Question

Topic: Branding

Branding And Launching Telephone Service

Posted by Anonymous on 3/25/2009 at 7:58 PM ET 726 Points
I developed a couple of value adding telephony services. The innovative part is the ease of use. Instant Messaging with MSN, Gtalk or Jabber is the way to use the services. The main service is the "Spoken Message Delivery Service" that can be used to deliver a recorded message to (if needed) a large list of phone numbers on a scheduled moment within a narrow time frame. This service can be useful in every situation one has to be notified, receive an offer, get a warning etc..

The business model I have in mind for this service is a small fee per delivered message of of around EUR 0,10. I actually had a paying costumer with an earlier version and they used it to remember those who had registered for one of their seminars. They gave me positive feedback on the effect of the use of the service (less people who forget the event, more people showing up, surprised reaction in general). The logs showed that people didn't hang up. With that version it was kind of complicated to get the list and the recording in place. With the current version I have solved this problem and that gives me the feeling that it is the proper time for a serious market introduction.

Other pillar of the business model is the option to add a tailor made addition to the standard service, by presenting f.i. a voice menu with relevant choices/follow up after listening to the message.

I have more services written and available that can be used with just one line on the IM client. (setting up group calls, sending sms on large scale, a queue assistant, a call back scheduler etc.)

The project is now in the phase of scaling, branding, get financing for the next phase and attract at least one launching costumer that Will use the service on a serious scale. I think writing the code for the services was the easy part. The challenge now is to make the right marketing choices.

What would be an effective marketing strategy to attract a venture capitalist to invest in the project?

Should I focus on just the "Spoken Message Delivery Service" and keep the message to communicate to potential costumers as simple as possible.

What emotion would fit with the service, having in mind that the target group is very divers?

Benefits that can be reached will also be divers but what message should be send to potential users of the service

In general, what is your opinion about the market chances for this service and what are the do's and don't when entering the market if it comes to price setting, raising risk capital, picking target groups, communicate a message, building a brand etc.

If you have any answers or suggestions about how to change this dream of me into real life success please share them with me.

Thanks in advance.

Erik



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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 3/25/2009 at 8:49 PM Accepted
    Our opinion about the market chances don't count unless professional marketers are your primary target audience. What we think doesn't matter. What your primary target audience thinks is all that counts.

    What I notice first about your question/description is that it's largely about what YOU want to deliver -- the product. Let me suggest that you narrow your 'diverse' primary target audience and focus on just the lowest-hanging fruit -- the most likely end consumers for your service and the folks who will find most value in the offering to get the benefit you promise.

    Who is that audience? Where do they live? What are their most pressing problems that you can solve? What benefit will THEY receive if they do business with you? What's that worth to them? (How important is the problem you'll solve for them?)

    Have you researched that market? Do you know what their current attitudes, habits and practices are when it comes to services like yours? If not, you probably need to do that.

    To attract investors you will need to demonstrate that you have put together great marketing and business plans. You'll need to show them how much funding you need, how you'll spend that money, what the likely results will be, how much they can expect in return for their investment and on what timing. The more hard data you can supply the more likely they are to believe you.

    Great ideas don't sell themselves. How will you generate awareness of your new service once it's developed? How much will that cost? The answers to those questions are part of your marketing and business plans.

    Hope this helps.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 3/26/2009 at 9:19 AM Accepted
    Michael (as usual) has given you a lot of great advice.

    Regarding attracting funding, check out these articles by Guy Kawasaki:
    https://blogs.openforum.com/2008/12/09/the-investor-wishlist/
    https://www.sparkplugging.com/sparkplug-ceo/8-ways-to-get-venture-capital-a...

    Your offering can be very successful if your service is reliable, useful, and saves your clients money/time. Get word-of-mouth happening to build your marketing, and leverage the early users to build your testimonials and case studies.
  • Posted on 5/4/2009 at 4:18 PM Author
    Thanks all for the responses. It is kind of late but I missed the e-mail notifications because of an overactive spam filter. In short time the service will be offered to some cooperating launching customers. I will take all the given advice into consideration and I'm sure it will help me to mke the right choices.


    Erik
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