They are aural/visual. The PC web is changing fast, but it is still dominated by text content.
7. They are tiny. Supremely portable. The new Mac Air requires a bag to schlep it around. Or an interoffice envelope. ;-) Even the Asus EEE microcomputer is a bit big to take to the malt shop with you. Or wherever the kids go these days.
8. They are full of secrets. Features that morons like me will never find. Driven by SMS language that is largely unintelligible by the older set, and constantly evolving/malleable. Secrets are sexy. Secrets let me show off.
9. Everything costs money with mobile. And people seem to be fine with that. While riding the train home this week I spoke with a young woman who had a Bayonne ringtone. I asked what she paid and she said $2 or $3. I also asked her if she had ever downloaded a song online without paying for it and she said “I never pay for songs.” So what made her willing to shell out $3 for 11 notes of a song, but not willing to pay 99 cents for the whole song on her computer? “Because this is my phone.” I am not saying it was profound from a debate club standpoint, but it certainly says something sociologically.
The Car Analogy
I haven’t found a perfect analogy yet, but right now I use the car. It’s not cheap, but it fulfills a lot of the other criteria listed above. And if you think about cell phones like you think about cars, it makes what sorts of marketing
people are willing to tolerate more telegraphic.
1. I do not want to hear an ad every time I turn it on.
2. I don’t want it covered with ads.
3. I don’t want it to be like a Model T – any color you want as long as it is back.
4. I want a new one. More or less constantly.
5. I might want an Eddie Bauer branded interior, if it’s nice. Just like one might want a Black Eyed Peas wallpaper or something.
6. I might want to watch a video if I am in the back seat.
7. I don’t want to feel like someone else is driving when I use it. Just like I don’t want heavy handed marketing adjusting my phone features or getting in the way of what I want to do.
8. I am willing to buy XM just like someone might be willing to pay Boost to get music pumped to their handset.
9. I am willing to pay for GPS just like a $10 data package including map access might be very nice and worth the price.
10. I want it to offer my sort of utility. Good mileage or 50 cubic feet of cargo room or whatever. Just like my life is better suited to a Treo than a Chocolate.
It’s not perfect, but it works for me. You may find a better one. But throughout the rest of the document I’ll use this analogy to help set some logical parameters for marketing activity on the mobile device.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Because people have been abusing the comment platform to place phony links to deceptive sites, I am now moderating all comments. If your comment is legit and contains a relevant link, it will be published.