Friday, March 27. 2009"FREE" - The Biggest Lie In Broadband Advertising......John Linton .....though that's a really tough call as almost everything in broadband advertising and promotion is far from the truth. Even the stupidest person on the planet would have to understand that the word "free" and the offer of a product or service from a commercial enterprise are mutually exclusive.......or unless you read the various advertisements and web sites of ten of Australia's larger ISPs and telephone service providers you would have thought that. I have no idea when the outright lie of "FREE!" became a common occurrence in attempting to promote a product but I would hazard a guess it goes back to "washing powder" products in the mid 20th century (this view is limited by my own age of course - it may well have been long before that when my mother explained to me that the word "free" was used to claim that the buyer could get 25%, or whatever, more washing powder "free" by buying a larger container - at a higher price). That dissembling was subsequently swamped by the over use of the word "free" to promote virtually every product ever produced and then every 'service' in every marketplace in the world. Over the past two months I have looked at almost 150 advertisements and web site promotions for a variety of communications services and the word free has appeared over 220 times in those 'promotions' which any mathematical genius would be able to determine, after a few attempts on their calculator, to be approximately 1.5 times per product/service' promotion'. I think it can be concluded that the word "free" has now been so debased by larcenous marketing/advertising people that it is completely meaningless in any form of advertising and promotion in the 21st Century. As we approach the, self imposed, dead line of April 1st to 're-jig' the pricing and inclusions of most of Exetel's product and service offerings I have become increasingly at a loss in terms of how to "present" Exetel's offerings in more appealing ways rather than the 'this is our price for these services' approach which we have taken for the whole of Exetel's existence to date. Our approach to date has been to present our services as clearly as possible with as little use of the top row (upper case) symbols of the keyboard as possible and no flash or colour or cartoons etc. While I'm not 'hung up' on this aspect of product/service pricing presentation, I have become aware that Exetel is one of the very, very few companies in our various areas of the marketplaces in which we operate that doesn't "promote" it's services in marketingese. This point is continually being made to me via an increasing number of well wishing customers and non-customers who point out that we continue to name our ADSL plans with meaningless numbers and letters rather than taking the trouble to use words such as "Big Kahuna" (whatever that may mean) for a large download plan or "Super Extra Fast" or whatever for plan types or categories. That's very true. In any event we won't be changing from our prosaic plan numbering methodology (I have too much respect for the intelligence of the average customer to assume using 'jargon' would make any difference) but I have been wondering whether we should be using more 'promotion' rather than relying on the customer's ability to compare price + inclusions for the price to reach a decision. So, being relatively imaginative and relatively literate I played around with creating web presentations along the lines of some of the more extravagantly set out offerings from other companies who indulge in those practices. I concluded that my prosaic nature and a vestigial regard for the truth would make that sort of thing impossible for Exetel while ever I played a part in such decision making. We do need to more rapidly increase our HSPA take up and it would be good if we could more rapidly grow our mobile business but we are heavily constrained in doing any more than we currently do in terms of lower pricing or "free" inclusions as we already, in line with our basic reason for being in business, offer those services at only a marginal profit. We would have liked to add a 'free' HSPA service with some of our higher priced ADSL plans but the issue is the cost of the Huawei HSPA modem which is really expensive and we have still failed to find the 'magic' box that we were hoping would make that possible by now. Similarly our inability to provide 'free' mobile handsets has always limited our mobile sales and offering really low 'real' mobile call rates only appeals to the intelligent buyer/user of mobile services. So the issue now remains what we do and how we 'present' our services in terms of making changes to what we currently offer. Fortunately there are still a few days to make that happen because right now I don't have a clue. While I really dislike any sort of "me too" approach to the market it seems that our only way of reducing the prices we sell services at is to increase the 'bundling' options we offer. This sort of approach has never 'sat well' with me as I've always regarded it as needlessly complicated and price increase by stealth - or whatever the more correct description is. (in the same way I personally regard mobile "caps"). However I think it's probably long past the time that my personal prejudices have to be put aside and more thought put in to how that could be accomplished. So, any ideas you may have along these lines would be appreciated as I have none at the moment. Trackbacks
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Users look at the cost.
For example, a plan thats $50/month, They'd rather get "3 months free" rather than a $200 cashback after 2 months. (Thats based on my own experience of people signing up for things free for a month or 2, instead of taking more value in terms of money) End users can be stupid in that sense, It doesnt matter about the service quality, or the product offered, they'll generally take the one thats $1 cheaper, even if its half the speed or A poorer technological choice(How were they to know?). The question Exetel needs to ask, Is "Do we want stupid users?" Probably not. Right now, Exetels main customer base are people who understand technical things, and want a cheap price for it. If I was you (Which luckely, I'm not, Else I'd have to deal with such decisions) then I'd probably turn to actual users and ask for feedback, much like you're doing here, but targetted at a wider audience, or for that matter, targetted at non-exetel users, And see what would convince them to change. Not all are going to have the same answer, and some are just going to be downright non-worthy of your time. Another example of poor-tech-choice is Exetel HSPA vs. Telstra, In general, Users will think telstras speed is better, simply because its Telstra, they dont care about the actual product speed, and they'd be disapointed whichever one they took(Never can have enough). But they will look at the price, and realise that Exetels offerings are more cost-effective.. If they knew it existed Comment (1)
It would be worth marketing your HSPA product with mobile plan under the mobile heading. I currently do this on my own website, as the Vodafone network is unavailable in my local area.
I was asked the other day if I could offer mobile plans, when I outlined the cost per month & the call charges, it was cheaper than what he is currently paying. When the magic box & local number porting is available, I would like to see a complete service including home phone (via VOIP), internet & mobile (over Optus) I would also like see the handset compatibility list updated (eg. the Nokia 6121 Classic is 900/2100 compatible but is not on the list) & make a note of Optus's description of the differing networks, i.e. "Yes G" = 900/2100 network suitable for all areas including rural, "3G" = 2100 network mainly suitable in metro areas with GSM coverage only in rural areas Comment (1)
Hi Anne,
I've asked JamesD to reply to you 'privately'. Comments (11)
At some point in time there must have been a consumer study that showed that gimmicks like "free" and pricing things a cent or 5 below a full dollar was effective in getting more customers, or atleast more interest in a product. While it may be deceptive in a way, or appear insulting to some people, it must work if these practices have become so rampant.
I for one would be happy seeing Exetel use more marketingese as you put it. Maybe create a proper news area with more frequent updates that could be mistaken for press releases? That way tech websites can run with that instead of an out-of-the-way forum post for any developments... kind of more "official" if it's on the main website. Are you considering making some "super plans" like a Big Kahuna? Squeeze the off-peak time and stack on some more quota for that period? Do something "unlimited"? Unmeter something? Sprucing up the website with more graphics/colours would make it look more professional. I really hope other readers can be more helpful. Good luck! Comments (2)
Everything you say is totally logical - and some of it might work.
In terms of "news" you are obviously unaware of the "About Exetel' section of the web site: http://www.exetel.com.au/news_main.php Is this what you mean or did you mean something else. Comments (11)
I am aware of the About Exetel page, but what I was thinking was doing something more along the lines of http://www.internode.on.net/news/ that links to individual pages that ramble on.. like press releases.
Also, move things like plan changes/updates that you would normally just put on the forum to the news section on the website. Kind of like the 3rd yellow box on http://www.exetel.com.au/res_main.php - except more press releasey. Comments (2)
We will never 'copy' what another provider does.
Personally, I don't see what is better about the page you referred to than our own 'real' news page - but them I'm biased. Comments (11)
The one thing I feel could be improved on the Exetel news page is to reverse the order, the latest news would be better at the top of the page rather than the bottom, would seem more logical (to me anyway) if it were like a news feed, latest headlines come first, not last
Comments (3)
Have you thought about offering the modems to people as repayments?
i.e. $180/12 months = $15/month for 12 months. That way people don't have to foot the $195 initial setup cost. Not sure how you'd finance it though... Comment (1)
It's a good idea - no, I'd never previously considered it - our ability to 'finance' things is very limited as we refuse to borrow money to operate Exetel.
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"In any event we won't be changing from our prosaic plan numbering methodology"
Extremely functional and logical, but personally I find your plan naming system about as welcoming as a Soviet prison block. Exetel has a strong commitment to environmental causes. Have you considered naming products after the animals you help save? E.g. your ADSL2+ range could be "bandicoot" plans, HSPA could be "finch" plans and so on. Comment (1)
You made me smile at that simile.
Good idea - we will consider it carefully. Comments (11)
I agree with DD32 that users look at cost and in this economic climate, more so than ever. Exetel do offer great deals and people are wising up to this, but there are still the crafty offers than sometimes tempt people away from the 'logical' choice.
I think a comparison page which is quick/clear and easy to scan would seal the deal for some new customers no matter how 'smart' they are. So why not have a clear link/button which says something like 'Compare our charges with other ISP's' which shows the differences and even includes there cheap / free deals, but over a 12/24 month period. If you show when that you update this information once a week, people will feel confident that you are on the ball too. Maybe a few graphs to show total and ongoing costs. Possibly price per GB over a 1 to 12 month period. This will surely help people wade through all the numbers in a clear way. One last thing when i was calling up to make a sales query for a friend, was that I waited 10 mins but got no answer and tried to different times... this will put a fair few customers off... So by showing that even though you may have a higher upfront cost (adsl 1 connection/HSPA modem), over a 12 month period its a win for them, hopefully more people will sign up Comments (2)
We will be addressing the sales (and support) answer time delays ovr the next few weeks - you are quite right about the impact.
The comparison idea is good but difficult to implement and fraught with 'legal' difficulties'. However it is certainly worth pursuing and I will definitely do that. Comments (11)
Regarding the sales/support number.. could you change the system so every minute or so, it will tell you what number you are in the queue and estimated wait time? If you could improve the audio quality of the wait music too, i think that would have a psychological impression on customers, nothing worse than hearing some low quality 'grating' music while waiting to speak to someone... soothing music = soothed customer! Sorry to go off on a tangent.. :^)
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Regarding those legal difficulties, why not link an external page showing the comparison between Exetel and other providers?
For example, A googledocs spreedsheet. I'd be willing to create such a comparison, as I'm sure would other Exetel users. Comment (1)
We would be delighted to accept your offer.
By all means send me what you think would be useful and we will be happy to include it if it meets the requirements. We would also be happy to pay for your time and effort. Email: j.linton@exetel.com.au Comments (11)
Martin's comparison suggestion made me think of a variation.
Why not have a page where a potential customer can enter the details of their current plan (with another supplier) and have your database suggest a similar exetel plan? The advantages would be that (hopefully) the suggested plan would be lower cost and it would force the potential customer to consider both the extras from exetel and the lack thereof from their current provider. Unfortunately I have no suggestions of my own. Comment (1)
It's an old suggestion of mine, but here goes (again) pre-configured equipment, as I see this as a fear factor for those undertaking a new technology (HSPA/VoIP)
That is of course over looking the idiocy of the 'free' give away culture, and the silliness surrounding your deadline April 1st. Under which you could offer free IP's to every sign-up Comment (1)
We will probably do that if we ever find the 'magic box'.
Comments (11)
It's not clear to me - or maybe I haven't read carefully enough - whether you are happy with the current customer profile (which I assume is largely the educated, IT-literate, with a bias towards geeky - that's me, anyhow). Are you happy with your customer profile and growth (which seems to be holding up well)? Why do you think the pricing needs to be "re-jigged"?
While your current ethos (Function over Form) certainly appeals to me, I only "discovered" Exetel a few months ago. I for one, am quite happy with your pricing and don't feel it needs to be re-jigged. I just needed something to prompt me to look into your services a bit deeper (I think it was a thread on WP or something). Based on this, I think the Exetel homepage could be one of the biggest barriers to getting "tourists" finding out about your services. For a start, there is currently nothing on the homepage that says what you do (while "Helping to Make a Better world" is admirable, it applies equally to vendors of washing powder). In fact, the first thing a visitor must do is choose the category of service they are interested in (residential, business, etc), without even knowing what those categories represent! And with the customer login front and center, it makes the hompepage appear to be for existing customers, not potentially new ones. This conveys a bit of exclusivity (If you don't know what we do, you shouldn't be here) which could be off-putting. Certainly, the Exetel homepage would not be my first option if I was presented with a bunch of homepages and asked to click one. The homepage is probably one area where you should invest a little more in form over function... Once I get past the homepage, it's a little better, although could also use some sprucing up. When I dig around the plans, and get to the tables of plans, and especially the list of inclusions, I like what I see - excellent prices and good value. So it's not really the pricing model that I think needs to be changed, it might be that maybe you're at the stage where you need to invest in a little more "functional form" (it needs to be practial and look good at the same time!), especially the website, to get people to spend that extra 10 minutes working out that your prices better and the overall package adds more value. BTW, I also really like Stanley's suggestion (and his simile). Comment (1)
What I would like to see is the possibility to add a pay as you go HSPA data account to be tied to an ADSL account
It would be amazing value if a user could pay a nominal ($30) sign up fee for a sim and use a BYO modem. Plan would be $0 a month and onl y pay for what is used. Alternatively users can purchase prepaid non expiring blocks of data Comment (1)
I'll add my 2 cents. On the ABC they had a UK program all about psychology. Can't remember exactly what it was called, only it was on at 18:30 before the news.
But they clearly showed that if you show a perceived bargin, then people will buy it. They were selling cupcakes and had one pound / cake in a stand on the street. Made a small number of sales. They changed the sign to say 'buy one get one free' and sold them at 2 pounds / cake. They sold more. They changed the sign again to say 'half price cakes' 1 pound / cake. Sold more again. So it is not that people are stupid, people are people and always looking for bargins. Comment (1)
You might not want to name your plans "Big Kahuna" or similar, but there is nothing misleading or deceptive about giving some guidance about the intended type of user for that plan. Even something as simple as "Light / Medium / Heavy" names might assist the less technologically savvy in selecting an appropriate plan.
Comment (1)
I have the ADSL Bundled A plan which has a bundled mobile phone and voip.
Both bundled facilities have a $5 minimum. You can bet that I use at least the minimum each month (unless I am overseas). I reckon the use of bundles and minimum monthly charges is a great way to sell your products..... and to make the investment decision, people need to review their total costs for these items. Having them all on one monthly invoice seems to attract some people - I don't know why? But just the idea of a minimum monthly fee always attracts me! Harry. Comments (3)
With regard to people wanting one monthly invoice, I think stems back to the "old school" thinking and BANK FEES.
Some people are very vocal about bank fees and reducing payment volume from the account is one way of reducing them. Particularly pensioners. Comment (1)
I like the concept of bundling products to save money, reduce the amount of accounts etc, for me though I would like to see the bundles more modular where I could pick and choose which products to put together, there are quite a lot of features that I won't use but someone else may find invaluable and I'm sure it goes the other way also
Comments (3)
I note that the Bundled mobile phone has slightly different call charges than the "normal" $5 mobile phone plan.
A mate of mine has just ordered a new ADSL2 plus phone line from Exetel. He also wants a couple of mobile phones..... have you considered giving broadband users the option of taking up mobile phones on the "bundled" phone rates, etc.? Regards, Harry. Comments (3)
I'm with Danny. For me the plans are fine and if you were to do anything, then the web site could definately do with a reinvention. There has to be a better way to convey the various offerings available and the value they represent; and if you could code a single page of some sort to allow a comparison then that would help new/churning customers. A check box or drag and drop interface of options - I want ADSL (that includes the freebies like SMS) with xGB, mobile, VOIP, two all-beef-patties and a total at the end that can be used to compare. If you're happy, sign up with the selected options.
Comment (1)
As much as so many seem to hate the idea, have you considered offering plans that count uploads but with larger peak quotas and/or cheaper plans. This would attract non P2P users and perhaps free up some of your bandwidth.
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We've never considered that change - it seems to be underhanded and unnecessary as there is never any 'pressure' on uploads.
Comments (11)
I've found the new PAYU plans to be popular. Could you increase the max allowable downlaods per period from 5GB to 10GB? This would allow greater flexability for the users.
Comment (1)
The ACCC has guidelines regarding the the use of free where it is used to belie a decrease in value elsewhere in the cost equation to pay for the "free offer". It's not allowed. So if iiNet for instance say "free modem" it has to be on the same value construct as it was on the previous month when the modem did cost money.
Off that logic it is free comparatively. What examples did you have in mind John which were annoying you with regard to this? Comment (1)
A trawl of the carrier's and larger ISP's web sites will show the current examples of the use of "free".
I have discarded my notes from this 'old' exercise. Comments (11)
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