Research Notes

Strand Consult hires Roslyn Layton to offer Digital Strategy Toolbox to our clients

Strand Consult was founded 17 years ago to help mobile telecom operators and media companies around the world improve their business case.  With our strategic reports, workshops and presentations, we help executives and board of directors improve results for shareholders.  As we look into the future and see the increasing threats to the mobile telecom industry and its investors, particularly from over the top (OTT) technology platforms, we see that are number of operators are not informed or prepared on how to defend their business.

Strand Consult Consult now offers a digital strategy toolbox and the expertise of Roslyn Layton to help our customers get access to our digital strategy toolbox., Roslyn is a seasoned industry professional who has worked in disruptive technology, marketing optimization and business intelligence in Silicon Valley and India. She brings a global perspective having worked with leading international companies and obtained the OneMBA degree from 5 universities around the world. Together with Roslyn, Strand Consult will add valuable digital strategy knowledge to our portfolio of reports, workshops and presentations. To read more about Roslyn or to contact her http://www.strandreports.com/sw4668.asp

Our new Digital Strategy offerings will address the following issues and challenges:

Lack of expertise in digital marketing
Strand Consult has investigated the mobile world in depth and MVNOs more closely than anyone. What we can say in general that virtual operators are more effective in digital marketing and communication than classic network operators.  Born digital, virtual operators have no choice but to do their online marketing and digital customer support right the first time.  We will help network operators learn and monetize these skills to improve their business case. http://www.strandconsult.com/sw4901.asp

Age of Senior Leaders
Across the industry, the average age of the CEO is 50; the chairman of the board, 60.  While these leaders have accumulated a lifetime of knowledge, they are not so fluent in new technologies, the implications for their business and how consumers will change the mobile behavior.  While new and young employees add expertise to the organization, in practical terms, it is difficult for a youngster to teach the CEO.  An outside facilitator is needed in this situation, and Strand Consult can play this role. http://www.strandconsult.com/sw4896.asp

Hype: Separating Fact from Fiction
Can you imagine a world in which pharmaceutical companies had free rein to talk to consumers?  They would diagnose the public with the very ailments that their drugs are designed to address. It is for that reason that there are restrictions on the marketing and communication by that drug companies can make to the public.
 
But the hype around social media is not so different if you look at Wall Street, media management agencies and the media itself. Consider the Facebook debacle:  this company was overhyped leading up to its IPO and then its stock price plummeted after going public. 

We are particularly concerned how the media and digital agencies hype social media in an effort to sell their products and services. They frighten companies into thinking that they will lose touch if they don’t invest in the latest social media platform.  Mobile operators need to look past the hype!

Our recent research note showed that in spite of all millions of dollars of investment, mobile operators cannot succeed to get more than 2% of their subscribers to Like them in Facebook. The evidence shows that advertising in Facebook is not a good investment.  

Just as doctors play an important role as a filter between the drug industry and patients, Strand Consult helps its customers differentiate between the hype and valuable practice.  We are often called in to provide a second opinion from their current consultants, to help companies ensure they are not making a bad investments or making the wrong interpretation.  

Mobile operators waste millions in Facebook and forget the low-hanging fruits in the garden.  http://www.strandreports.com/sw4865.asp

Google and Other OTT Platforms
We acknowledge that people benefit from Google, Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn.  However, we have a number of concerns about these companies in relation to competition, tax evasion, transparency and privacy.  We will continue to voice our concerns and educate the public and policy makers and the dangers of OTT platforms. Most important we will work collaboratively with our customers to educate and empower them to address the competition from these platforms.

Facebook is killing the mobile operators’ SMS traffic and revenue. http://www.strandreports.com/sw4689.asp

Is Google a company with large and deep pockets but with too short arms. http://www.strandreports.com/sw4241.asp

How will companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook influence future willingness to invest in telco infrastructure that is vitally important to modern society? http://www.strandreports.com/sw4663.asp

The Telco industry is increasingly experiencing competition over cloud-based services being distorted by companies like Google, Facebook and online music services. http://www.strandreports.com/sw4701.asp

Digital Megatrends in Ecommerce
An increasing number of mobile operators focus on e-commerce to help reduce their distribution costs. In a time where an increasing number of traditional retailers are finding it necessary to combine their retail business strategy with a serious e-commerce strategy, it is exciting to see how mobile operators are increasingly moving focus over to e-business strategies.

10 international e-commerce mega trends in the telco world http://www.strandreports.com/sw4754.asp

Strand Consult: Predictions for the Telecoms Market in 2012 http://www.strandreports.com/sw4533.asp

Regulation and Public Failure
 
Regulators and politicians like to take credit for success created by the mobile industry. The reality is different.  It is technology innovation and competition that has created new mobile products and services for consumers.  In fact we see government agents standing the way of efficient delivery of mobile telecom goods and services. We have documented how local governments have created cartels to set the price of land for mobile masts 400% higher than the market rate. Also, national and international governments have failed to protect consumers or industries from the onslaught of OTT competition. In fact their policies give global OTT players tax advantages that national players cannot employ.

Here are 10 points that document that if the political system and regulative authorities understood what is driving competition on the Telco market, some of them would be out of work tomorrow
http://www.strandreports.com/sw4707.asp

How mobile operators can reduce cost for mobile masts and improve mast regulation
http://www.strandreports.com/sw4546.asp
More information:

Digital strategy for Telecom and Media industry Roslyn Layton

Related Information:

Strand Consults Strategic Workshops

Successful Strategies for the Mobile Broadband Market


OneAPI – Next Generation Value Added Services in the Mobile industry

Show me the money – The future Business models for mobile Broadband Services

How MVNO´s can get success in the Mobile Broadband market

How media companies can get success on the mobile broadband market

How to get success with Value added services on the Mobile Broadband market

How can a Wimax operator survive in a world full of WCDMA

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