Operator advertising sends the wrong message
Earlier this week I strolled outside to the mailbox to find something unexpected: Junk mail that wasn't junk at all. It was a cardstock promotion from American Airlines, designed in the size and shape of a Nokia N95 smartphone and dedicated to the carrier's mobile web service. The promo succinctly outlines the benefits of the AA.com mobile site, promising travelers wireless access to features like check-in, itinerary viewing, flight booking and changes, upgrade requests and so on. "You're on the go" it reads, and without a doubt travelers are a consumer demographic uniquely positioned to capitalize on the promise of the mobile platform--away from their homes, offices and PCs, their handsets are a lifeline to information and services they might otherwise access through more traditional channels.
I don't recall receiving direct mail promoting a company's mobile website before. For that matter, it's unusual to see the mobile web advertised in any format or venue. Think about the focus of most mobile operator TV commercials: The spots inevitably feature network coverage, pricing plans or new handset models. Mobile data services almost never enter the equation. Compare Apple's iPhone advertisements to its operator partner AT&T's ads: While Apple routinely emphasizes the mobile Internet, social networking and mobile video, AT&T proudly touts "More bars in more places," tacitly acknowledging that network coverage remains a dicey proposition even at this advanced stage of the industry's evolution. The contrast is so extreme that it's difficult to believe Apple and AT&T are more or less advertising the same technology and services.
The only time you regularly see operators promoting mobile data is in connection with some kind of sponsorship deal, whether it's AT&T's support of American Idol text voting or Verizon Wireless' patronage of the Stanley Cup playoffs on cable network Versus, a pact that includes commercials for NHL highlight videos and news delivered via the carrier's V Cast service. But even that pales in comparison to Verizon partner ESPN's proactive promotion of its ESPN MVP mobile service--the sports giant regularly airs commercials that accent multimedia features including play-by-play game tracking, fantasy team management, video alerts and analyst commentary. But there's only so much companies like American Airlines, Apple and ESPN can do to sing the praises of the mobile experience: That responsibility ultimately rests with the operators. But when the message is still "Can you hear me now?" everything else gets drowned out. - Jason
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By Jim S | Posted 1:55pm | May 16, 2008
I do not understand the article. You say that seeing advertising from end services is unusual. And I agree that it is. But then you say that "..it must ultimately rest with the operators."
Why? They have done a very poor job so far.
I think that American Airlines SHOULD be promoting it's services, to it's segment of fliers that would use it. They know how to market their services the best.
And it should not matter who the end users have as mobile providers.
So I fully disagree with your closing premise. I think the walled-garden is bad for business overall.
By Steve H. | Posted 2:06pm | May 16, 2008
Jason, no offense, but you're lame. It is NOT the responsibility of the carriers to sing the praises of the mobile experience. Their job is to provide a pipe. Period. The reason the mobile data scene is in such bad shape is that a bunch of pipe builders think they know something about device industrial design and the mobile app/content business. It's like a Soviet ministry telling consumers what sweater fashions they are going to like this winter. It's absurd and inefficient.
If you haven't noticed, mobile data start-ups are dying left and right because of the barriers and costs the carriers have put up all around them. You think they are now opening up their networks because they are generous and pure of heart? Afraid not. They are opening up because they see the eco-system they have tried to create dying around them. And they've been shamed by the innovation and wealth creation produced on the PC web. They know they have to keep up, or developers will abandon them, which is happening already. Why screw with a carrier when you can develop and launch your app on the web and get rich?
This is another reason why the iPhone is going to win. Apple is basically assuring developers that they will: 1) keep the stupid carriers and their onerous business terms at bay, 2) give developers access to the carrier's pipes without the carriers screwing with them [they are a shield against the carriers] and 3) assure that the pipes are "all you can eat" and priced appropriately so that developers have the tools and market they need to succeed.
If you have the developers, everything else follows. The greedy carriers just don't get that. Apple does.
You've been drinking the carrier kool-aid to the point where you just don't get it. Fierce is following in the carrier-influenced steps of RCR News and Wireless Week. You need to adjust your thinking and get your head straight. The mobile device and services industry will succeed when the carriers understand their place in the eco-system. Why they can't be satisfied with just providing a good, fast pipe (as you imply, that's a feat worthy of praise in itself) I'll never understand.
By Ray R | Posted 2:42pm | May 16, 2008
I agree with the two previous posts.
The carriers have been desperately trying to get their customers to "do stuff" on their phones for years to build data revenue to replace their declining per-user voice revenue.
Now a legion of useful services from a multitude of non-carrier providers (American Airlines is just one of thousands) are now able to provide that "I get it" moment for the end user, when they finally see some real-life utility from their phone beyond voice.
So more and more these non-carrier SPs will be speaking directly to end-users via media not controlled by the carrier. The days of the walled garden in wireless are numbered, just as they were in wired internet. Once customers become educated on *what's out there* they will demand handsets and carrier services allowing them to reach any mobile internet service they choose (just as they did with their wired internet).
Of course, the oligopolistic carriers will fight this as long as they can so they don't become a dumb pipe. But it is inevitable and consumers will be better off the sooner this happens.