Will smartphones continue to be highly viral?

A recent article on smartphones in Totaltele.com says:

“Smartphone technology has swiftly reached the point where most future improvements will be incremental. This means that from now on launches of new smartphones will be about as exciting as the latest operating system from Microsoft. This means the primary reason to buy a new smartphone is because you just dropped yours in the toilet.”

Which begs the question – will smartphones continue to be highly viral?  Or, put another way, when people buy smartphones, will this continue to cause numbers of their friends to follow suit, as it currently does?

The iPhone - six years and counting, and still highly viral
The iPhone – six years and counting, and still highly viral

Virality level can be defined as the extent to which one person’s purchase of a product (or any other behaviour change by a person) influences their friends to follow suit.  Some products are highly viral, most are much less so.  Idiro has been measuring the virality of many products, including mobile phones, since before the launch of the first Apple iPhone in 2007.

Over that time, smartphone virality has stayed consistently high, within specific brands and across the smartphone product category.  What this means in practice is that:
– If you buy (for example) an iPhone or a Samsung S4, your friends become much more likely to buy the same model of phone
-Even if they do not, there is a strong likelihood that your friends will be influenced to buy a different brand of smartphone.

Idiro works with mobile operators worldwide to  reduce churn, increase ARPU and acquire customers. In 2008, we won awards for our work on smartphones with Telefonica O2 UK.

So, will the high levels of virality shown by smartphones continue?  It depends on what is driving the virality of smartphones.  Our guess is that in OECD countries it will continue, though declining slowly, for a couple of years at least, until the market for smartphones is saturated and the evolution of apps has stabilised.  The virality of smartphones seems to have as much to do with the extra functionality and benefits as it does with the phones themselves – and that’s down to apps as well as features like NFC.

On the other hand, some new personal gadget could come along with a whole new set of features and benefits.  If such a device can usurp the central role of the smartphone as a personal communication / entertainment / information tool, then the buzz about smartphones will transfer to  them and a whole new wave of virality will begin.

Idiro wins major contract with Digicel Group

Digicel group logoDublin, 22nd January 2013

Idiro Technologies, a leading provider of advanced data analytics for enterprises, today announced it has signed a deal with Digicel Group to provide data analytics to a number of the company’s operating entities around the globe.

As part of its assignment, Idiro will provide comprehensive subscriber analytics and related consulting to Digicel marketing teams, who will use the service to structure customer-facing acquisition and retention programs.

A recognized innovator in the development of advanced data analytics technology, Idiro’s solutions help mobile operators combat churn and improve customer acquisition rates by predicting which mobile users are most likely to switch carriers.  Idiro analytics are also used to improve the results of mobile operator marketing campaigns by predicting which customers are most likely to take up offers for new tariffs, smartphones, and other services.   Idiro combines its analytics solutions with consulting services that create a comprehensive, data-driven marketing service.

“We are delighted to reach this agreement with Digicel, which is among the most recognised brands across the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific region,” said Aidan Connolly, chief executive officer for Idiro. “This deal emphasises the strategic significance that Digicel places on properly using subscriber data to achieve positive business outcomes.”

Digicel carried out an intensive trial in a select market in 2012, where the churn reduction capability of Idiro’s analytics service was rigorously evaluated in a highly competitive environment.  Following a successful outcome, Idiro Technologies and Digicel Group have agreed to roll out Idiro’s marketing analytics service to operating companies in other Digicel markets.  The rollout is expected to continue through 2012 and 2013.

“We are impressed by Idiro’s technology, its responsiveness, and above all, by the proven ROI we witnessed in the trial,” said Stephen O’Leary, Group IT Director for Digicel.  “We look forward to working with Idiro in other markets, and expect similar successful outcomes”.

– Ends –

ABOUT IDIRO

Based in Dublin, Ireland, Idiro Technologies is an award-winning provider of marketing analytics to service providers and businesses around the world.  Idiro specialises in advanced predictive analytics for telecoms and online gaming companies, and is a recognized leader in ‘big data’ analytics consulting and the commercial deployment of social network analysis technologies.    For an overview of Idiro’s analytics services, watch the short video on our homepage www.idiro.com.

ABOUT DIGICEL

After 11 years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has over 13 million customers across its 31 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.

Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.

Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.

Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and its markets comprise: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Nauru, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. Digicel also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barts in the Caribbean.

Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.

How Idiro helps mobile operators profit from the introduction of mobile number portability

Mobile number portability (MNP) is being rolled out by telecoms regulators across the world. Simply put, MNP means that a mobile phone user can switch providers and keep her/his number.

And when MNP is implemented in a country, it always results in an increase in churn.  This represents a huge challenge for the mobile operators.

Idiro can help.  Idiro has helped mobile operators in a number of markets to deal with the challenges of MNP.  We help operators to minimise MNP churn and to target the right customers for acquisition, post-MNP.  Using Idiro’s Social Network Analysis (SNA) technology we use mobile operator call records (CDRs) to build a social graph of the mobile phone users in the country.  Using Idiro’s proprietary technology we then identify those at greatest risk of churning and porting their number, and also those customers of other networks who are most likely to join our customer’s network.  We set up an ongoing programme to provide these target lists every week.  Finally, our consultants work with the mobile operator to build the best campaigns to profit from MNP.

Idiro’s long experience of mobile number portability projects and our total dedication to customer satisfaction mean that mobile operators can sleep easy at night.

For a detailed description of how Idiro can help mobile operators capitalise on MNP, or for a discussion with Idiro MNP experts, please contacts us at experts@idiro.com.

We wish our blog readers a happy new year.

Interesting word-of-mouth case study at U.S. Cellular

Here’s a refreshingly different take on using influencers to generate word-of-mouth and thereby increase revenue for a cellular telco.

U.S. Cellular: Local Relationships Support National Goals, presented by Sherri Maxson and Jessica Masterson from SocialMedia.org on Vimeo.

Too often we think of social influence in large-scale terms.  Here’s an example of a mobile operator doing influencer marketing – starting small and building a community around influencers at local level.  Now, it strikes me that that this success won’t be easy to copy – it requires a person like Sharif with strong social media and leadership skills to make the project work – and even then, I’d bet that even U.S. Cellular found it difficult to repeat the success in other locations.

However, I particularly like two points: firstly, the mix of social media activity with real-life face-to-face events – and secondly the fact that the program increased revenue markedly (a measure missing from many social media case studies).

A strong, focussed social media approach fits very well with the use of Idiro’s Social Network Analysis technology to identify the key influencers.  This knowledge should be combined with local knowledge by (in this case) the local store manager to identify the high influencers who will ensure the program generates the maximum word-of-mouth.

Big thanks to the folks at wordofmouth.org for their post which alerted me to the story.