Now that the CTIA show has wrapped, I thought I would share some interesting tidbits from my week in L.A. I’d like to start by telling a story about my dad’s discovery of text messaging. On the morning of September 11, I flew out to LA to attend the CTIA IT & Entertainment Wireless conference.
Before I left, I sent my dad a text with my flight info. I must flag that I have been texting my dad, who is in his 50s, for about a year now, although it’s been strictly one-way messaging, from me to him. Never once did my dad respond because he just didn’t know how to text.
Well, much to my surprise, I flipped open my phone upon landing, and my inbox read, from “Dad”. He said he was proud of me for flying on Sept 11. I replied and told him I was proud of him for finally texting! So I thought this event was an interesting precursor to the CTIA show, because I can liken it to a couple key points, which were reinforced in various panel discussions throughout the week:
1. Viral communication and sharing is powerful in the mobile space in terms of spurring adoption rates and distribution of content and information. The process of discovery is unlike the internet. With mobile, a lot of times, it generally takes user A to show user B, who passes it on to user C, etc.
Sky Dayton, CEO of Helio, noted one-third of the content sold on Helio is a result of sharing and that the majority of the content consumed in the future will be shared. I think my incessant simple push texting to my dad indirectly taught him how to text, although I think the nature and context of my text contributed to his response, too, which leads me to point two.
2. You have to give people a reason to engage with their mobile and do something (other than talk). And then, you have to make it easy and simple for them to get that info or take that action. The content of my message was relevant and compelling enough to cause my dad to react. And once he was compelled to interact, all he had to do was simply hit “reply”.
This example also shows the power of mobile as an emotional tool. At the end of the day, it isn’t about the technology as much as it’s about what the technology enables. And ultimately, the mobile device is a social, lifestyle and entertainment tool. And that’s a very powerful thing.
To your point number two. I believe one of the reasons MMS (picture messaging, etc.) has never taken off here in the states, or anywhere for that matter, is that there has never been any reason to MMS. If someone could create a demand for this service, they would be heroes (to their company and to the wireless industry).
What’s the best example of mass use of MMS?
yes, good point. and therein lies one opportunity for us as marketers. adoption rates for MMS have definitely lagged SMS. in part, b/c of interoperability issues, but that has already started to be fixed in the past year. outside of that, yes, lack of consumer interest has been a big barrier. i think all players in the space (carriers and marketers/brands) need to get alot more imaginative in marketing these services. dont just drive awareness of the service but tap into the emotional need/the user experience. customers may not need the content – but make them want it.
really hasn’t been “mass” adoption of MMS just yet. heaviest consumption of MMS data outside of SMS/txt messaging has been with ringtones. but that will change with richer applications like mobile tv/video and community/social networking apps
Thank you for recapping Sky’s remarks, I think most of us at CTIA were too busy in meetings to attend that keynote, and the highlights on the CTIA website were sparse…
My experiences with teaching my family to use both the web and mobile channels have also been missionary endeavors, and I can say that parents, like most people in the US aren’t willing to be demoted from voice unless they feel security is involved / their message won’t get through otherwise. But what is interesting to me and I think is signified by both Dayton and Bruce’s comments is that the stage has been set for MMS / email enabled sharing of video in the US, as MVNO’s and startup application companies like Radar, Skycore and Veeker enable the YouTube virus to get airborne. My best guess at the largest MMS forwarding (at least the clean content) would be the Guangzhou boys dormroom rendition of ‘As long as you love me’, ‘lazy sunday’, lonelygirl15 clips, or illegal songs. These are wild guesses, but it will definitely be a mixture of user generated content and content that is moving ahead of whatever DRM systems that YouTube put in place last week to please Warner Music et al. Hopefully Nielsen Mobile will track it without too much skew toward US content.
Although I think it is exciting that whenever the critical teaching creates a situation where mass use of MMS happens it will be the first time people around the world will be similarly excited about sharing media, since video is a richer experience than voice.
My question is, what kind of tv show, current or concept would really benefit from allowing people to share via MMS?