I've been thinking about this a lot lately, being a fan of Google and Android and a Nexus One owner. First a little background about myself. I am a marketing professional and consultant. I know a few people hate me just for my chosen profession, but I'm not really all that bad.
What I want to start a discussion about is Google's amateurish marketing. I really wish it were otherwise, but Google really is the worst marketed successful company I've ever seen.
The problem lies in the fact that they have always dealt with software products that are, for the most part, free. As soon as they have a real commercial product like the Nexus One, or Android for that matter, they screw the whole thing up. When I say marketing I am including all aspects of marketing including product design, pricing, sales, logistics, etc... Some of these are handled very well, some are frankly embarrassing.
The Nexus One sales model has been discussed many times, but I contend that selling an unsubsidized and unlocked phone could worked, if they had used retail partners to sell the phone worldwide. People are always going to hesitant to buy a $600-700 (after delivery/taxes/accessories) without being able to touch it first. A display model in every Best Buy in North America for starters could have helped things along considerably.
Android is the one I'm most concerned about. Google needs to flex its muscles and reign in their partners right now or face the risk of Android becoming just some derivative OS instead of a revolution in smartphones. Here's a quick list of things that Google should be taking care of immediately:
These are just my thoughts as a marketing professional. I'm not sure if they will help provoke a discussion, but I hope so.
What I want to start a discussion about is Google's amateurish marketing. I really wish it were otherwise, but Google really is the worst marketed successful company I've ever seen.
The problem lies in the fact that they have always dealt with software products that are, for the most part, free. As soon as they have a real commercial product like the Nexus One, or Android for that matter, they screw the whole thing up. When I say marketing I am including all aspects of marketing including product design, pricing, sales, logistics, etc... Some of these are handled very well, some are frankly embarrassing.
The Nexus One sales model has been discussed many times, but I contend that selling an unsubsidized and unlocked phone could worked, if they had used retail partners to sell the phone worldwide. People are always going to hesitant to buy a $600-700 (after delivery/taxes/accessories) without being able to touch it first. A display model in every Best Buy in North America for starters could have helped things along considerably.
Android is the one I'm most concerned about. Google needs to flex its muscles and reign in their partners right now or face the risk of Android becoming just some derivative OS instead of a revolution in smartphones. Here's a quick list of things that Google should be taking care of immediately:
- Exercise some formal control of Android ASAP via ToC if they don't already exist.
- Prepare some guidelines for UI's in Android. At the very least the consumer should have the choice to turn off the manufacturer's UI.
- Formally branch Android off into a two distinct OS's for Smartphones and low-end feature phones. Set out minimum requirements for each.
- Discourage Partners from locking down handset (bootloaders) from developers. Android can flourish by utilizing the small, but very vocal development/hacking community.
- Re implement the Android Market with better discovery and sorting options, Paypal option for Regions without Google Checkout and better ratings and comment moderation to attract quality developers to the Android platform.
These are just my thoughts as a marketing professional. I'm not sure if they will help provoke a discussion, but I hope so.
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