Graham Brown http://www.mobileyouth.org

1. Beyond
the
Pink
Phone:
Handset
Branding
for
Female
Mobile
Youth
®
MOBILEYOUTH
youth marketing mobile culture since 2001
By Graham Brown mobileYouth
http://www.mobileYouth.org

2. Handset
Branding
after
The
Pink
Phone
There
are
over
1
billion
female
mobile
owners
in
the
world
aged
under
30.
On
the
basis
of
this
data
alone,
we
could
assume
the
mobile
industry
"gets"
women.
Is
this
really
the
case?
In
this
article
I
look
at
the
current
roadblocks
to
progress
and
the
3
things
handset
brands
need
to
be
focusing
on
to
win
this
market.
img (c) Flickr Sophe89
Back
in
September
2011,
we
introduced
the
“Pink
Phone
Syndrome”
in
our
ebook
“Influence:
A
Marketer’s
Guide”
The
first
mass
market
pink
phone
was
Motorola’s
V3.
In
the
UK
alone,
it
shifted
400,000
units
–
raising
the
bar
for
the
handsets
that
followed
suite.
But,
that
was
back
in
2007
and
the
market
has
moved
on
considerably
in
the
last
5
years.
Handset
manufacturers
now
have
to
go
deeper
but
many
are
still
falling
short
when
it
comes
to
the
lucrative
female
market.

3. Have
Creative
Agencies
Locked
Handset
Brands
in
a
70s
Timewarp?
Take
a
look
around
the
app
stores
and
you’d
be
forgiven
for
thinking
the
mobile
world
had
sprouted
a
parallel
Universe
that
was
somehow
stuck
in
the
70s.
In
this
world
of
Vinolay
and
polyester
shirts,
technologists
try
to
“engage”
young
women
with
calorie
counting
apps,
calming
form
factors
and,
you
got
it,
the
resurgent
pink
phone.
Handset
manufacturers
need
to
scrutinize
the
“thought
leadership”
provided
by
their
creative
agencies.
Ad
Agency
JWT’s
latest
piece
on
“Always
On
Women”
highlights
how
brands
like
Nokia
(JWT’s
client)
are
being
fed
insights
that
hold
them
captive
in
this
parallel
Universe
like
Jim
Carrey
in
a
70ʹ′s
version
of
“The
Truman
Show”.
The
white
paper
focuses
on
women
as
“family
chroniclers”,
that
their
key
drivers
are
camera
phones
to
take
pics
of
babies.
It
stops
short
of
recommending
Nokia
focus
on
cute
kittens.
Handset
Branding
for
the
Next
10
Years
Comparing
traditional
handset
marketing
to
females
(favored
by
creative
agencies)
with
marketing
with
females

4. Reality
Check:
What
Creatives
Say
About
Females
Isn’t
Important
Anymore
According
to
our
data,
62%
of
youth
buy
handsets
not
because
of
what
the
agency
says
but
because
of
what
their
friends
say.
Handsets
need
to
derive
their
insights
from
what
the
key
influencers
are
saying
not
what
creative
agencies
think
they
might
be
saying.
Developing
mobile
phones
for
women
can
be
fraught
with
error
because
most
handset
brands
are
focusing
on
the
wrong
things.
Here
are
the
3
things
handsets
have
been
consistently
getting
wrong
with
women
over
the
last
10
years,
or
as
we
call
it
“The
Pink
Phone
Syndrome”:
1)
Developing
phones
for
female
mobile
owners
2)
Focusing
on
content
(e.g.
pink,
curves,
calorie
apps,
baby
pics)
and
relying
on
the
creative
agency
to
sell
this
content
as
a
key
point
of
difference
3)
Targeting
all
females
rather
than
the
key
change
agents
who
influence
the
market
3
Things
Handset
Brands
Should
Focus
On:
So,
what
should
handsets
be
focusing
on?
Based
on
10
years
of
mobileYouth
research,
here
are
the
top
3
priorities
for
any
handset
brand
looking
to
capture
the
female
segment:
1)
Focus
on
what
you
do
not
what
you
say:
Women
aren’t
buying
the
phone,
they’re
buying
what
the
phone
does
for
them.
Most
women
don’t
want
pink
phones,
they
want
phones
that
deliver
great
experiences.
Although
JWT
would
tell
you
differently,
there
are
female
mobile
owners
interested
in
other
stuff
–
like
travel,
adventure,
PHP,
design
or
starting
their
own
business.
What
females
want
are
phones
that
help
them
belong,
help
them
be
significant
and
if
that’s
with
a
pink
phone,
then
so
be
it.
There
are
women
for
who
“women’s
issues”
aren’t
the
most
important
thing
in
the
world.
There
are
also
moms
who
want
to
have
a
life
outside
of
motherhood.
If
you
look
at
our
latest
SMART
index
research
data
you’ll
find
the
most
popular
models
are
Blackberry
(i.e.
“Dad’s
phone”)
and
the
iPhone.
Neither
pampers
to
the
female
market.
2)
Target
and
measure
the
key
change
agents
shaping
your
brand
story:
Customers
are
the
brand.
Handsets
need
to
identify
the
core
female
change
agents
that
shape
the
phone’s
context
–
the
influencers
who
control
the
62%.
In
the
mobileYouth
report
we
profile
the
role
of
the
Disruptive
Divas
and
how
they
act
as
the
critical
interface
between

5. phone
and
the
mass
market.
Divas
were
first
to
market
with
mobile
social
networking,
BBM
and
BBM
groups.
Divas
also
don’t
buy
pink
phones.
By
applying
tools
such
as
the
mobileYouth
MAP
(Measure
–
Articulate
–
Plan)
you
can
use
EMIs
(Earned
Media
Indexes)
to
identify
and
measure
your
existing
positions
of
strength
the
female
market.
3)
Immerse
marketing
and
research
within
their
daily
context
of
their
social
lives:
mobileYouth’s
MAP
tools
employ
ethnographic
techniques
to
help
young
female
mobile
owners
tell
their
story.
These
insights
help
brands
identify
the
key
sales
messages,
existing
lines
of
influence
and
also,
importantly,
behaviors
and
trends.
In
a
recent
study
in
the
USA
we
employed
mobileYouth
MAPs
that
helped
our
client
identify
emerging
video
chat
trends
being
led
by
female
teens.
A
clear
pen
profile
of
these
influential
users
helped
the
client
develop
a
clearer
picture
of
the
key
drivers,
messages
and
lifestyles
as
the
basis
for
marketing
and
product
development
rationale.