The rap on wireless

ATLANTA--It's a reasonably safe bet that wherever he goes, Russell Simmons is the smartest guy in the room. He's remained a cultural tastemaker for decades, first as the brains behind the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam and later as a television and film producer as well as a fashion mogul. Simmons has even branched into wireless, partnering with Motorola on a signature handset. Still, he's not your traditional CTIA Wireless keynote speaker by any stretch, which made what he had to say this morning all the more worth hearing.

"You work for culture," Simmons told the CTIA audience--the flipside being that, if you're lucky, sometimes culture works for you. Calling hip-hop "the most important branding community in the world"--a claim backed up by the statistic that the music directly influences 25% of all consumer spending--Simmons explained that contrary to hip-hop's edgy, street-smart image, its biggest stars are "not slumming--these people want the highest opportunities and the greatest products." In short, like pretty much everyone else, they want the best, most cutting-edge wireless handsets and services--the difference being that legions of fans will buy the very same devices their idols sport. You can't buy better advertising than someone like 50 Cent or Jay-Z wielding your latest handset in their latest music video.

What Simmons had to say makes obvious sense: Hip-hop is unquestionably the language of the same youth market the wireless industry desperately covets, and a rapper's seal of approval speaks volumes. But again, you simply can't buy that kind of endorsement--nor can you bottle Simmons' commercial instincts or his status among the cultural elite. He could launch a wireless service tomorrow, and it would earn instant credibility with the youth market. For virtually everyone else, it's not quite that easy.

So again and again, Simmons pointedly stressed the critical importance of what the wireless industry can do to improve its standing among consumers, like improving functionality and network coverage. His message was simple: Stick to the basics, and the market will grow. It's an obvious lesson, but one the industry never seems to fully grasp. Which probably explains why Russell Simmons was up there basking in the spotlight, and the rest of us were just sitting in the dark.

E-mail me at jankeny@primediabusiness.com.