You know the battle: AT&T vs. Verizon. The two popular mobile phone providers are in a very public war with each other, each pointing out the shortcomings of their rival while boasting about their own unique selling points. This post is about AT&T and their use of a time-honored tactic: competing by solving a non-existent problem.
There’s A Map For That
The AT&T vs. Verizon war really started to heat up when Verizon took a shot at AT&T and the iPhone. Since AT&T/Apple had been doing so much promo for the 100,000+ applications available for the iPhone, Verizon decided to take them down a peg. Turning around the "There’s an App for that" slogan to "There’s a map for that", Verizon took a swipe at AT&T’s flaky coverage. The idea: you can have all the apps in the world, but since AT&T’s coverage stinks, who cares?
It was an awesome campaign. It actually pointed out a problem that all cell phone users can identify with.
I remember wondering what AT&T was going to do to counter the campaign. I couldn’t believe what the response was:
The above video is just one example, but AT&T’s big idea was: Sure, our coverage might stink, but you can talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time.
Now think about that. Forget about the commercials or your loyalty to a particular brand or phone, and just ask yourself which is more important to you:
1. Coverage- being able to place calls and use you phone’s data plan wherever you are. 2. The ability to talk on the phone while being on the web.
While I admit I don’t have any statistics on hand, I’d have to guess that most people would go with coverage. And to extend the example even more, if Verizon’s claims are correct, it really doesn’t matter if you can talk and browse at the same time on AT&T, since you won’t have coverage anyway!
Solving Problems That Don’t Exist
Now, it might sound like I’m picking on AT&T here, and that’s absolutely true. But it’s not the first time a company has tried to promote a product/service by hyping a feature that solves a non-existent problem. Think of ANY infomercial you’ve ever watched.
The snuggie is a pretty good example. The problem they apparently solve: the need for a blanket with sleeves (as opposited to a sweatshirt). Watch the beginning of that video to see just how annoyed the actors were at life before the snuggie came to town.
So is this tecnique a good thing? A bad thing? A thing at all?
Personally, I don’t like it, as it seems sleazy to me. But hey, maybe it actually works. And in that case, who am I to judge?
Twitter is down, presumably due to a DDOS attack, and facebook is really sketchy today. While checking out blogs like TechCrunch and Mashable, I noticed a pattern….the people that have just "launched" the "new social network" called Knoyce are trying to capitalize on it.
Twitter & Facebook are Down….Knoyce.com is thriving!
Twitter and Facebook down….people joining Knoyce.com, the newest social media network that works!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Aug 06, 2009 – With the recent issues of Twitter and Facebook, many people worldwide have been acquiring about the new social media network Knoyce. Knoyce recently launched on Tuesday August 4, 2009 and has already reached many people everywhere. From the United States to Canada, South America, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Berlin, London, Serbia, the United Kingdom and many more, people are loving what Knoyce has to offer.
For those who are tired of the continual problems that Twitter and Facebook have every other month, go to http://www.knoyce.com and become a part of something "better than just nice…" but KNOYCE!!!
Read more about what Knoyce has to offer @ http://bit.ly/uwHHA
apparently the new network Knoyce.com is the only site thats working right now http://bit.ly/14GNm4
Which again links to the same garbage press release listed above.
Why is this getting me so worked up? Because Knoyce isn’t real. It isn’t a "new social media network". It’s just a NING NETWORK. Anyone can create a network on NING for free, and there are some really good ones out there. I really enjoy SocialCigar.com and Sysadmin-Network, both NING sites. But they’re not claiming to be new social networks.
If you check out the link from the press release that tells you "more about what Knoyce has to offer", it brings you to a wordpress.com blog that says:
After much anticipation, Knoyce has released it’s new social network site to the public for all to join. There have been many registered users that have taken well to the site and are already running with it. Some of the new members on Knoyce have already began tweeting about Knoyce and one member in particular, has already invited over 300 of his friends and family.
Right. Much anticipation, and someone invited his friends. Whoa.
I honestly believe that this is a massive prank by someone saying "I bet I can get a bunch of fools to join my fake social network, and I can do it without spending a penny. I’ll build a free NING network, and I’ll put up a wordpress.com blog, then I’ll put out free press releases. I’ll get publicity by spamming a bunch of blogs. It’ll be hilarious."
To that, my friend, I tip my hat to you. I think the Knoyce concept is pretty funny. Very nice.
You know you may have a problem when you see something when driving and think "Wow. That’s a good example of search engine optimization." You are certain that you have a problem when you then take a photo of said location and blog about it.
The photo:
I apologize for the quality of the image. It was [...]
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All right. No big deal, right? You get stuff like this all the time, no? But then…….
My phone rings. I answer it.
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Wait, does Bob somehow know that [...]
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Yep. I just wrote that.
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Okay, so I’m still trying to figure out this whole video thing and I’m not entirely comfortable with it. But I think this format is at least a step in the right direction. This is just a quick video talking about exactly two things:
1. Gmail Video Chat
2. Twitterank and Twitter Grader
So, here goes:
Last night I got an email from a old co-worker inviting me to check out SocialMinder, which said:
SocialMinder is an online assistant that helps you maintain relationships with your LinkedIn network.
I thought that you might appreciate a free invitation to the “closed” alpha test of SocialMinder.
SociaMinder:
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Since the beginning of his campaign, Barack Obama has understood one simple, yet essential principle that seemed to elude all other candidates. He was a master at crafting the exact right message for exactly the right audience, and he was always able to do so without ever being manipulative. Right before his acceptance speech, he [...]
