New iPhone: Evanston at&t Store Line

Heading to Peets for my morning coffee on my arduous 4 block commute this morning I have to say I was pretty surprised to see such a long line outside the at&t store on Chicago Avenue in Evanston.

The insider hype is at a much lower volume that it was last year at initial launch – but this line is longer than it was last year. Interesting.

TO’B

Cellphones + Emotions

Coming to this story a little late, but I have weighed in on this subject before – and while some think emotions have no place in business software or cellphones – they are just wrong.

Hoping to Make Phone Buyers Flip – New York Times

Even though Motorola didn’t know it, the RAZR was a huge hit because it connected with customers on an emotional level. The RAZR was Cool. People loved the RAZR and many still do. Unfortunately for MOTO the meaning of cool in cellphones has moved on. Cool used to be about form factor, now it’s about what the phone lets me do. The iPhone now owns “Cool” in cellphones. Just look at market share.

Emotions matter in cellphones. One of my friends put it best when trying to explain to me his never ending quest for the latest, greatest cellphone. “It isn’t just a cell phone, it’s all my hopes, dreams and aspirations riding around in my pocket.” And he wasn’t kidding. When I started to think about it that way, it all makes sense.

I have sat in a room full of cellphone engineers and listened to them tell me all the reasons why the iPhone will flop. How none of the technology in the iPhone is anything new. If only consumers were smart enough to figure that out – then they wouldn’t be duped into buying them. Guess they weren’t smart enough.

Interesting tidbit about Nokia focus group testing of cellphones:

“Participants can call a toll-free number to share their emotions about the phone they are testing.”

Don’t get me started on this one – but how far removed from observation of a natural emotion. (Get recruited, join the focus group, call the 800 number, punch in your code, express your emotion, thankyou.)

Money quote from the article? This one from a Motorola executive:

“The world has changed,” said Jeremy Dale, who is in charge of marketing for mobile devices at Motorola, where fortunes tumbled with the decline of its once popular Razr. “There is more relevance in what other consumers say than what the company is saying.”

“The strongest marketing tool is the first 20,000 people who buy the device,” Mr. Dale of Motorola said. “If they like it, they will tell their friends.”

He hits the nail on the head. In cellphones, the online conversation is what matters most. Within days of launch the mavens over at Howard Forums will have torn your new phone apart and passed judgment. If they deem it “not good” then all the marketing in the world won’t make It a hit. In today’s world, consumers are talking to each other – and trust each other – when making purchase decisions. Word of mouth – online or off – is much more trustworthy than marketing.

The good news? Since much of the conversation about cellphones is happening online, we can use it for research purposes. In a recent cellphone project, we had 6.0 MM messages from consumers in the US and 10 MM messages from consumers in China. That represents a sample of 12 months online conversation about cellphones. Using our (MotiveQuest) advanced tools and strategists we can help our clients understand consumers’ underlying motivations and drivers as well as category dynamics.

This is a powerful way to bring the voice of the consumer into the innovation process. And beats focus groups on most dimensions.

TO’B

iPhone Changes Everything

Take a look at how the iPhone changed the meaning of Cool:

 

And check out this great story from Wired magazine:The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry Money Quote:

“For decades, wireless carriers have treated manufacturers like serfs, using access to their networks as leverage to dictate what phones will get made, how much they will cost, and what features will be available on them. Handsets were viewed largely as cheap, disposable lures, massively subsidized to snare subscribers and lock them into using the carriers’ proprietary services. But the iPhone upsets that balance of power. Carriers are learning that the right phone — even a pricey one — can win customers and bring in revenue. Now, in the pursuit of an Apple-like contract, every manufacturer is racing to create a phone that consumers will love, instead of one that the carriers approve of. “

Imagine that – making something your customers will LOVE. Now that’s revolutionary!

TO’B

Cool Is . . .

Take a look at the word associations with the concept of “COOL” in the cellphone category over the last two years. Used to be form factor, now it is what the phone lets me do. I want my online world in my pocket thank you very much:

If you’re marketing to a core concept – better pay attention to what your customers think it means.

More over here: MotiveQuest – Cool Is . . .

Reading through a new post on Rick Clancy’s blog I noticed a particular paragraph:

But the real stars of the show will be a variety of new Sony technologies and products. I can’t divulge them quite yet, but I can tell you that they focus around such themes as “creativity,” “freedom and mobility,” and, of course, all things “high definition.” Be on the lookout for new heights in HD resolution, sleek new forms of video entertainment, a one-of-a-kind personal audio experience, and new wireless “solutions” for in-home entertainment.

Sony’s Long and Winding Road to CES

TO’B