3 Lost the Plot - Official

Adverblog also covers 3's new commercial in Italy and is unusually scathing:

Every time I see an new 3's campaign I can't help asking myself: why are they wasting their money like this?

They keep on signing up celebrities who apparently can't live without making video calls. As it often happens for tv ads in my country, the spots are simply pathetic. In the tv campaign launched this week (read more on Pubblicità Italia), 3 has invested 30 million Euros, which is an enormous amount of money to promote a service which is actually not yet available in most Italian zones.

I have to agree with Martina on this one. If 3 ever did have a plot (let's be charitable), they've lost it and these ads are just the latest symptom.

I could go on and on about 3's problems, but here's a few top liners:

1. They seem to think that their USP is video calling. Why? Is there any evidence from the landline sector (where video calling has long been available and of a better quality) that consumers give a toss about it?

Plus, mobiles tend to be used more for alibi's ("Sorry, I'm still in the office, Darling") than landlines. And video calling tends to betray you.

Plus, to use a video phone you need......to know someone else with one. To launch a new service that plays to your fundamental weakness - lack of penetration of handsets is just DUMB.

2. They then panicked and cut their prices. Meaning that they attract consumers most likely to be switch back to a rival service AND not appealing to the higher spending business customer.

3. Speaking of which, they still haven't got data services sorted out - in the UK anyway. (One of)3G's killer apps is staring them in the face - it's email on the move. And they can't deliver this.

4. They launched with a service that couldn't even make voice calls properly. I tested an early model and I gave up using it (even though calls were free!) as I got cut off every time I used the thing.

5. From a marketing point of view, they never gave their first users (Innovators) a chance to show off their new toy. They should have created something compelling that showcased their service so people could impress their mates in the pub. This is FUNDAMENTAL to how new products get adopted. It's as basic as as making the phones work.

The nearest they had to this showcase was the football, but server delays meant that you had to wait about 1 minute or more ( a long time to be staring at your phone) for it to START to download. And from a usability point of view, there wasn't even a little progress icon to show something was happening.

To be honest, it makes me quite angry that a company who created one of the brand launches of the late 20th century (Orange) could have screwed up the marketing strategy and execution quite so comprehensively. I don't know if it is the Marketing people who are to blame, or if management have ignored the pleas of the marketing department.

I could go on...and on.....and on. But, as I said in my New Year's Predictions

3 fails to make 1,000,000 subscribers (again)

Yes, I predict that 2004 still isn’t 3G’s year and is another anus horribilis for 3 itself.

Anyway, if rumours are to be believed, 3 is up for sale. Let's hope they go quietly.