Telecom Service Provider Advertising - Comes of Age

How many students can a single teacher educate? ....Woh to "Kabka" ho gaya!
I have been following the Airtel "Kabka" ads with a great deal of interest - I think its a super idea for a campaign, and excellently executed - strikes a real chord with atleast the modern/ urban couple --- strangely, a 7 year old child I know also really likes it. I think this is a good mix of functional benefits conveyed to an audience along with building a warm fuzzy emotional feel to the brand -- also the campaign ensures that diverse features are explained thru different ads.

Similarly, the new Idea Education campaign is just brilliant - this is another brand that has been experimenting/ and so far was only I think marginally successful at establishing the theme/ "idea" behind the brand - but this campaign is bang on. Not only that, it has been utilizing multi media - I actually saw it also via my yahoo messenger icon - and, judging by the very positive reactions on the interactive/ blog like microsite, its going to be a huge hit.

Interestingly, both these successful executions take very different marketing angles - one is very focussed on the feature set; the other is focussed on the larger/ "building market" objective - they both also as a result showcase a widely divergent target audience. They both do use celebrities - bollywood ecelebrities at that.

Having said that, they are both exceedingly enjoyable and memorable campaigns - kudos to the marketing and agency teams!

Windows Mobile: Gen- NXT

The Windows Mobile, a compact operating system (OS) combined with a suite of basic applications is designed based on the Microsoft Win32 application. The operating system is compatible with Pocket PCs, Smart phones, Portable Media Centers, and on-board computers for certain automobiles. The current available version is Windows Mobile 6 and there are a few more new releases scheduled for 2008.

The features of the Windows Mobile are very similar to the Windows desktop version. It has the ability to convert your phone to a virtual PC that lets you stay in touch with your work even without your presence at office. Windows Live Messenger allows the user to chat online and can capture images with a high resolution embedded digital camera, listen to your favorite music and view movies (& the list never ends).

Windows Mobile is not the only operating system that is available; there are a few operating systems like Symbian, and Palm used by different mobile manufacturers like Nokia and Sony Ericsson. But unlike these operating systems the Windows Mobile enables the user to operate on applications like Microsoft Office and much more…

Windows Mobile in India
Currently the few brands of PDA and Smart phones that operate on Windows Mobile are HTC (High Tech Computers), Motorola, HP and O2 in India, but there are a few more brands that are yet to be launched with the Windows operating System.

Can You Believe It!!!!!

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile (WM) has achieved a record sales of 1, 00,000 units in just over 15 months of its launch in India, making it the fastest growing mobile operating system in the country.

"The one lakh mark is a significant achievement for any player in the messaging space. We are greatly enthused by the response we received, and at crossing this important milestone. We aim to touch the two lakh figure by end of FY08," said Sumeet Gugnani, director, mobile communications business, Microsoft India.

So People, Lets get synchronized with the future of windows mobile handsets!!!!!!!

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praveen.B.M

LG’s Marketing Strategy: ‘Brands that speaks for itself’

LG has developed a unique strategy to attract customers to its mobile phones in order to differentiate itself from its competitors. The company is very clear about their target market and their approach will most certainly get them the response they are looking for for. Unlike other players, the brand name very clearly signifies the kind of customer it is designed for.


LG had introduced a smart phone named ‘Voyager’, which offers a great deal of functions at a competitive price. Voyager, which means an explorer or traveler, has all the functions that a professional always on the move would require to execute his official work with ease.


Similarly ‘Venus’ was introduced keeping women in mind and another phone ‘Prada’ named after the well-known Italian fashion company, was designed for people who like to make a style statement. LG has now launched a camera phone ‘Viewty’ that flaunts its 5.0-megapixel camera and xenon flash. This adds strength to the argument that camera phones are now a serious option for those looking to ditch their dedicated camera for the convenience of carrying only one device. LG Viewty has recorded impressive sales performance of over 310,000 units since its introduction. It is also great news that Viewty has been launched in India too, so let us wait, and watch what results this phone will have in Indian market.

LG is also trying to capture the smart phone market by launching their new phone ‘Voyager’, (still not launched in India) but the phone lacks features like Wi-Fi, built-in e-mail client and an option to synchronize contacts and calendar between the PC and the phone, which are the basic features of smart phones but it is very competitive in price and multimedia features. It is a good combination of multimedia and smart capability phones.

By Shashi Pandey

Motorola: Savors The Taste Of Old Wine

Motorola stepped out of the Symbian family in 2003 with the thought of bettering their performance through the Linux and Windows Mobile platforms. What they might not have thought about was that they would be getting into the Symbian fold eventually. By picking up a 50% stake in UIQ technology from Sony Ericsson, Motorola has been the prodigal child that has returned to the Symbian family.

Now what’s this UIQ Technology all about? To put things in perspective UIQ develops and licenses an open software platform to the world's leading mobile phone manufacturers and supports licensees in the drive towards developing a mass market for open mobile phones. UIQ-based phones are powerful and give access to enterprise applications such as email, multimedia clips, and web pages.

With all these changes in the air Motorola seems to be emphasizing more on upgrades rather than just launching new phones with stereotypical abilities. All of 2007 witnessed the launch of the ‘Q9h’ smartphone and rumors are rife that the ‘W’ series in the offing. Might sound strange from a biggie such as Motorola which is home to the Razr range of phones but its clear to me that their pushing in a statement that says ‘Upgrades First, Phones Later’.

Also, Motorola is shying away from older handset platforms such as the P2K on the original RAZR. Motorola may have committed to the UIQ platform, but they're not necessarily showing it in their handset lineup as of now. The last instance we have heard of UIQ on Moto phones was on the Z8. Let’s watch out to see what the stake in UIQ has in store!

Where does Moto see itself from here? Only time has an answer as to whether customers would queue up to clasp their hands on their favorite Razrs with those fully loaded apps which could very hold the key to Motorola in a rather fiercely competitive mobile market.

By Ashok Kumar S

Nokia: ‘Sticking Itself Out Of The Herd’

Nokia has always portrayed itself as the maker of the best-in-class mobile devices be it the N-Series range targeting multimedia enthusiasts to the E-Series which is aimed at business users. However, the story doesn’t end here. My eagerness to learn more about Nokia and their strategic ploys never fail to fascinate me. It has been a company that constantly replenishes itself with the changes in its environment.

The harsh environment encompassing Nokia has ‘Horn Locking’ opponents in the likes of the iPhone whose touch screen interface is perceived to be light years ahead of the N-Series. The iPhone has in the real sense created a disruption in the marketplace. Now, would that mean Nokia has given into the iPhone’s supremacy..No!! One must just know that the N-Series outbeats the iPhone on every flank when it boils down to the overall phone functionality. This only goes to show that Nokia as a company doesn’t rest on the laurels of the past but makes continuous strides in an effort to set new benchmarks each time the opposition closes in.


However, at this juncture in time Nokia definitely feels the need for a ‘Unique selling proposition’ that would keep it in good stead for the future. It has realized that connecting with the user in a intuitive and innovative way merely by the device is no longer the mantra to success. It has to offer something more than just taking pictures or downloading music. Here’s where it has conceived upon the thought of moving out from being a mere phone manufacturer to a provider of a host of services on its mobile phones.


Nokia’s goal is to move beyond its barriers, and the only way it could do so is by picking up a few lessons learnt from Nintendo’s Wii which completely changed the rules of the gaming industry in its own terms. While game consoles became more and more sophisticated Nintendo moved ahead by focusing on a completely novel way of interacting with games. Nokia recognized this trend and thus aims at reshaping the mobile phone market by becoming more than just a maker of mobile phones.

Keeping this example at the forefront Nokia is aiming at creating a renewed focus with the device by connecting it with web services such as navigation, music and email and supplementing these offerings with a slew of acquisitions in 2007. Nokia’s gobbling up of mapping company Navteq made headlines as one of the noteworthy acquisitions of 2007 which stamped its position in the location based services arena on GPS enabled phones

Similarly Nokia is leaving no stone unturned in the ever hotting up music market as it launched the unlimited free download service “Comes With Music” in an effort to provide a range of tunes for people to download directly on to their Nokia mobile devices. It might sound ‘simplistic’, but from Nokia’s point of view it aims at driving the sales of Nokia handsets via the music it provides

Last but not the least Nokia is packing in an array of content into its devices in an effort to differentiate itself better from other manufacturers.

No one knows whether these moves by Nokia would ultimately be the nails in the coffin for its competitors, but one thing that seems imminent to me is that Nokia would definitely keep throwing its hat into the ring each time it feels challenged.

By John Rajiv

Green Tip for Mobile ‘Prosumer’

I came across an interesting article, which stated that mobile manufactures are trying to provide a platform for delivering web-based content and applications to mobile devices rapidly and cost-effectively - with minimal recoding. Well, this is good news for professional mobile users.
With almost one-third of the U.S. workforce on the road or working from home, the ability to extend enterprise applications and Web content to mobile devices has become a business imperative. Just as client/server and desktop software systems have evolved from native coded environments to open, standards-based systems, so too has the software for mobile devices “grown up” to incorporate the latest advances in web and security standards.
Web developers are influenced by the growing need which is making them to develop and deploy fully interactive mobile web applications with ‘sync & go’ (technology that helps in sharing, viewing, talking, listening and collaborating with other devices with one keystroke ) or wireless capabilities. So no matter where users are, they'll be able to access the information and applications they need to make more effective business decisions in the field without any hassles. Mobile companies are thus in a new era to develop, deploy, and maintain mobile web applications rapidly and with the fastest speed to browse and lowest total cost of ownership as possible with all other main features.
By Rohith R.R

Will Google Succeed in Creating a Cell-Phone Universe?

My take is that Google can do it but it will be a very challenging task.

The latest entrants are software companies that have entered into mobile phone space, specifically - Google and Apple.

Apple obviously came first. The iPhone has been heralded as a wake-up call to the mobile industry long criticized for making anything other than voice phone calls difficult and expensive. More recently is Google, making things really interesting with its Android initiative. Unlike the iPhone, which is a flashy piece of hardware optimized with equally flashy software - Android is Google’s open-source operating system for mobile phones.

Google and its 34 partners in the Open Handset Alliance are betting that together they can reshape the mobile phone industry by offering a free Linux-based mobile phone operating system and software dubbed ‘Android’. Android consists of a fully integrated mobile software stack containing an operating system, middleware, user interface and applications. Google expects the first phones based on Android to be available in the second half of 2008.

It's a bit of a pipe dream
Google is not the first company to promise the mobile phone community an easier and more streamlined way to develop new applications.

Microsoft tried to unite the fragmented mobile phone market under Windows Mobile OS, but despite licensing agreements with some 50 phone manufacturers, it shipped around only 10 million-15 million phones during 2007. Nokia tried it too, spearheading the Symbian OS, which has captured more than 70% of the global smart-phone market, according to ABI Research. But developers must pay licensing fees to write for the platform, and ABI expects its market share to fall to almost 40% by 2012. (Symbian operating system is developed by a consortium of handset makers including Nokia and Sony Ericsson. The software is licensed to a number of handset manufacturers and is the No. 1 smartphone operating system for handsets in the world)

Google in a fiercely competitive market
Google has ventured into a fiercely competitive market, going up against Microsoft, which offers a mobile version of its Windows operating system; Symbian, which is owned and backed by industry players, including Nokia and Ericsson. Apple has its own operating system for iPhone.

Microsoft and Symbian's failure to dominate the market is striking. Both have been available for years - Windows Mobile is already on its sixth iteration - but handset manufacturers and network operators have not made either into a standard, for fear of ceding too much value to the standard's owner.

The Google strategy seems to make the environment for Windows Mobile much more challenging. If the plan succeeds, Android could pose a real threat to the existing smartphone operating system vendors. Clearly, this is a threat to Microsoft from the platform side

Not a easy task for Google
Getting consensus on a single operating system is easier said than done, since the companies that have developed these platforms have a vested interest in seeing their solution dominate. Alliances have been formed in the past to promote some standardization, but the problem has always been that the companies involved are reluctant to give up control.

While Google has rallied some of largest companies in the mobile ecosystem including chipmaker Qualcomm; handset makers Samsung Electronics, Motorola, and LG Electronics; and mobile operators T-Mobile, Sprint-Nextel, and Telecom Italia--it is still missing some significant players. For example, U.S. operators Verizon Wireless and AT&T haven't signed on to the alliance, nor has European operator Vodafone. In addition, Nokia is not a party to it.

It truly has to be an ecosystem that has everyone involved. Without AT&T and Verizon Wireless I think it just becomes yet another platform that all developers just have to write

Google is optimistic
Andy Rubin, head of the Android project at Google, hopes that within five years, "hundreds of millions" of Android-based phones will be sold per year. After five years of
effort, Microsoft ships about 20 million phones based on Windows Mobile each year

It is only time which will tell whether we all will be using single platform based mobile or not. Me too like most analysts keep fingers crossed on this. Hey, by the way, where is much talked Google’s phone (GPhone)?

By Shivashankar M.P.