Hook, Line & Sinker

I am not a real fisherman. You see, I hate worms. I don’t like to touch them, which precludes me from picking them up and actually putting them on a hook. If you are any kind of fisherman, you know worms are one of the best baits around. Because of my aversion to worms, I’ve always fished with anything but those disgusting night crawlers. Sure, I’ll use minnows, stink bait or artificial lures. But those only work in some fishing situations. I’ve also tested other, more creative forms of bait such as bologna, hot dogs and cheese.

Even though I have taken some heat for my ridiculous fishing ways, I also have silenced my critics by reeling in some impressive catches. If he’s hungry enough, a catfish will eat just about anything. And I once caught a flounder down in the Louisiana bayou using a little Oscar Mayer. (I’m convinced the fish was deeply depressed and threw itself on the hook to end its misery.)

In the end, if you want to catch something, you have to use the right bait for your particular situation. The same applies for wireless-service providers wanting to hook the new breed of subscriber — the wireless-information subscriber. Providers can’t fish using the bait they want to use. They have to use the right stuff to draw the customers.

Wireless-service providers are no longer merely voice and mobility providers. They have entered the era of information providers. With their entrée into the wireless Internet, they have to change their way of thinking about marketing, positioning and branding.

In the wireless-voice arena, they cornered the market on mobility. Even as the FCC introduced more competition into the market by opening up licenses, providers were the clear channel for unplugged and on the move. Marketing was relatively straightforward. One lure pretty much fit all. However, now with the potential of data and all of the rich content that is available through the Internet, they have to harness it and make sense of it for the customer. With ISPs, broadband providers and virtual-service providers, the channel isn’t as clear as it used to be. Service providers won’t be able to simply throw something out there to attract any consumer. They will have to uncover the applications and match those to the customers.

In the early 1980s, it actually was possible to define the typical cellular customer. It was a business person who made roughly $50,000 or more and worked in sales and other managerial or professional careers. In time, it evolved to include lower income professionals and ultimately, it embraced all consumers.

In the information age, there is no “typical” customer like 20 years ago. Today’s information subscriber could be any profile of a current wireless subscriber who has the need for information in a mobile environment. Wireless-service providers must begin today to understand the Internet universe and define the wireless Internet space for themselves. Whether they choose to be merely the pipeline or the wireless- and Internet-service provider is irrelevant.

How do they figure out who their customers will be? They have to gather and understand four key elements. First, who are their customers, and where do they find them? Second, what is on their minds? What is it they need in their personal wireless devices? What information is valuable to them? Third, where are they getting their current information? Whether it’s AOL, Yahoo or any of a number of other ISPs, they have to know where they turn to and why they turn there. Fourth, what are they spending their money on? How much more will they be willing to spend to get that information wherever they are, whenever they want or need it?

In these early days of wireless Internet, wireless-service providers have the luxury of just putting a service out there and seeing who nibbles. But soon they must cast out there with defined lures knowing exactly who they want to catch.

It’s a good thing I don’t have to actually fish for my existence. I’d probably starve, or eat a lot of hot dogs and lunch meat. But for the smart service providers, they’ll know their bait, they’ll know their target fish, and they’ll reel in plenty.

What are you using to hook your new breed of information customer? Write me at rhonda_wickham@intertec.com.