U&R-CLM 2.0 - a blue sky thought

U&R activities are becoming more and more plain vanilla push work. Thanks to designed KRA! -I guess :-)  But in integrated world it is unhealthy trend. User is bombarded with so many notifications over all the screens it uses. Limited creativity or accidental creativity is hampering real purpose.

U&R- CLM (brand activation, utilization, monetization, churn etc etc ) shall have short term and real long term action plan – all measured quarterly!  And company shall have strict communication policy inclusive for all screen size. Easy to say but difficult to implement but worth value in millions (dare to say billions?)  There is nothing like losing an opportunity to connect with the customers especially in today’s world of information super flow.

If customer has given you permission to be part of its mind space, its sanctum-sanctorum. Misuse of this permission is criminal offence!! Informing customer is passé and time is for interactive communication! It is no more “telecom- telecom things”. Once you have captured mind space of the customer – sensibly monetize it by many ways. ‘Granted permission by customer to interact, suggest’ is the only real high growth potential asset you have. Worth spending capex to build that asset and opex to maintain, renovate and keep it relevant always.

Competitive market needs radical solution for orbit shifting. Same thing repeated here and there will produce same results with marginal improvement. Creative output shall be the life and not sporadic influx once in a while. Connected world is very helpful in making it happen. It is possible even with limited resources but must have unlimited spirit. And more importantly stop pushing one shoe fits all strategy – top to bottom. After all Idea is nobody’s monopoly anyway...

After thoughts, some idea provoking keywords : "permission", "right communication channel", "interactivity", "value relationship", "Non-telecom benefits", "long term objectives- beyond FY", "monitize relationship", "not to be evil", "size of screen" , "Individual vs house hold", "relevance" and "No service but experience of offered solution" 

Future of VAS in India

Since so long had feeling of transformation for value added services! VAS is dead? Answer: Yes. But in the form we know it now. There will be transformation. And this will be accelerated now post TDSAT’s ruling about vas subscription in favor of TRAI.

Was it bad for industry? - yes; some of the things are very harsh. But industry as whole should do retrospection about how we reached to this level where stern guidelines been forced. What history goes behind it? Which are the known secretes and so called accepted  norms of vas business? But was it so rampant that TRAI has to deal with it so heavy handedly… Or is someone else lobbying for such stringent guidelines to enter into lucrative Indian vas business…

Personally I found harshest thing and much against vas industry is: post all kind of acceptance also need to get written consent (ok. user initiated sms also do). And stringency does not stop here such consent has to be taken on every renewal.
Let me understand meaning of subscription. News paper ask you to subscribe and continues to deliver until you say thank you. Hence this direction does not fit in with general business convention. Even in telecom, does every time rental renewal been explicitly confirmed by user or he request for churn? At the max  TRAI should have proposed post every 6 month, take fresh mandate on any subscription services from customer. With lighter note, we are democratic nation and people sitting in temple of democracy does take re-mandate only after 5 years.

Over long run directives shall lead in improving QoS in VAS. More enriched services and richer contents to follow to ensure greater ‘pull’ rather than old fashioned ‘push’ business. I do believe mass marketing of vas should have stopped long back for creating better business value. Now with this vas ruling and regulation about commercial communication customer preferences micro-segmentation is the way of life! Then vas shall able to reveal potential beyond direct vas revenue stream and assisting to profile your customer better.

Very interesting to see how non-operator billed vas perform, in the time of inconvenience added with changed regulation and overpowering of high speed wireless data with supporting devices. Will there be level playing field or with current directives confirmed by TRAI will make such application-stores like Google-play more convenient. Thinking cap out… Happy to receive your comments!

Interesting Time Ahead-Even Google will Make Search Irrelevant

Last two blogs we had seen how content and communication industry going through sea changes. There will be soon no more VAS as we may know them today. Further there is fight to get Ultimate primary ownership of customers among Social networking sites like Google, FB and telecom vetrans.

Customer is with service provider for 'connectivity' and eventual ‘connect’. Interesting to observe key decision driver here- Freedom of choice for connectivity experience or priority is primary ‘connect’ option. What am I prioritizing my FB/G+ ‘connect’ on any of Vodafone or Airtel OR I prefer Airtel over Vodafone for my ‘connectivity’ experience along with independence to choose ‘connect’. And then there are other sets of customers decide to go with Apple or Google nexus and whoever provides it best (enhanced way to‘connect’- makes spicy topic for another blog some time...)

Here I am trying to put one simplest aspect; but there are lot of stakeholders within complex environment combating for supremacy and coexistence to rest claim on ultimate primary ownership of customer. They are likes of service providers, social networking companies, ad-aggregators, Govt, media houses, content generator, influencers and aggregators, OEMs, OS-software giants, retailers, education and banking industries.
With this pre-text, I will like to draw your attention to few of these trend-setting business activities happening around the world:-
                  
1. Surge in options for wireless communication devices of  different sizes from 2'' to 10''

2. Great evolution in the space of larger devices like ipad, notebooks, and smart TVs

3. Multifold rise in data traffic anticipated by service provider- exploring options to offload data traffic from active wireless network

4. Lot of activities around wireless data- LTE deployments, Hotspot, Wi-Fi, mini BTS, asymetric up-down links, modify data packet structure, cloud services etc etc

5. S/w guys getting into h/w- Surface by MS.. Google integrating firmly with Motorola

6. Followed by Samsung-lead nexus partner- registering its displeasure and also exploring options to develop relationship around MS OS

7. S/w guys asking OEMs to adopt their OS- Google, MS, Nokia- mainly for wireless devices

8. OEMs creates modified OS to ensure all control does not directly transfer to OS provider

9. Players like Apple integrated end to end for providing experience

These differently looking activities are the part of one grand picture getting painted to make lot many business industries redraw their boundaries of influence/function. Yes! Busy time for lot of strategist to do intense environmental scanning, re-work their Porter model and refresh company’s SWOT and create greater blue ocean around in dynamic environment of connected world...  Excitting!!!

So quickly concluding what it meant at large by connecting these dots -

1. Mobility is must and hence at customer end wireless solution welcomed and limited mobility is optimal

2. Soon its just about what screen size satisfy your dominant need – cross working of functionalities among products-as we may know them today like mobile,notebook,tabs,laptop or smart tv,kiosks,e-displays,multiplex etc..

3. Users and companies will start talking about fulfilling end requirement and least about device, content, services or connectivity- fully integrated end solution driven model.

4. One who will own maximum mind share of customer in this connected world will optimize maximum profit share.

5. And primary owner of customer mind share has to create win-win situation to grow bigger otherwise there lies reverse critical mass.

6. Everybody including Google will try to make 'search' irrelevant. Soon 'search' will be expensive proposition. It is like through great deal of customer profiling RT insights, create AAI to know what customer wants before it gets on googling it actully.

7. Breaking advertising clutter will become increasingly difficult and you will require permission to interact with. Winning customer trust is paramount critical. There is scarcity of 2nd chance in connected world for breach of trust.

But this will not be end for any particular organization except one who remains adamant to maintain status-quo. Strategic direction may require paradigm change. Either You -
I) Have ultimate primary ownership of the customer OR
II) Build compelling features/ services/products/rich and very relevant content or simply create unbeatable economy of scale for the particular business aspect-(FAB) and thus support the one who has ultimate primary ownership. 

Hope I am able to convey my thoughts to you and ready to debate and discuss it further anytime. This is currently my favourite one..
--
Where,
RT = Real Time || AAI = Almost Artificial Intelligence

Two news draw my attention in last couple of days :-
1. Carier billing for google Play
2. Google's nexus strategic move- launching pure android experience with multiple vendors

What is so great! We had seen how Mr. G had disrupted content market, and even given run for their money to Mr. T as well. How Mr. G tried to make so called democratic market place. Now with this background when we combine above two news item. It will start making more sense.

One as of now Mr. G is trying to make peace with Mr. T. Red ocean to blue ocean strategy...
Another trying to bring more homoginization in terms of android experience with every upgrades.

This will try to reduce current concern of monitizing content other than advertisement revenue. These two develompment will put Mr. G in driver's seat in long run. Till the time user habit changes, content can be monitized with billing convenience offered by Mr. T. Ensuring developer community remain engaged with clear cut revenue stream from developing aps/games for android platform.

By ensuring more synch between all OS release, again helping aam zanata (developer community to focus more on content rather than worrying about compatibility) But this may make handset brand redundant?! its iOS or its Android or Mango.. (is this some history lesson for mobile manufacturer-especially Samsung who became number one recently.. remember IBM vs. Microsoft..)

Anyway, in recent fututre there is minimum harm to public in general as long as Mr. G is driuving the show and slowly minimzing role of any other organization. But will it remain democratic once significant manipulative power concentrate in single hand or will it become window dressing of democratic market place.

This compromises from Mr. G, may be next level of disruption. But this give one fantastic opportunity for great ap developer to find some partner who have both brick and mortar model, have distribution and billing, collection network. A partner who has off and on presence both.
There is market for great, serious aps developer who does not want to serve any free lunch, shall also explore this option.

Let us discuss it further some time in detail..