Here's a nice presentation from Seth Priebatsch of SCVNGR about the addition of an influence layer onto the internet. The concept is to use gaming techniques to generate patterns of behaviour amongst users - not new but certainly powerful. It's also an interesting path that the mobile industry can take without garnering too much regulatory attention. Recent news from Germany on the way that telemetry can expose patterns of behaviour suggests that a harder line may soon be taken on the information retained by operators. Interestingly, this was something we looked at a number of years ago with a major operator, but decided not to proceed with because of data concerns. Perhaps the answer is a hybrid between manipulation of behaviour based on active monitoring and passive "nudges" (the SCVNGR model). If the user can be incented to score points, gain influence etc by the way they behave - where they go, how many calls they make, how many friends they meet, then they may be willing to share the telemetry data that empowers tight marketing and service targeting.
Following yesterday's post, here's some related thinking on the impacts on operators of handset leasing. Handset sales represent around 25% of operator revenues in a typical European market, but generate only around 5% of margin. It may therefore be the case that the scenario described would lead operators to a more profitable structural model than exists today. Oil companies are consistently and acceptably profitable, despite being (literally in some cases) the ‘dumb pipe’ that operators are so desperate to avoid becoming. One of the reasons for the oil majors sustained profitability is clear focus on their role in the value chain – to supply the fuel that enables transportation, relying primarily on location, then brand and finally product innovation to compete. BP or Shell do not need to subsidise the purchase of a car in order to drive consumption of fuel because consumers are ‘hooked’ on it (it gets them from place to place) and there are many credible car manufacturers an...
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