News Overview of the Week

By March 12, 2008General, Industry News

News Overview of the Week

Every now and again it pays to cast your eye over the news to see what’s on the horizon (or coming up fast) – you never know what you’ll find and how it may prove useful. One thing, however, is certain; you won’t get to the top of your profession without having a good idea of what’s going on in general terms…as ever, we’re here to help you.

First up, and we’ll be surprised if you weren’t at least slightly aware of this, are the big talking points to come out of the phone industry’s annual shindig – the Mobile World Congress (aka 3GSM) in Barcelona.

Of major interest is the development of Femtocells – small mobile phone base stations that the consumer will install in their home giving them a fast, cheap mobile connection at home. Cheap enough, it is thought, for consumers to give up their fixed line phones. This technology is still trialling but the prospect of a massive battle in the not too distant future for the home phone marKet is rather mouth-watering.

Payment by mobile was another big pull in Barcelona – though the idea has been around for nearly a decade without taking off – with Vodaphone having launched its technology in Kenya (where it is largely used by migrant workers to send money home without getting on a bus) where 1.6 million users have signed up. The next rollout is in Afghanistan where microfinance organisations are expected to be the big users. However, it won’t be too long before it hits these shores –adding another dimension to advertising and, indeed to mobile technology, which brings us on to the final item on the list.

Google, as has been reported, brought their Android operating system to the show where it was eagerly observed alongside competitors. However, talk that it would sweep existing operating systems aside seemed rather overcooked and the phone world can now look forward to a battle royale between the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Sony Ericsson’s Windows based Xperian 1 and the coming Google system. With providers slugging it out over faster connection speed too it looks like 3G has really, finally arrived. The next year and a half in the mobile sector promises to be hugely exciting.

Closer to home, and not much to do with technology really is the news that a hotline set up by Manchester council for people to offer suggestions on how the council’s £468 million budget should be spent received a grand total of one phone call in a month. Proof positive that the council’s decision to advertise and promote the service using “leaflets sent out to residents with a phone number” is about as well thought out and contemporary an advertising method as banging rocks together to make fire.

Perhaps it also indicates that council’s could do with a bit of help in the marketing, pr and promotions disciplines…a possible new client base?

And finally, a pair of cautionary tales for anyone out there involved in branding; never name a range of children’s beds “Lolita” as Woolworths did and then act all surprised at the outcry over the reference to Vladimir Nobokov’s notorious novel about sexual precociousness in a 12 year-old girl. Certainly don’t compound the error by claiming to have no knowledge of the name’s connotations, just how out of touch do you want your company to look?

Secondly, try and keep religion out of make-up branding. Did the makers of the Lookin’ Good For Jesus line of make being sold in Singaporean Top Shops really believe that people wouldn’t complain?

That being said…the news reports about the story around the world are certainly drawing far more attention to this particular brand of cosmetics than could ever have been reasonably expected…this couldn’t be deliberate could it? If so, it’s a brave marketeer heading up their branding division…or foolish. Or both.

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