News
Vodafone Live! set for April '09 relaunch
Tim Green Jul 3 2008, 10:24am
Operator is rising to the challenge posed by Apple, Google and Nokia with a radical revamp of its Live! content services.
A major planning meeting took place on June 19th and sources have told ME that the strategy is now ‘85 per cent’ formed.
The new approach will be launched to consumers by April next year – and the plan is to do it simultaneously across all 25 opcos.
Details are sketchy, but it seems certain the re-launch will mark a drastic move away from the storefront mentality of the current Vodafone Live! portal. It will comprise richer personalisation, new community elements and deeper integration with Vodafone’s broadband services.
A source said: “At the moment the portal is really just a shop. You go in, look around and buy stuff. It’s not good enough and it’s why only three per cent of our customers use it. We have to completely reassess the way people engage with our content services. Apple, Google and Nokia are doing it. We should too.”
Vodafone has already bought social networking firm ZYB and inked a deal with MySpace this week to promote its music services.
The company’s ambitious approach to ‘mobile 2.0’ is a robust response to those who predict that operators will stick a search box on their front pages, bag some ad referral revenues and abandon the dream of being content service providers.
As reported recently, the strategy is being masterminded by Pieter Knook, who moved from Microsoft earlier this year to head up Voda’s newly-formed Internet Services unit.
Although content may never directly deliver the revenues generated by voice and text, Voda clearly recognises the contribution it can make to brand profile, adoption of flat-rate data tariffs and mobile broadband subs.
The revamp will also drive fresh expansion of Voda’s Group Services team, which is a central resource for co-ordinating content services across the company’s subsidiaries. It’s a change of fortune for the unit, which was scaled down 18 months ago. Indeed, there were rumours that Voda would close it completely. Now, Group Services is hiring – it’s looking for a new London premises with room for 2,000 desks.
Vodafone launched its Live! portal in 2002, and revamped it in 2007 with offerings from eBay, YouTube and Google.
