Of projects and vapourware

Internal and external communication is another obligatory step for ICT marketeers. Much as we might regret it, one has to emphasize that ICT marketeers have to develop internal communication skills above everything else. Besides, in large and complex organisations, most projects are valued through the amount of investment that they have required as opposed to the actual result that they bring. One may also disapprove of that state of facts but internal visibility is a very strong element for an ICT project's external success — although not sufficient, of course. It is therefore logical that good external projects should seek internal recognition and internal sponsorship too.

Key Success Factors of Marketng projects

I will not expatiate on how to make successful vapourware; there seems to be way too much of it already, even in the news, although we may say that journalists tend to be more cautious these days than they were before 2001. To a certain extent, we may even consider that vapourware is at the forefront of the late Internet bubble. There is yet another recent example with the deployment of public wi-fi hotspots which triggered many a comment but not all of them very relevant[46]. Most certainly, wi-fi is now looked at as a stable technology and wi-fi hotspots will certainly trigger the development of mobility on a large scale; hotspots may even be able to generate revenues in the long run if they target market niches made of intensive users on the move. They are also playing a key-role in the development of DSL in remoter areas. Having said that, the vast majority of the current wi-fi hotspot market may not be aimed at the consumer market; and quite a few business plans would have to be revised, mainly when they are based on questionable analyses. Regarding the starbucks initiative in the United States, much has already been said on the vapourware it has generated, mainly when it came to present the numbers. Glaziou & Doucet’s vision is the following: “the starbucks numbers, as found in the Washington Post[47], mention that 25,000 people use their hotspots every week. This seems to be a very good number but in fact, it is very small when we compare it to the regular 22 million weekly starbucks clients overseas.The article mentions how satisfied some of these clients are though, namely all these soho users who appreciate the ability to continue working in a different environment”. The fact is that this number is really weak because in fact, it means that the average connection rate is 1.55 per starbucks coffee-shop per day. ADP Telecom’s[48] Head of wi-fi operations JH d’Ussel gave us explanations as to what the drivers could be for a wi-fi hotspot point of sales operator:

1. Convey a progressive image (potential revenues being too low to help a hotspot become an end in itself),
2. Promote existing services and cross-sell new services,
3. Generate wi-fi-centric revenues (too early stages in his mind).

By the way, Ussel confirms that the average hotspot connection rate is akin to that of starbucks coffee-houses. Innovation-based markets are subject to positive or negative accelerators imposed by the pressure which is applied to the media. WAP technology is yet another good example of such a principle: 1999-2000 was the period where WAP hype was at its highest and subsequently was pointed out as the root of all evils – a little hastily perhaps –surrounding the Internet bubble. In 2004, now that we have all had time to get over it and take a bit of hindsight regarding this period, WAP is now considered as a key technology in its own right, thanks to the introduction of new generation mobile phones and the broadening of mobile data bandwidth[49]. This is why we believe one had better think twice before claiming that a new technology is doomed to failure, namely when it’s a matter of availability of the right kind of access terminals. ICT marketeers must therefore be able to decode and analyse the right sources of information in order to be able to detect which are the real best practices. This is one of the most crucial parts of an ICT marketeer’s job, i.e. to use his or her intuition[50] to analyse markets and the potential for new services and/or products, and possibly discard these projects which he believes do not match his or her objectives, whether it be about improving image or maximising revenues.

In certain cases, ICT marketeer had rather opt for more mature technologies to crop up before they start marketing such new services in the field. Indeed, very often, ICT market pioneers fail to deliver in the long run and being a pioneer does not buy you a place as a winner; at least, not always. This is one of the things that make R&D and marketing so different in essence. In any case, however good at understanding and predicting markets, ICT marketeers have to remain humble and cautious, because situations change very rapidly in such a chaotic environment.