Surviving in iPhone Territory: A Competitive Analysis of the Launch of the HTC G1

Surviving In iPhone TerritoryA Competitive Analysis of the Launch of the HTC G1Monitoring Social Media, Cavendish Centre. 17th November 2009

Introducing…
The Conversation Group:
A consultancy dedicated to the art, science and application of social technologies
Operating globally, offices in London, San Francisco and Helsinki
Practice areas in strategy, research, communications, technology and process
Chris Thomas:
CV: Observer Group / Cisionand Infonic
Specialised in online and offline media research tools, methods and program design

The Problem With Social Media Research…
Data and analytics are frequently subpar:
Data aggregation often treated as an end in itself
Oversold automation / turnkey solutions for monitoring lead to substandard or incomplete data
Research projects executed by communicators, not researchers
“Typical approach” to social media analytics is:
Tactical, not strategic… lacks appropriate context
Conceived and executed at junior level… ignored at executive level
Used as a fig leaf for “execution by intuition”

Our Approach To Social Media Research
‘Surviving in iPhone Territory’ is TCG:
Demonstrating the strategic value created by social media monitoring and analytics
Carrying the flag for a mature approach to social media research, that can talk credibly to executives
Showcasing the importance of research expertise during program design, especially in determining appropriate mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods
Demonstrating a methodology for evaluating, selecting and effectively using SM monitoring and analytics tools

Project Brief and Program Design
A strategic analysis of the performance at launch of the T-Mobile / HTC G1 handset. Viewed from the perspective of all major stakeholders
Project concept
Social media content – blogs, microblogs, discussion forums – relevant in a broad, competitive context to the handset launch
Content scope
Geographic Scope
Global, in the English language
Historical analysis encompassing a three month period around launch (Autumn 2008)
Time span
6 man-weeks in program design, research and reporting. Software license costs as required (in consideration of cost-benefit analysis)
Resources

Tool Selection
Choice criteria:
Fully supports project objectives
Works transparently
Offers robust, differentiated analysis tools
Creates unique value over free
We used:
Common problems:
Insufficient archive
Unreliable search results
Lightweight, or minimal differentiation in analytical tools
Little granularity in data
(and our own manpower)

The HTC G1, AKA The “Googlephone”
HTC is…
The manufacturer which makes…
The “G1”
The first smartphone to operate on…
Google’s “Android” mobile operating system
An early contender – with Symbian – in the “open source mobile” space. Essentially an open code base for developers of mobile apps, supported by an alliance of smartphone manufacturers, network carriers and developers called…
The Open Handset Alliance (OHA)
Which has around 50 members as of today, and expects to have launched 18 Android devices by end 2009

What We Found…

What We Found…
Summary:
Viewed in isolation, the G1 built impressive buzz around its launch.
Looked at in a broader competitive context, results are very disappointing – particularly for a handset held up as an “iPhone killer”
iPhone dominates, even during G1 launch
iPhone commanded more than 12 times the raw volume of new blog comment during the 3 month study period

What We Found…

What We Found…
Summary:
More evidence that launch buzz was a profound disappointment – peak discussion was substantially overhauled by a trade press story!
A significant downwards dip in discussion towards the end of the launch period is held up by rumours about the G2
G1 launch = “tech story of the year”?
A longer term view of blog buzz shows that the launch was anything but: discussion actually peaked in relation to a routine OHA news story, several weeks after launch

What We Found…

What We Found…
Summary:
The G1 is a complex product to communicate – with much of the anticipatory buzz built around the Android operating system, not the handset on which it operates
The positive appeal of and residual goodwill towards the Android OS is not successfully leveraged in G1 comms
Thumbs up to Android; Thumbs down to G1
Commentators found a lot to like, but also a lot to dislike about the G1 handset features
But there was nothing but praise for the Android OS

What We Found…

What We Found…
Summary:
Measuring raw buzz makes the competitive position of the G1 look weak, but weighting this for reach or influence makes it look still worse
Participants in discussions tend to be either Android OS fans, or G1 handset haters. The “complete package” needs to be better communicated
G1 has weak friends and powerful enemies
By a simple count, the G1 has a community of potential advocates that rivals iPhone
But this misses important nuance: iPhone fans are MUCH better connected

What We Found…

What We Found…
Summary:
It’s important to engage with criticism as well as encourage advocacy – this does not appear to have been done in the case of G1
As a result, unmoderated critical voices dominate the busy hub of the smartphone community of interest – a key driver of customer intention
Mature smartphone network of influence
The smartphone community of interest comprises a diffuse halo of unconnected sources, and an extensively networked hub of influential sites.
Not enough positive discussion about G1 takes place in the “hub” of the smartphone community

Recommendations
Online sources are confused by the relationship between the Android OS and the G1 handset. This confusion is harmful to all OHA members. This could be addressed through a harmonised approach to comms at OHA level
Coordinate comms with OHA Partners
Align aims of market and developer comms
Developer communications have been very successful, but market communications have not. This risks putting the cart before the horse – developer uptake is ultimately driven by market traction. Market communications must become a priority
Engage existing smartphone community
There is a thriving smartphone community of interest in social media, that – in contrast to Apple - remains largely unengaged by OHA members. Participation in this community needs to feature in the communications roadmap for Android phones
Discourage “iPhone killer” narrative
It is tempting to encourage such comparisons as a way of driving buzz. At present time, this is a comparison that the G1 can’t qualitatively win. The G1 (and other Android phones) are a substantially different offer to the iPhone – and they should be communicated as such

Lessons: For You
Insights are driven by expertise, not tools
Social media monitoring tools give good support for tactical communications, but are less suitable for articulating and solving strategic challenges
Cost-efficiency in learning to use a tool is a false economy if the feature set doesn’t support your goals
Context is King
Creation of data is not an end in itself, and bad analysis is worse than no analysis at all
Outsourcing research is not necessary, but solid business context, research expertise and understanding of online social ecosystems is

Lessons: For The Conversation Group
Systematised social media research can support a range of knowledge functions, in this case:
Competitor analysis
Product feature / brand perception analysis
… and reaction to the study has been very positive
Current state of supply:
Feature sets of most commercial acquisition and analytics tools disappointing for “power users”
Cost / benefit analysis points towards investment in complex tools to create better insights and more business value
Next stop: open source?

Thank You!
Chris Thomas
Head of Research @ The Conversation Group
christhomas@theconversationgroup.com
+44 7970 665497
christhomasuk on Skype; LinkedIn and various other places online
PDF download links for “Surviving in iPhone Territory”:
http://bit.ly/3eADWK (executive summary)
http://bit.ly/1RrebQ (full report)

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Surviving in iPhone Territory: A Competitive Analysis of the Launch of the HTC G1

by Our Social Times on Nov 19, 2009

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Surviving in iPhone Territory: A Competitive Analysis of the Launch of the HTC G1 — Presentation Transcript