Creativity Software

BuddyWise Case Study

Mobile handset maker preloads and delivers a mobile social network application to millions of consumers

Challenge:

A leading mobile phone maker faces the constantly intense challenge of growing its market share. Whilst phone design, ease of use and functionality are still the most important elements in the purchase decision for million of consumers worldwide, content, applications and services are an increasingly competitive differentiator.

Games, ringtones, music and productivity tools have all helped mobile device manufacturers demonstrate how content can bring added value to their consumers. In recent years social networks have grown with electrifying pace – and many consumers now expect to have this type of functionality available to them from their mobile.

Some of the biggest social networks - such as Facebook, Bebo, MySpace - have evolved from a web environment to offer partial mobile service across a limited range of platforms. Handset manufacturers have at the same time realised the opportunity to drive this type of interaction, and the need to form strong alliances with major brands that will encourage consumers to use their phones to access these mobile social networks.

The question is – which brands, and how to integrate “social networking” into existing mobile behaviours.

Solution:

Given that social networking has at its heart the sense or objective of meeting other people, location is an essential element. For a device manufacturer seeking a global solution, these locations could be anywhere in the world. Immediately, this links logically to the concept of Travel – which is a universal need amongst mobile consumers – and there is no larger global travel brand than Rough Guides. So this was chosen as the social networking hub.

With over 25 years in the market, Rough Guides is a leading publisher of travel content worldwide, with its many recognitions including the award in 2007 and 2008 of the iconic “Cool Brand” status.

The mobile social networking application ensures ease of use through an intuitive and attractive user interface. By using a web-mobile-mobile architecture consumers are able to update their profile and interact with others not only through their mobile phone, but also by using a computer connected to internet.

The functionality offered by the application includes user generated content, such as uploading geo-tagged photos, user reviews of any of the thousand points of interest that the application contains, buddy finder function (sharing your own location and seeing your buddies’ location), and pinging friends to meet you at a POI of choice.

To ensure as broad a distribution of the application among its consumers as possible, the phone maker decides to preload the application on millions of the phones that shipped across Europe, Middle East, Asia & North America. The breadth of distribution ensures a large and far spread community of users from day one, and a cohesive application binding them together, regardless of their country (or language) of origin.