Situational Marketing

How Dell Can Market A Smart Phone

Rumors have been swirling for some time about an entrant from Dell into the smart phone business.  They started up again in December on Engadget, and  MobilitySite seems to say its a safe bet to say the Dell Smart Phone is coming.  But can a Dell product really compete with the iPhone?

I was thinking about the differences in the brands, and how Dell might actually compete in this market. 

First, let's just be honest.  They're not going to get iPhone users to switch.  That boat has sailed and unless the Dell Phone enables you to walk on water, people aren't making the switch.  Second, the iPhone is going to look better, and be cooler, than anything Dell puts out.  Add to this the problem that the early adopters of technology already have an iPhone.  Who is left to buy a new product?  Certainly not enough numbers to make it worthwhile to go head to head.

But Dell does have an advantage.

Will There Be A Mobile Web?

I was speaking with my wife last week, discussing the type of mobile device we are going to buy in the new year.  It led us to talk about mobile sites, and the need for clients to optimize their sites for PDAs and new phones.  She pointed out that if we got an iPhone, or the new Google phone, there wouldn't be a need to find mobile sites, as the Safari browser (or Google browser) renders the entire site on the phone.

Made sense.  I figured mobile sites were a thing of the past.  And then I saw Ewan's post on the mobile web, and realize we were mistaken.  Yes, it seems like squeezing a website onto a phone browser is an easy solution.  As consumers, we say we want the internet on our phones,  but Ewan points out that's not true.

This issue is something that I absolutely, 100%, fundamentally disagree with. People (normobs — normal mobile users) do not want the internet on their mobile. They think they do.

But they don’t.

What they want is the information from the internet, optimised and perfectly formatted for their handset. They would never tell you this, because, as I said, they just don’t know.

Compressing banner ads and re-sizing images to give an out-of-context and screwed up version of the website the user is trying to view is SUCH a poor experience it’s not even worth talking about, especially when others have already hit the nail on the head so perfectly...

Without knowing much about the Vodaphone controversy, what he is saying makes a lot of sense.  As a normal cellphone user - I don't want the full internet.  I want what I want, when I want it.  Information from Rss feeds, the ability to browse a few mobile-friendly sites and blogs, and the ability to make transactions at my bank or other vendor safely and easily.

I'm not writing full documents out in public.  I want quick viewing that loads quickly and gives me what I want.  I want 20-30 minutes of easy reading time when I'm standing in line, or waiting for the wife to shop, or looking for sports scores.  I don't want ESPN.com - I want the mobile version of ESPN that gives me the football scores, some video, and columns I want to read.

It's a striking example of the need to be thinking ahead, and an excellent post on the future of mobile sites from SMS Text News.    

One Last Post on Automotive Marketing

I ate reasonably this Thanksgiving, and instead of leftovers, I'm heading over to Qdoba for a post-Thanksgiving Burrito.  What a country!

A final thought on automotive marketing.  Brandstorming, the marketing blog for Durbin Media Group, covers the issue of blog marketing for auto dealers with a post on reasons to use blogs to communicate to customers.  The second point is the most relevant one.  How do you build a relationship with a customer prior to them walking on the lot?

B.  A Blog is Personal:

Websites are carefully crafted to pitch a message. Today’s customers simply don’t trust what it written on a website, primarily because there is no accountability. Are you really the lowest price in town, or did you pay someone to write that? With a blog, the impression that a human being is behind the writing creates trust between the customer and the dealership. What the blogger writes, the customer can verify, either by asking questions or typing comments or sending an e-mail. Providing a human contact to the website helps the customer build a relationship prior to setting foot on your lot. If you poll your customers, one of their biggest fears is being assaulted by a bad salesperson when they come to your dealership. Giving them the option of connecting with someone prior to showing up in person prepares them to buy and makes them more comfortable, more collaborative, and less combative. Any salesperson who has seen a customer walk on the lot with a series of web printouts knows that building a relationship before you discuss price is important in gaining trust. Why not gain their trust before they ever get to your lot?

Utilizing the Consumer Decoder application from Blast Companies, you can have blog readers sign up to read targeted content on their PDA, by phone, by e-mail, or by text message.  It's the ultimate in permission based marketing, and allows you to gain trust prior to someone walking on the lot. 

And that sells a lot of cars.

You Can Call Me Anything You Want, Just Call Me

It's a bad one, but one that sticks in my mind from the waning years of Growing Pains.  Kirk Cameron sneaks in late at night, and says goodbye to one of his lady friends, and she gives him that great line when he calls her by the wrong name.

"You can call me anything you want, just as long as you call me."

In a bit of good news for the marketing industry, customers are asking to be contacted, but it seems the way they want to be contacted immediately, and in the manner they wish to choose.  We've evolved as consumers to the point where we don't trust computers to be 100% accurate.  When we sign up for something from a website, we want a notification showing us that we did sign up. 

Or at least that's what the e-marketer poll says. The graph is below the fold, and it breaks respondents to a question on follow-up communication into categories based on age.

 

Communication Is Everything

via solo

It's

It's an oldie, but a goodie. Another version of it can be found at the Business Innovation Insider.