Call it the WAP gap.
Major media companies and mega-brands around the world are trying to lure customers by promoting short codes as a kind of red carpet to their Internet and mobile offerings. Consumers can send a text message to the five-digit code to receive content, subscribe to a data service or-via a WAP push message that includes a clickable link with a URL-get immediate access to a wireless Web site.
Marketing companies, however, say that many users who try to respond to such efforts get lost along the way. Some firms quietly acknowledge, for fewer than half of those consumers to follow up on a WAP push message-even in text-savvy European markets.
The low return is staggering, according to technology blogger Russell Buckley, considering subscribers had initiated contact themselves with the short code.
“The user has seen the details of the service (including billing information) and likes the idea enough to send an SMS to sign up for it,” Buckley posted of one unnamed European campaign that saw a 25-percent return. “Now you’d expect some people not to go any further and change their minds. But never 75 percent at that stage in the game.”
Analysts blame the disconnect on more than a half-dozen factors, from incapable handsets to failed message deliveries to user error. Smart phones generally don’t support URL links embedded in text messages. And because some handsets deliver WAP pushes to a different inbox than incoming text messages, users may never know they received the link they requested in the first place.
Indeed, overly complex handsets may be shackling uptake of all kinds of data services. A recent report from market research group WDSGlobal found that 63 percent of mobile devices returned to manufacturers are in perfect working order, costing the wireless industry $4.5 billion per year.
The study, which was drawn from 15,000 post-sales support calls, found that more than one-third of the returns were from buyers who said their wireless devices were defective after struggling to use specific applications. Nearly half of those returning phones simply had handsets that were improperly configured, and 13 percent were sold the wrong device.
The hurdles for WAP push campaigns are even higher in the United States, where text messaging is not as common and operators’ policies and capabilities differ greatly. Some networks are incapable of supporting such messages, and many older phones aren’t Web-enabled and don’t support WAP technology at all.
In fact, some believe the myriad problems surrounding WAP push are just more reason to avoid campaigns based on short codes altogether.
“I personally just think short codes aren’t a very good solution,” said Tom Burgess, chief executive officer of Third Screen Media. “When we speak to brands, they have very little interest in doing a short code-related campaign.”
The codes can take months to register, Burgess said, which is too much time for a company looking to deploy a mobile marketing campaign quickly. And consumer education for short codes is difficult because messages can be created, sent and received so many different ways depending on the type of handset being used.
A study commissioned by Zoove Corp.-which offers a competing service-echoed Burgess’ thoughts, finding that only 47 percent of users know how to send a text message to a short code. And 85 percent of those find the process too difficult or time-consuming for practical use, according to Mediamark Research Inc., which conducted the study earlier this year.
Zoove continues to tout its “StarStar” service, which allows users to access information on their handsets by pressing the star key twice followed by a code. Like short codes, the system can be used to send marketing messages or a clickable WAP or Web link.
“The market needs something better to help with content and information access,” said Tim Jemison, CEO of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup. “The phone is the ultimate personal interactive device, but the user interface is the mountain that stands in most people’s way.”
Others are hoping to build communities in wireless, encouraging users to access a variety of marketing and distribution channels. Instead of trying to lure users into a mobile marketing campaign, NMS Communications and others are looking to gain ground by allowing consumers to recommend content and services to friends. And the company is pursuing a more holistic approach, developing adaptive user interface technology and hopes to build bridges that span platforms like WAP, BREW and J2ME.
“The problems are a little bit larger than any one avenue,” NMS Chief Marketing Officer John Orlando said. “There’s a whole world out there of people who’ve gotten this right. And then there’s the mobile channel.”
