A guest blog entry from Mobile Diner’s Chris Parandian.
I appreciate the opportunity to get out of the kitchen and do some cooking at the Buzz Bin. Many thanks to Geoff.
There are two facts of life in the cell phone business — (1) consumers love their phones and (2) they don’t necessarily love the company that is providing the service. These facts suited the industry just fine for many years. One reason for complacency was that consumers just made calls and occasionally text messaged. Accordingly, carriers that provided the best service (Verizon Wireless) reaped the benefits and those that did not saw massive churn (AT&T Wireless).
Consumers demand much more from their wireless provider these days. Making calls and text messaging isn’t enough. We want instant access to the internet and we want devices which utilize hotspots to give us an internet experience like at work. We also want to watch videos, listen to music, and know where are friends are.
On a related note, we don’t care if this happens via 3G, Wi-Fi or Wi-max. We just want it to work. As interest evolves away from access (who is providing) to the applications at the edge of the networks — incumbents must be ready to catch the market transition at the right time.
As an active participant in the wireless industry, the time is now for carriers to connect with their customers in ways they never imagined. Failure to act in an industry that is rapidly changing everyday — with a potential new provider on the horizon — could result in grave consequences for incumbents and lead to further industry consolidation.
Social networking is one way carriers can engage consumers. Listening to their consumers needs instead of guessing what they want from the corner office will enable carriers to reap the benefits of the transition and leverage the opportunity it provides.
Developing loyalty — in an industry that doesn’t have much — will lead to less churn. Once loyalty spreads and trust grows, consumers will be more inclined to buy more services. These are positive metrics which will grow the bottom line. With regard to implementing a social networking strategy — one size doesn’t fit all. Experiment with different communities or hire a community developer. There are many ways to start the process.
The field is wide open. It is time to be remarkable. It is time to implement new marketing strategies to capture the attention of consumers who are attacked daily with marketing messages. Social networking provides such a place to build community and a sense of belonging with consumers…
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