Indie Telco Local Content Workshop advertisement
Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s Articles May 26th, 2004 Overview Beyond My Comfort Zone Dream Big, Work Hard, Have Fun The Freedom to Choose Any Telecom Provider
by Ken Pyle ([email protected]), Viodi, LLC
May 26th, 2004 Issue
[Background: These were the comments that Ken intended to make at CTA’s Technical Symposium in San Diego on June 21st. The opening to Ken’s presentation was rather unusual and required the assistance of a trained actor, Dave Hood….Ken was way beyond his comfort zone in performing this opening].
- What Was I Thinking
- Bits Are Bits and All Service Providers Are Alike….Or Are They?
- Marketing Will Always Rule
- The Big Event
What you have witnessed is probably one of the strangest starts to a telecom conference wrap-up session that you have ever seen or ever will see. It all plays to the point of this presentation, which is “Beyond the Comfort Zone.”
Now, you might be asking, how does a kid’s video and my bad acting have anything to do with what we have learned the past two days or even the theme for the next 40 minutes?
Well, there are several ways:
First, it may not seem like it, but I am very honored to be here. That puts me way beyond my comfort zone….standing before 150 people and not being certain if I could pull off such an unorthodox opening had me a bit nervous.
Second, whether this skit worked or not, I wanted to leave a lasting impression. And this is the same challenge that independent telcos face as they compete to get mindshare of their prospects and customers.
Lastly, since this conference is in San Diego, it affords the independent telcos the opportunity to hear from a truly independent producer, Dave Hood.
So, we will talk to Dave in a bit and learn from him first hand what life is like for an independent producer. But first, I will look back over the last few days and review a few of the things that will cause us to be “beyond the comfort zone” going forward.
What Was I Thinking top
So, it was a conversation I had with Dave a few months ago, that got me thinking about the theme of this talk. Every morning, I wake up a little uncomfortable. No, I don’t mean physically uncomfortable from sleeping on a friend’s couch because I was too cheap to get a hotel room. Everyday, I am chartering new territory for myself. I am stumbling, but learning, falling down occasionally, but I think I am moving forward….slowly, but surely.
Everything we have heard the last two days should probably make us all a little uncomfortable. Whether it is technology, content or regulation, we are all doing new things and will continue to do new things as we all face the onslaught of competition. If there is one thing that I got out of the conference, it is that competition changes it all. And make no mistake, competition is here. When you hear a talk radio station discussing Voice over IP in a matter-of-fact-way, you know competition is here.
Bits Are Bits and All Service Providers Are Alike….Or Are They? top
I met someone the other day who resides up the coast from here. He is a Cox customer for telephone, high-speed Internet and basic cable. He has DirectTV, because it offers NFL Ticket (an exclusive to DirectTV). This guy could be considered a “high-end” customer. The bad news from a telco perspective is that he has completely disconnected his local incumbent telco. I guess that is one reason why the 2nd and 3rd largest telcos in California are MSOs.
As was pointed out, the services being offered can effectively be duplicated now, whether cable provider or telco. The presentations on regulation were very interesting, because it really highlights how difficult it is to adjust regulation to stay current with technology.
It is sort of like a car race, where each car is slightly different, but they all basically do the same thing. Because each car is a little different and maybe left from a different start line at a different time, they each have different rules. Then, to make things “fair”, whatever that is, the rules are changed while the race is running.
With these circumstances, I don’t know how the political and regulatory bodies can ever create a truly level playing field. As Mr. John Reagan said, these will continue to be interesting times as the various bodies tackle these issues.
I am glad I am not in the shoes of the independent telcos. There are so many choices in technology, it must be extremely difficult to make a decision that not only will impact your company’s future, but could impact the very communities of which the telco is an integral part.
And we saw many interesting technical approaches over the past few days. My only advice is that marketing should have a big influence on the technical path that is chosen in that they should be defining the customer requirements for the technology. Defining the customer requirements, current and future, is no easy task and that subject is probably worthy of a day long conference
But, technology marches on and with it go the customers. One of the key messages I got from this conference is that you can never wait for the perfect technology…it will never be here. So, you will have to take some calculated risks as you balance economics with current and future customer requirements.
In doing so, you will be a little, “beyond your comfort zone.”
Marketing Will Always Rule top
The times they have always been changing. Maybe now, they just change much faster than in the old days.
I realized yesterday that I am on the old side of a generation gap. First, the other day, I asked a friend’s 18 year old whether she could imagine life without a cell phone – she could not. Next, I had no idea that kids use their cell phones at concerts for curtain calls. Lastly, watching Joshua Wong’s presentation regarding gaming, makes me realize that the generation playing these games are looking at a world from an entirely different viewpoint from this middle-aged guy.
But this is nothing new. The youth have always been the first to adopt new things. And just like the baby boom generation changed the world, this new generation will change the world as well…let’s pray for the better. We may never fully understand it, but we need to be able to embrace the change and go with the flow, so to speak.
I believe what Russo of Calix said when he suggested that we are moving to a demand side environment, where the customer will control what they want, when they want and where they want. What is going on in gaming may seem foreign to us now, but it and the multiplayer role playing activities will probably morph into applications that we will all be using in a few years. And this will lead to more peer to peer activities and will drive bandwidth needs. I am sure GigE to the home that is Susan Estrada’s vision will be necessary much sooner than we think.
Wong’s comments were reinforced by my conversation with 27 year old Gabe, the AV Wiz who was helping me with my audio recordings. He was giving me all sorts of interesting insight about technology and the games he plays. He uses Microsoft’s X-Box online service and, for $6 per month, he is able to get full VoIP communications to anyone else on the X-Box network (in addition to being able to online games). He says the voice quality is as good as dial-up.
Through all of this upheaval, the one thing that will never change, is that, marketing never ends. When I use the word marketing, I mean the whole enchilada. Marketing should be driving the entire telco’s operation. This is a huge shift from a regulated environment, where essentially, regulation drove the company’s product and strategic decisions.
Marketing has to be concerned about all of the “Ps”; Product, Pricing, Position, Promotion. To this last point, it is very, very tough to be noticed. I submit that the biggest competitor we all face isn’t from another telco, it is from the world. How do we gain people’s mindshare?
Even if you have tons of money and a huge name brand behind you, it is difficult to get your point across and then have people act on your point.
As an example, at the beginning of this week, I spent some time near Palm Springs with a friend and colleague. He knows volumes more than I will ever know about video and marketing. In general, he is one of the smartest and most informed guys I know. Time-Warner is his cable company. I asked him if Time-Warner had VOD on his system. He told me, “no, but they are planning on adding the service.”
A day later, I saw an ad promoting the attributes of Time-Warner’s VOD service. Apparently, Time-Warner does have that capability. The point is, even when someone, like my friend, is looking for a particular service, it can be very difficult to get the message across. Pounding the message in over and over and over is one way to prompt someone to have an epiphany.
The Big Event top
The other way is to have some event that makes such an impression that prospects are immediately called to action. Event-driven marketing is a good way to make something like that happen. Creating an event is a challenge as it requires some guts, some creativity and, maybe even some luck to make it a success. This conference is a perfect example of an event done well.
Creating the event will put you a little beyond your comfort zone, but it could be the thing that differentiates you from your out-of-town competition as it further endears you to the community.
So, I hope we have made this a very memorable experience for you. I know that it will be memorable for me. As we all continue to stretch beyond our comfort zone, take a second every now and then and realize how much fun the experience is. I have heard of telco personnel who have decided to stay on beyond retirement because of the exciting opportunities set before them.
And it is an exciting time for all us. So, I would like to leave you with three thoughts to close today’s session:
- Do something that will take you “beyond your comfort zone.”
- Have fun doing it.
- And, as a former boss, Jerry Laufer used to say to me, “be creative”.
Thank you Jerry for your encouragement….it means a great deal. Dave, thanks for your help in getting me through this talk. Thank you CTA for this great symposium and thank you everyone for sticking around. Lastly, please thank the sponsors by visiting them at their booths. Without them, none of this would be possible.
All displayed trademarks, logos and service marks are the property of their respective owners. © 2004, Viodi, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Leave a Reply