Who is Ewan? | About | Advertise | Contact | Services | Newsletter | Feeds | Shop | All Categories

Author Archive

How would have mobile phones changed your wonder years?

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

I wish I had a mobile phone when I was growing up – more specifically, when I was in the age group five to ten.

To be honest, that statement is slightly inaccurate. For the mobile phone to be really useful, my family and friends also should have had mobile phones, each with a very generous data plan. But still, if I have had a mobile phone when I was a kid…

I would have cried much less when my mom got transferred in her job and had to move 150 miles away. She did come home every weekend, but at the age of five, after watching all the angst ridden Indian movies where parents who travel away for jobs, have accidents, get killed or develop amnesia, I did cry many many times on many, many days. A mobile phone would have helped me to obsessively call my mom every five minutes. Coming to think of it, it is actually a good thing that I did not have that phone.

I would have had photographs and funny videos of the dogs, cats, goats, tortoises and fish — my pets down the ages – I could have had my own personal collection of LOL pics to gaze at for the rest of my life.

I could have blackmailed my cousins more effectively – played video games and watched TV instead of doing homework, hit the younger ones, used profanity – all accounted for through mobile pics and videos. On second thoughts, it is better that we did not have phones back then, else it would have been like something like this.

Class notes would have been so easy to copy. Take a couple of photographs and voila! You have all the information you need. And when you sneak out of the classroom when the teacher has stepped out, a missed call acts as a warning signal to get the hell back in there.

It would have been so much easier to call up dad and remind him to pickup new books from the library when he comes back from work.

I could have had many more impromptu meetings with my friends.

The possibilities of conference call gossiping would have been amazing.

When dad was late to home, mom would not have worried herself sick thinking that he had a fatal accident. On the other hand, attending a call every five minutes while driving in the evening definitely could have led to a fatal accident.

I would have had crazy, crazy ringtones that drove everyone around me mad.

There would have been demerits at school for using a mobile phone in class.

There would have been much angst over whose phone looked the prettiest or was the most covered in Hello-Kitty and Disney stickers.

Phone charms would have topped the list of birthday presents.

Along with the pen swapping cartel ( one of the better deals I had was swapping a black Parker pen and promise to pick the other party into my team whenever we play for a pink glittery Chinese pen – and yes, my parents were not pleased: how did you know? ) there would have been a mobile phone swapping cartel that would have driven parents and teachers crazy.

How would have mobile phones changed your wonder years?

Posted in Memories, Mobile | Comments

Q: What do dogs and Oscar winners have in common? (Or why is the mobile industry in India obsessed with Pug dogs)

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Hi there it’s Ewan here. It’s time once again for Surya’s column — if you missed her inaugural one from last week, find it here. I don’t want to draw too much attention to it though, because, as Surya and her friends pointed out on Twitter shortly after I published her post, you must never, ever underestimate the power and influence of the Indian Mother’s Network. Confused? You definitely need to read last week’s post.

This week Surya’s explaining how India’s mobile operators stole the hearts of almost a billion people (and sold them a heck of a lot of phones too), through the rather expert use of the medium of television advertising. Say the words ‘hutch dog’ to almost any Indian and they’re liable to break out into a fond smile. Why? Read on and watch. Over to Surya…

- – - – -

Question: What do dogs and Oscar winners have in common?
Answer: Mobile Telephony. Or to be more specific, advertisements of Mobile Operators in India. And the story goes like this….

Once upon a time, there was a country with one of the most yummy mobile markets in the world, in terms of growth and girth.

The UK? No. USA? No. France? No.

India.

To get the population’s their attention, one of the major mobile operator players decided to enlist the help of the most reliable man in the Indian movie industry (of which Bollywood is just one part of). This man had composed music for a decade for a massive number of movies, and each time the music sold like hotcakes. The operator’s plan? Get the chap to compose a jingle for their adverts that would capture the attention of a whole nation. A big challenge? Not necessarily. Here’s a sample of what he came up with:

As you can see, it’s a simple black and white ad, containing a total of twenty one words. Not one mobile phone anywhere to be seen. It became an instant hit. Even with 100+ TV channels to surf through to avoid even a microsecond of time wasted on advertisements, fingers froze when these ads played on television. The tune was downloaded, set as the defaultringtone, and provided for free by the operator to their new consumers. And then they came up with a second ad, which, this time, actually showed people with mobile phones.

And when there was a bit of an international political fracas with their estranged brother/neighbor nation, they played this ad, again with music from the magic man:

When they changed their parent company’s logo, they went with him again:

So what is a competitor got to do? How do you compete with the national phenomenon of Airtel? Get another musician? Get a movie star? Or go to the dogs?

The last idea actually did not prove to be that bad.

There were some similarities with the first ad of the competitor. Lots of good music, no mobile phones, anywhere on screen. But that’s where the similarities ended. While Airtel went the ‘lets appeal to the higher plane of human emotions‘ way, Hutch decided to be a little more direct. Have a watch of this one…

This advert sparked a nationwide plea from little boys demanding to have their very own ‘Doggie like in the Hutch ad‘. The prices for the particular brand of dog in pet shops shot up. Harried parents went searching for a ‘Hutch dog’ – instead of asking for a Pug; thus adding a popular phrase to the urban collective consciousness of that country. I trust the marketing director got a good bonus.

To maintain interest, they swiftly introduced another ad:

And another:

And thus, they inched their way into the wallets hearts of the urban, apartment dwelling people of India. The Hutch marketing team did such a good job that a bigger, multi-national player bought the company.

During the re-branding, the music used in the ads, changed to more locally flavored tunes, since the focus moved to India’s rural markets. They changed the little boy with a little girl (yay! go girls! ;-D).

The logo changed.

The brand colours changed.

Even the fonts changed.

What did not change was… well, why don’t you take a look?

Of course.

- – - – -

Thoroughly entertaining Surya! I had no idea about the popularity of the ‘hutch dog’! Very smart marketing. I particularly liked the ‘make love, not war’ advert from Airtel!

Posted in Operators | Comments

“No mom, you can’t have a free phone.” The perils of working for a mobile manufacturer.

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

I’d like to introduce you to the first of the new MIR 3.0 columnists, Surya Nair.

Surya is in her mid-twenties and always has a particularly interesting take on the mobile industry. If you’re not following her on Twitter, I recommend you do (username: @suryasnair). Surya was born in South India’s Kerala region and got her first handset (a Nokia 6110) when she completed her degree in Engineering. Yup, no ‘politics’ or ‘media studies’ here. *Engineering*. Surya is a veritable java, mainframe, SQL and mobile handset genius. In her time she’s enjoyed the Nokia 9300i (me too), the E90 (nice), the N82 (lovely camera) and currently, she’s sporting the Nokia N97. So whilst you might paint her as a mobile geek-head, hold there a moment. For some reason, she stopped everything and took an MBA in Human Resources — before joining a large European mobile player. That means she not only avoids the ‘marriage question’ (foremost on the minds of most mothers, even worse, I gather, with Indian mothers) but she is also assured of a ready supply of new gizmos to play with. In terms of applications she’s a regular user of the N97 integrated Facebook app, the Sports Tracker app, SP Brain Evaluation, and, “Of course, Gravity for Twitter”.

This all makes for a rather interesting columnist. Time then for part 1 of Surya’s contributions here at Mobile Industry Review.

Over to you, Surya.

Ewan

- – - – - –

Mobile phones.

I could write a book about them.

More specifically, I could write a book about how mobile phones lead to some of the most interesting stories I have told to my friends. Like the time when I was recruited by a mobile company to do HR work for them in 2006.

Getting a job, with an MNC, while you are still technically studying in campus, is kind of a big deal in India. So naturally, many people grilled me about getting the job. However, the only query by some of the extended family members was “So! When am I getting my *insert the costliest/jazziest mobile phone in India circa 2006 here* ?”

No “Congratulations! We are glad you got the job!”

No “You must be very excited. All the best! ”

Or any of their variations.

At first, I shrugged the questions off. After all, these are the same people who told my parents to get me married off when I was eighteen. They surely must be joking, right?

Apparently, not so. A few days after I went home to spend the two months before I start working, the visitors to my home were getting more and more insistent on their demands for a new phone, and in true bargaining fashion, were willing to bring their demands for a high end phone to a mid range one. The conversation usually went like this:

They: “Dont you remember me?”

Me: “Honestly? No.”

They: “Haha! You big humorist! Haha!!!”

Me: “Eh…”

They: “So, when am I getting my new phone?”

Me: “…..????”

They: “I want the one which SRK was using in this movie! Or Hritik Roshan in another!”

Me: “Erm.. I do not work for all of these companies together…”

They: “Oh.. never mind… just get us whatever phone you are getting your mom!”

If this being played over and over during your vacation days is not mind numbing enough, consider this:

My mother, like any proud Indian mother, decided that me getting this job means I get an unlimited, free supply of mobile phones. Apparently I can simply pluck them from the air. So she spends her time with me trying to force me to get married (“But you have a job! And we know of many nice boys!!”) or trying to get me to provide free mobile phones to at least fifty of her relatives who I either do not know or do not like.

One day in exasperation, I asked my mother, “But mom! You don’t even like those people.. why do you want me to give them mobile phones?”

“So that I can gloat over them.”

No, she did not reply in such succinct manner, but the hemming and hawing laced with dialogues which would have fitted right into your average cable TV soap operas convinced me of that much.

Her logic was simple. You have to give them something, because their kids, who work for Cadburys, gifted us with a chocolate box when they got their jobs. The quid pro quo logic made sense to mom, but for me… it just rendered me speechless.

Then inspiration struck.

“They want me to buy them the same phone I will be getting you, right mom?”

“Yes. So?”

“So I am not getting you a handset. Problem solved.”

Needless to say, they next few days would have made for good reality TV. Mother was not impressed. But at the end of summer, I went off to work.

When I went home for holidays, I was cornered again by a few of those leeching relatives.

They: “So, what did you get us? Which phone? ”

Me: “Remember you told me to get the same phone I am getting my mom?”

They: “Yes. Aaaand..?”

Me: “I am never going to get her any. So don’t think like your are going to get one from me too. Sorry.”

They: “…….”

It was extremely satisfying to see them at a loss for words for once.

To set the record clear that I do not incur the wrath of the older generation who believes in filial obedience, I did by my parents a lot of non mobile related stuff over the years. But I will not be even gifting them a second hand one, as long as my parents, and the extended family, remain convinced that I can carry sack loads of mobile phones home.

- – - – -

I do feel for your mother, Surya — although, a mobile handset is quite a few leagues above a few chocolate bars! Well done for standing your ground. Here’s a question: Would your parents/friends/family be content at being gifted a £14 Motorola RAZR? Or do they demand top-of-the-range?

[If you'd like to become a MIR 3.0 columnist, drop me a note, I'm ewan@mobileindustryreview.com.]

Posted in Columnists, Mobile, Surya Nair | Comments

Powered by Interactive Energy | Sign up to The Application Review newsletter