Communications and Washing Powder

Though on the outside the boxes may look different, inside all washing powders are the same. It makes customers think they have a lot more choice than they really do. Increasingly it is the same with telecommunications. A few special additives may lead some customers to pay a premium, but the average customer just wants the basic no-frills product, at the best price. So it comes as no surprise that Vodafone UK, has turned to two of the most straightforward marketing methods long used to sell washing powders and the like. Sales flagging? Cut the price to encourage some new customers. The brand fails to attract a certain share of the market? Put the same product in someone else’s box, with someone else’s brand on it. Neither tactic is new, but it is fascinating that even Vodafone UK is now being forced to use them, and is eroding margins in the process. Read the story here. So the only way to boost those margins will be to squeeze costs and to grab every penny available. Which should make for interesting times for Vodafone UK’s revenue assurance team.