In 2009, the wireless industry saw an epic explosion in application stores. Consumer expectation was irrevocably altered, leaving many operators scrambling to catch-up. But simply providing an application store won’t be enough – to pull ahead in this market operators will need to create a consumer experience that goes beyond just mobile apps and a sexy interface.
Based on their desktop Internet experience, consumers have the expectation that they be in control of their content. The crumbling of the walled-garden approach brought us a step closer to providing consumers this freedom, but what is the next step? And if operators do enable this freedom, how will they maintain subscriber loyalty?
There are three things an operator can do to exceed consumer expectation and solidify loyalty:
- Match the consumer to the content that matters to them
- Let consumers take their content with them, to any device, even if the connectivity isn’t via their network
- Facilitate the relationship between the consumer and the brands and content they care about
The battle for the consumer has yet to be won, and operators have some key assets in their arsenals. Operators have learned they can’t win by attempting to control the consumer experience; however they own the billing relationship with the consumers which is HUGE! Operators spend tens of billions of dollars annually on maintaining and upgrading their networks, providing consumers an experience that leads to real loyalty. Operators can further enhance that experience with things like recommendations, consumer manageable UEs and content variety.
To learn more, download our white paper: Going Beyond an Application Store
