Comments on: Vodafone’s Lukewarm 60-degree Offering

By: Pietro Barizza

Pietro Barizza — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:14:01 +0000

I will remember one Vodafone Live! project meeting until the day I die. Benedikt von Dreusche gave us a funny look and said “Does anyone here actually use their handset for anything other than calling and texting?” Nobody in the room put their hand up.

Vodafone management are keen on the idea of selling ringtones, apps, etc to 16-25 year olds who really should know better. Problem is, now the iPhone is out, now they really do know better – and that is bad news for Vodafone. At the end of the day, senior management STILL do not understand why their customers are using the Vodafone portal – or, increasingly – why they are not using it.

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:35:09 +0000

I live in Turkey – the biggest mobile operator here is a company called Turkcell with a 60% market share. Vodafone entered the market here a couple of years ago by buying out one of the competitors. I met someone senior in Turkcell recently who told me how terrified they all were when Vodafone announced their plan to enter the market. Lots of emergency meetings, everyone running around in a panic etc etc. Roll forward two years, Turkcell is increasing its market share – and Vodafone is still a dog of a network. Anyone here can see they haven't got anything like a winning formula. Its a big mystery actually especially to the Turkcell executives who had worried too much about a lackluster effort from Vodafone. Maybe companies can get too big and just cant see the wood from the trees.

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:35:09 +0000

By: Vodafone’s Lukewarm 60-degree Offering | Mobile Industry Review

Vodafone’s Lukewarm 60-degree Offering | Mobile Industry Review — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:02:19 +0000

[...] (My Original Blog Post: http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2009/12/vodafones_lukewarm_60-degree_offering.html) [...]

By: Murat

Murat — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:41:14 +0000

Ewan,

This is a great post, I swear it's like you're in my head. Soon as I heard about 360 I knew it was going to be a flop. This is from the network who charged Ã‚Â£1 per month to download and use a Myspace application to access it from your phone. When you can do it online or on Orange, O2 and T-Mobile for free.

Why they felt the need to bring out there own app store is beyond me, that sort of stuff needs to be done by the manufacturers who can properly integrate features. It feels like they know they are losing the bloatware of the past and are trying to get branding and services back on the phone.

Always got the impression buzz words like 'social networking, ugc, etc' are thrown down by senior management who read about them in The Guardian and decided to get involved. The Facebook App 'Connect to Friends' was amazingly useless + 'Find Live Guy' had no soul.

The thing is there are some interesting initiatives being done by Voda but none of them see the light of day