“Is it a smartphone or something better?” asks the new LG commercial for the LG Ally smartphone, as the commercial builds the phone’s anticipated release with Verizon Wireless on May 20th. Is a smartphone no longer viewed as the wave of the future? The story behind the LG phone in Iron Man 2 reveals that the phone’s actual composition was a simple slab of glass, with graphics imposed by the New York graphics firm Perception (according to Forbes). And yet, although we all know that the actual LG Ally will not look or act like the phone in the movie (hence all of the uncertainty about the phone’s features), the idea of owning a phone that’s actually better than a smartphone draws on the all too familiar psychological appeal of owning the latest technology. While the Iron Man 2′s depiction takes this concept to the extreme, with its unbelievable special effects, the underlying message remains true: especially when it comes to phones, which are relatively easy to replace, who wants to be a generation behind?
If you haven’t seen the LG commercial on TV, here’s a clip from YouTube:
How can marketing and ad agencies incorporate this concept in building marketing campaigns for their clients?
Whatever the product, whether supporting a cell phone company, a hi-tech business, or a local restaurant, take note that people today are obsessed with their phones, and especially with cool ways that the way they use their phone signifies a step into the future. By incorporating phones into your marketing or ad strategy, through voice broadcasts, mobile coupons, SMSs, click to call, etc. you signify to your clients that your agency is on the cutting edge of phone technology, and you enable your client to portray this image to the end customer.
PlumVoice (an IVR provider) reflects on Iron Man 2 in their IVR blog. Beyond the futuristic use of speech commands, which obviously interest an IVR provider, PlumVoice remarks about the movie’s missed opportunity for a voice broadcast:
During the final action sequence of the movie, where New York is under attack by the drones, I thought, “They could sure use an IVR system right about now to warn all these people to get out of this area.” Everyone pretty much has a cell phone nowadays and you send out an IVR outbound call to these people, I’m sure they’d pick up to listen to the message.
As a strong proponent of cloud based telephone systems, I have to admit that this comment did remind me that cloud telephony services still have a long way to go. While the Iron Man 2 movie and the LG smartphone commercial both feature all different apps, showing the way of cell phones in the future, they both glance over some missed opportunities of voice based phone services, such as PlumVoice’s mention of voice broadcasts. True, LG’s commercial was not free, and there’s no coincidence that the movie highlights what they do best. Yet noone paid LG to mention Facebook, Twitter, and an app for finding restaurants.
Nevertheless, this focus on smartphone apps could mean good news for the marketers who regularly read PMI. Instead of joining the race to employ the latest smartphone apps, try doing something different. Try differentiating your use of technology by implementing a voice-based marketing campaign. The use of telephones in marketing campaigns still signifies your position on the cutting edge, while differentiating your use of cloud telephony services and voice based phone apps, from that of the screen based phone apps. In this way, you can still run in the race, but you can map out your own track…
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