Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
Greetings from the Heartland of America, where we are enjoying one of the best autumns in recent memory. To the dozens of notes I received, I want to set the record straight: Everything is OK, I’m just starting up a business and working long, focused hours to get the alpha version of the Mobile Symmetry database ready for several hundred very patient testers. It’s been a trip, but to summarize my current headaches, they are: 1) Internet Explorer 7 (all of the programmers are nodding their heads); 2) The myriad of mobile browsers that make widespread WAP development difficult (another head nod); and 3) That the world’s “flatness” (a Tom Friedman term) means most of my programmers are starting work just about the time I am heading to bed.
Enough about the perils of developing software for mobile. There are books to write about that. I spent my free time the past two weeks listening to earnings calls and parsing statements. In turn, I spent a lot of time watching sports: baseball playoffs, college football, and an occasional soccer match. It got me to thinking about what’s missing in the applications space – the concept of home field advantage.
Here’s the logic:
–No one telecom company can be its own “league.” Operating systems like Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google Inc.’s Android are borderless. DropBox works in Belgium just as well as in Botswana or Boston. The Verizon Wireless/Vodafone Group plc applications collaboration is close to being its own league, but it’s not (at least yet).
–No one operating system can be its own “league.” Carriers will forever carry multiple options – Apple, Android, Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, even Palm Inc.’s WebOS and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 7 (T-Mobile USA Inc.’s recent focus on Android might be considered a notable exception to a broad-based model). As we chronicled in a previous Reality Check column called “Android Nation?” the fortunes of an operating system can change overnight (or in the case of Android, a year).
–As a result, we have a collection of teams (carriers) vying for leadership in and across different leagues (operating systems). This presents an issue. After a short period of exclusivity expires (iPhone the exception), what differentiates Sprint Nextel Corp.’s black HTC Corp. Android 4.3-inch screen from Verizon Wireless’? How can any carrier create league leadership?
–Surrounding the league/team activity, we have overall sponsors. For the purposes of this illustration, assume that to be Facebook or Twitter. These companies have reached critical mass and can afford to develop into any applications programming interface (API) on the planet. These are the application brands of the Internet. (To go back to our sports example, these are the Adidas, Under Armour or Budweiser of the applications world).
–Each day, carriers play in multiple leagues. Some days they win – other days they lose. They use the same ball, and have the same field (sponsors keep the fan experience constant, even though the weather conditions/location might change). Blackberry Tour, Bold, and Curve experiences are essentially similar across the carriers (e-mail is awesome, and the Internet – well, move to the Torch for heavy Internet usage). And, as much as Motorola Inc. and HTC try to “enhance” the Facebook experience, the Android Facebook app looks essentially the same on a Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA phone.
–What’s missing from this equation? The concept of home field advantage. Verizon Wireless may not win every game, but if they can have as good a home record as the New York Yankees (52 wins, 29 losses – 64% home win stat) or the Atlanta Braves (56 wins, 25 losses – 69% home win stat) did in the 2010 season, it’s highly likely they will win a particular league and perhaps the telecom championship. Simply put, home field advantage is the next set of in-carrier applications that bring the individual AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA “teams” together: Carrier fans + carrier purpose + carrier product. A strong fan reaction in a competitive arena creates loyalty, not only to a particular network, but to the total experience.
–Home field advantage does not always mean exclusivity. To use a sports analogy, the field has similar dimensions, the ball is exactly the same, but the crowd makes the difference. It can affect the momentum and tempo of each game. Generally the seats are the same (too small for most), the beverages are the same size and cost, and the cheers are similar, but the roar of the collective mass affects the outcome of the match. Applying this to the carrier game, when was the last time Verizon Wireless rallied their Droid masses, creating community as opposed to a largely independent customer base? The next set of applications have to be crowd pleasers, not merely excite individuals in the crowd.
–Creating home field advantage requires uniting the base against an opponent. Verizon Wireless came close with last year’s “Map for That” ads which seized on coverage issues, uniting red against blue. Apple has multiple decades of uniting against the conventional thinking of the day (mainly Microsoft but now Google, Motorola and Nokia Corp.). It could be as easy as being the first to incorporate Skype or Vonage or Fring or QiK into the contact list (through the Mobile Symmetry app), or allowing customers to connect different applications to each other. Perhaps it’s an app that rewards Sprint Nextel customers who recommend other Android apps to other Sprint Nextel customers. Or, in an even bolder move, connect the companies that have branded applications (e.g., FedEx) more directly with their customers because they use the AT&T Mobility iPhone version of the FedEx app.
Applications are the next frontier. The fan spirit is kindled not by the size of the in-stadium high definition screen, but by a string of winning plays. Uniting the base around a set of carrier-enhanced, value generating applications (or suites or applications) is the new “wildcat” or “west coast” offense. Who will win the Android, Apple or BlackBerry league championship? Those who can create the greatest home field advantage.
Jim Patterson is CEO & co-founder of Mobile Symmetry, a start-up created for carriers to solve the problems of an increasingly mobile-only society. He was most recently President – Wholesale Services for Sprint and has a career that spans over eighteen years in telecom and technology. He welcomes your comments atjim@mobilesymmetry.com.