Before I went OTG, I went down to a Verizon Wireless store in the Denver area in order to get a screen protector for my Nokia Lumia Icon.
Good size crowd, everyone pretty excited.
I walked around trying to get at the screen protectors, and tried to listen to the sales pitches.
Astonishingly, the salesdrones there were herding the sheeple towards a crappy Motorola Android phone!
Needing to find out why, I asked to join a sales pitch being delivered to a random customer.
I asked the salesdrone why not the Samsung Galaxy, which he proceeded to give a merciless verbal beatdown, deriding almost all features of that phone.
Surprised?
I was too, since I was under the impression that the Samsung Galaxy line represented the hero devices for Android smartphones.
Making matters worse, the drone was quite dismissive when I inquired about Windows Phones, making me bite hard on my tongue in order to continue the charade.
It was quite the puzzler, I tell you.
Then, it hit me: spiffs!
Yes, good folks, spiffs.
Seriously, why else would these yum-yums peddle those infernal phones if it wasn’t for the instant [monetary] gratification of spiffs?
Winning the Last Mile
Over the past several years, Microsoft has lurched from one forgettable marketing foray to another.
However, despite the obvious superiority of Windows Phones, the mobile OS hasn’t gotten the traction it deserves.
Even if we give Apple due credit for the great campaigns they’ve run, we still run into the paradox of all those incredibly ho-hum Android handsets trouncing Windows Phone.
Just how, in a sane world, does that nonsense happen?
Based on my observation at that VZW store and several similar encounters over the past few years, I find it easy to postulate that Microsoft hasn’t solved Windows Phone’s ‘last mile’ problem.
Microsoft may be successful in creating buzzworthy marketing campaigns that capture the imaginations of Microsoft Fanboi, please the Microsoft execs, and bring visions of great sales to their telco partners.
However, those same campaigns wouldn’t mean nada if the foot soldiers that actually help yobs in the store are incentivized to move lesser, unworthy products.
Believe me, even if the telcos honchos instruct their salesdrones to focus on Windows Phones in order to pad the telcos bottom line, those instructions are doomed to fail once any Android device maker steps forward with the carrot that is a spiff.
For those minions, spiffs are a very tangible inducement.
Which work very well.
Now, I do not deign to say I understand Microsoft's demand generation strategies at all.
However, I know when shit ain’t working.
Right now, it ain’t.
Unless, and until, Microsoft solves the Windows Phone last mile issue. It would always remain Cinderella’s sister.
Oh, and by the way,, the Verizon Wireless store did not have any screen protector for the Lumia Icon!
© 2002 – 2014, John Obeto for Blackground Media Unlimited
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