Telecommunications (101)
Love and hate network
Bananity is a social media site based on a user’s personal taste. People define their taste by what they love and hate. They give their opinion about everything and anything from thousands of categories: movies, TV programmes, music, places, feelings, etc. The site also suggests recommendations and connects users with similar preferences. The community is actually on a beta site, but more than 2,000 users have already expressed their opinion on it.
Why it matters
Consumer’s voices are getting louder and some brands are still only starting to listen to what they have to say. Are these kind of social media networks useful tools to know what your target audience wants, in a very binary way?
Pillow talk
Willcom, a Japanese mobile provider, offers star-shaped pillows to its new customers as a welcome present. The cosy pillow is integrated with a microphone and speaker that connects to your mobile phone so you can talk and relax at the same time.
Why it matters
Besides offering technical or service related novelties, this brand is trying to lure consumers via a flashy gadget. Will we see more telecommunication brands trying to own specific emotional mood states?
The world's first solo marathon
On November 26th 2011, Sony Ericsson created the world's first solo marathon. Participants had to run at the same time, anywhere in the world, alone or with friends. All the runners needed to do was download the bespoke app, register on the brand’s website and send the results to the website after the race. Sony Ericsson offered places for the NYC marathon and Xperia phones for the fastest runners.
Why it matters
This operation is an innovative way for Sony Ericsson to test if sport represents a good opportunity within the smartphone market. Since the brand doesn’t claim any sports positioning on its Xperia range, the risk for the brand is not very high. It is also a good way to test the possibility of creating a sports community. What initiative could you launch to test your market while keeping a coherent brand image?
