Late to the party as usual, I'm writing about Google is entering the world of cell phones with a new Google phone system. Google announced today it is developing a free cell phone software package. "Google won't be making the phones, nor does it plan to stamp its prized brand on the devices. Instead, it will work with four cell phone manufacturers who have agreed to use Google's programs in their handsets."
I'm hoping this isn't coming as a surprise to anybody. I haven't read the other material out there yet and I really need to know that someone else realizes the "next big thing" is mobility and cellphone are highly mobile while remaining highly personal. Google is doing a great thing; creating a mechanism for knowing exactly where everybody is and what they're looking for right where they are right now.
As they say in Scotland, "Pure Dead Brilliant, Johnnie!"
The questions for this topic are:
- How does technological innovation help change the marketplace in your blog topic’s industry?
- Will this new venture by Google succeed?
- How will it affect the cell phone industry?
- How will it be received by average customers?
- This is an interesting strategy for Google to launch the product—going through existing phone carriers instead of trying to create their own unique phone. What’s the best way for businesses to enter a new industry?
- Why is competition good for an industry?
- What’s the best way to announce this new venture?
- Marketing, advertising, PR, etc.
- What’s the best way for the cell phone carriers to market this finished product?
- How does technological innovation help change the marketplace in your blog topic’s industry? Back when NextStage first looked for funding we were told we were a disruptive technology and that our path would be too difficult to fund. I remember meeting with several other entrepreneurs at the time. I'm the only one I know who's still in business, making a profit and doing what I love.
So how does technological innovation help change NextStage's marketplace? I offer without modesty that we've defined the marketplace we're in. We routinely get requests from major airlines, financial institutions, marketing firms, politicians, ... Major research groups study personae and come to us to understand how to correctly develop them and deploy for them. I look around at companies in the analytics game that are attempting to define such things as attention, engagement and trust, authenticity and truth to suit their own goals and wonder at their hubrus.
Does technological innovation change NextStage's marketplace? Of course it does. We're changing our marketplace every day. - Will this new venture by Google succeed? Can a venture by Google fail?
- How will it affect the cell phone industry? The cell phone industry as the cell phone industry? Not much if at all. Will it bring new opportunities to cell phone service providers? Isn't that the point?
- How will it be received by average customers? The average customer won't notice until it directly benefits or hinders them from doing something they can either already do (makes it easier to do or inhibits them from doing it) or lets them do something they previously couldn't do.
- This is an interesting strategy for Google to launch the product—going through existing phone carriers instead of trying to create their own unique phone. What’s the best way for businesses to enter a new industry?
- Do something someone else is doing cheaper.
- Do something someone else is doing better and either cheaper or for the same price.
- Do something nobody else is doing and that everybody else wants done.
- Partner with somebody whose client base can benefit from your product or service.
- Be a huge player with so much undedicated cash that you can capture the market without adversely affecting your bread&butter division's bottom line.
- ...
- Why is competition good for an industry? As the survivors' of the last global extinction said, "I couldn't be big so I had to be clever." I wrote in Google's Vulnerability, Google's size makes it vulnerable to many forces, principle of which is its audience going elsewhere. Some might believe using a search engine other than Google unthinkable. However, more and more of the valuable youth market think of Google as "sooo 20th century!" and are moving to search engines that favor that audiences' ideas and needs. Google will have to diversify its audience to survive and one way to do that is to enter another market.
- What’s the best way to announce this new venture? A TXT message to everyone with a cell phone.
- Marketing, advertising, PR, etc. See above.
- What’s the best way for the cell phone carriers to market this finished product? See above. Add that whenever someone with a cell phone does something that Googling would do better/faster/easier, it be offered. Note "offered", not "forced" on them. The uptake in the desired markets will be incredible.
Upcoming Conferences:
- Society for New Communications Research Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala on 5-6 Dec 07 in Boston, presenting "The Blogging Power Continuum: How Bloggers & Their Audiences Share & Assign Power in a Knowledge-Based Medium"
- New Communications Forum 2008 22-25 April 08 in Sonoma Valley, CA
Comment Preview