Analysis: Can ‘I love my iPad’ ever become ‘I love my AT&T’?

With this week’s iPad launch, I would say the praise-to-criticism ratio for the two companies involved in the launch – Apple and AT&T – was probably 85:15, clearly in Apple’s favor.

Not a big surprise, of course, but nonetheless, maybe it’s time for AT&T to borrow from Toyota’s brilliant “thanks for sticking with us” marketing campaign, as consumers and app developers alike seem largely unforgiving of the connectivity and performance woes iPhone users have suffered on the AT&T network. But when 40 percent of your network traffic comes suddenly from about 3 percent of one device’s users, there will be up-front issues—for any carrier.

What is most disturbing about the iPad launch is the fact very few consumers will be associating AT&T’s brand with the “happier” part of their iPad experience. Bloggers were gushing with praise for the device and its one-click install and full-pane views of beautiful, robust content already available for consumption. Only here and there did I find an eddy of criticism, mostly from a rogue independent developer lamenting the “bygone” days of openness compared to the iPad ecosystem in which Apple devices largely connect only to Apple stores.

If AT&T and other network operators really listen to what consumers and app developers are saying, they’ll see people are really not associating their mobile operators’ brands and networks with the positive parts of the consumption experience. Rather than tie the service provider’s name and reputation to their beloved music, videos, books and Web content, they associate them with the performance and speed issues they encounter, and with other areas they deem to be solely carrier-related, like payments for bandwidth.

“Is it not compelling that while happily consuming videos, games and books it is a shiny Apple logo people see, while the dreaded moments spent paying for bandwidth yields the AT&T logo,” says Yankee’s Carl Howe, director, Anywhere Consumer Research. “Indeed, the focus is increasingly pulling away from the companies ‘pulling the bits,’ and toward the shiny Apple.”

With a tsunami-like flow of traffic expected when the 3G version is released shortly —with sales already on pace to exceed the 2.7 million iPads predicted to be sold this year —it would behoove AT&T and other operators to up the marketing ante, and perhaps re-think the way their branding is associated with the devices.

Maybe it’s time that AT&T and its brethren make sure their logos accompany those of the device manufacturer or content app with which they work—especially at those times when people are laughing, smiling or being productive on their iPads, iPhones or whatever devices electronics manufacturer come up with next. Perhaps it is time that carriers market themselves as something “bigger” than the network, or the device connecting to the network.

As Yankee’s Howe says, “It’s time for network operators to think of the consumer experience in terms of emotion. Are people getting a ‘positive’ feeling about AT&T if they see the brand only when they pay money?”

From my observations, consumers really do not care if AT&T or other carriers become a dumb pipe; their loyalty, today, lies with those companies they perceive as “responsible” for delivering TV shows, games, videos and content.

Howe seems some promise however. He points to the fact some carriers have created their own carrier app stores as a step in the right direction. “By not making it free, and by carrying only the best, perhaps they will carve a niche. I thought it was great I could watch the Masters outdoors on my iPhone last year, and the same is true for the Olympics or any other type of exclusive content carriers can offer over their networks,” says Howe.

He notes that everyone has a different piece of the puzzle--Apple, AT&T, and companies like American Express. “All are valid entry points,” says Howe, but how they compete against one another to win over customer loyalty will be the deciding factor. “At the end of the day, the winner will be the one whose customers say ‘I love this brand because…”

When I think of carriers and how their customers complete that sentence, I don’t hear, “I love my carrier because they always let me complete my call.”

I do hear, “I love my iPod because…” I expect I will hear a lot of, ‘I love my iPad because…” Will we someday hear, “I love my AT&T because….”