MVNO Marketing EffectivenessGlobal Advertising Strategies, Inc.April 4, 2005 36 Pages - SKU: GLA1098133 |
MVNOs are a European phenomenon, introduced in the U.S. first by players servicing ethnic communities. Youths as a target demographic gave MVNOs a high profile, in parts thanks to marketing done by Virgin Mobile. Currently there are over 22 MVNOs in the U.S. Many industry drivers contributed to MVNO development, the key one being desire by larger wireless carriers to get revenues by selling wholesale access to their networks. Understandably from where MVNOs are coming from in the U.S., one of the key drivers for their proliferation was competitive differentiator in the arena of international long distance. This doesn’t mean however that top international calling destinations automatically translate into ethnic niches that hold the most MVNO promise - other factors like global politics are at play here. MVNO marketing represents a grab bag of various attract tactics, with an occasional co-branding strategy thrown in. MVNOs target niche markets by definition. Their marketing strategies include traditional channels as well as wireless industry specific, such as kiosks. MVNOs greatest strength is in being able to identify and address audiences in need of their services. Their greatest weakness is that they lack scale as competitors when compared to large wireless carriers. New entrants into the market, MVNOs are typically first to compete in their specific niche, and thus have the edge. Going forward, executing on this opportunity will be like hitting a moving target, because while there will be more MVNOs while the number of wholesalers will decrease because of tier one consolidation. MVNOs face an increasing threat of competition from new MVNOs and large wireless carriers. |
