Comparison and Development Strategy between China Mobile and China Unicom
First, the comparison and differences of customer brands
(1) Comparison of customer brands between China Mobile and China Unicom
A.GSM VS Unicom 130(GSM network 130, 13 1) and Unicom new time and space (CDMA 133).
GSM has a resounding brand advantage, covering most of its middle and high users; Unicom 130 brand is weak and has not been clearly positioned; New space-time brand has a certain influence, but the scale of CDMA users is still in a tiny state compared with GSM.
B. M-Zone VS New Forces
M-zone has formed a strong brand appeal; The new forces are being piloted, but they have not been launched on a large scale.
C. Shenzhouxing VS Ruyitong (including GSM 130, 13 1 and CDMA 133)
The two sides are evenly matched. However, with the advantage of better mobile network coverage, Shenzhouxing is more popular with users; The development of Unicom 133 Ruyitong is not satisfactory.
D. Vacancy VS World Wind (dual-mode mobile phone, dual-mode card)
Unicom's unique secret. The brand effect is remarkable after the introduction of the world wind.
Second, the customer brand development strategy
1, China Mobile
China Mobile calls itself a "mobile expert" because it only operates GSM network. At the same time, it only operates a small number of mobile-related value-added services, such as SMS, IP long distance, Internet and so on. So it makes sense. But experts are not self-appointed and need the final confirmation of the market. Generally speaking, China Mobile's brand strategy is well implemented, far exceeding that of China Unicom; Of course, there are also shortcomings. If we don't grasp them well in the future, we may be defeated by Unicom.
( 1) GSM
GSM is a mobile communication brand built by China Mobile, covering all middle and high user groups except M-Zone and Shenzhou. In brand promotion, GSM is the main spokesperson of China Mobile. After years of operation, the brand has formed a strong advantage, covering many services of China Mobile, such as good network coverage, accurate and perfect billing, good service quality and many roaming areas around the world. Therefore, China Mobile should continue to strengthen the publicity and planning of GSM brand, further strengthen its brand advantages, and suppress the corresponding brands of China Unicom (currently Unicom 130 and New Time and Space) to maintain its competitive advantage.
(2) Dynamic region
M-Zone is a youth brand that China Mobile strives to build, and it is positioned in the characteristics that young people pursue, such as independence, independence, fashion and trendy. Its slogan "My website listens to me" is very attractive. At the same time, the advertising influence of idols such as Zhou XX also made the M-Zone quickly popular in China, which was recognized by teenagers in 15-26.
However, it is undeniable that the connotation of the M-Zone is still insufficient: the fee is single, mainly by SMS and telephone; There are not many contents that users can choose, but they actually "listen to the movement"; The demand analysis of teenagers is not detailed enough. Therefore, China Mobile should take active measures after the listing of Unicom's new Shangli.
(3) Shenzhouxing
It is said that among nearly 200 million users of China Mobile, 60% are Shenzhouxing users (or prepaid). This is entirely possible under the current national conditions. A large number of low-income groups or families with two guns chose Shenzhouxing. When users think that their traffic demand is low (occasionally make a few calls, the monthly phone bill should not be too high, tens of dollars, change the number after a while, and so on. ), they generally think more about Shenzhouxing than Unicom. This may be because China Mobile took the lead in market development, and at the same time it continued the advantage of good coverage of GSM network.
Due to the adoption of special numbers (136) and special prepaid cards, the sales volume of Shenzhouxing declined gradually after the local prepaid cards in various provinces and cities came out. It is said that China Mobile has adopted localization measures, and the 136 numbers of Shenzhouxing and M-Zone have also landed in local billing systems in various provinces and cities, which is expected to be improved.
China Mobile's publicity of Shenzhouxing is relatively insufficient. It is estimated that it is aimed at low-end users and does not need to invest too much money and energy. If Unicom strengthens the publicity of ruyitong, it should take corresponding countermeasures.
2. China Unicom
Compared with China Mobile, China Unicom's customer brand planning is seriously lagging behind. Since the opening of GSM 130 network, it has neglected the positioning and publicity of customers' brands. Unicom 130 is an example. Therefore, China Unicom must strengthen the planning and promotion of customer brands, and form a scale in a short time, which is equally divided with mobile.
Since China Unicom now operates both GSM and CDMA networks, the differentiated operation of G/C networks of customer brands is particularly important, and even becomes an irreconcilable problem for China Unicom.
(1) Unicom 130 and Unicom's new time and space
Unicom 130 is a failure of Unicom's brand planning. It can be said that since the opening of GSM 130 network, China Unicom has not done any decent customer brand planning and publicity work, but has developed naturally. Unicom 130 feels more like a customary title among users.
Judging from the current market development and positioning, China Unicom 130 and China Unicom New Space-Time should be global links corresponding to China Mobile, covering all customer groups in China Unicom's GSM and CDMA networks except UP New Power and Ruyitong (and World Wind) brands. Therefore, Unicom 130 can consider adopting new brand names, such as WorldCom and Global Wind. (Of course, it can't be too much like the world wind); Although Unicom New Space-Time is an independent brand, it is not as good as the well-known brand of Global Connect, but it spreads rapidly with the help of the effect of sports star Yao X; Therefore, we can consider taking a new customer brand together with Unicom 130 and merging the two networks into this new brand at the same time.
Of course, such brand merger will be more meaningful after the launch of Unicom dual-mode card. At present, due to the differences in network coverage, call quality and tariff standards, China Unicom's GSM and CDMA networks still do not face the same customer groups and cannot be simply merged under one brand.
It is suggested that China Unicom re-establish the customer brand of Unicom 130, whose customer group is low-end, and formulate the corresponding brand implementation strategy; Unicom New Time and Space can be implemented as a high-end CDMA network customer brand. This can form a continuation of high, medium and low customer brands to deal with mobile GSM.
(2) Cultivate new forces
UP New Force is a customer brand launched by China Unicom for mobile M-Zone. However, the corresponding publicity planning has not yet seen the market, and it is said that it is only piloted in some provinces and cities. Compared with the mobile M-Zone, China Unicom's youth brand building is obviously at a disadvantage. Moreover, due to the insufficient network coverage and charging partition of Unicom (there is no prompt on campus, etc.). ), more students either choose China Mobile's campus card and other products, or switch to China Mobile after using Unicom's campus card for a period of time.
It is said that China Unicom will promote brand building and market development of new UP forces on a large scale in 2005, and formulate complex tariff packages and promotion measures. It is suggested that the tariff and market strategy should be formulated in a targeted manner by comparing the dynamic zone. At the same time, in the process of subdividing young users, we will strive to keep China Mobile ahead, and the latecomers will catch up.
(3) ruyitong
Like China Mobile's strategy for Shenzhouxing, China Unicom has basically adopted the principle of low-key development for Ruyitong, which is spread and publicized by the market itself. In areas with similar coverage of China Unicom and mobile networks, China Unicom's GSM 130,13/ruyitong still has a large number of users because of the preferential tariff of 10%. Ruyitong of Unicom CDMA 133 formulated four kinds of packages at the initial stage of its launch, which well met the needs of some low-end customers and reached a certain user scale (Ruyitong was not included in the delivery), which was in line with the powerful propaganda offensive of the early CDMA free delivery policy. However, the development of 133 Ruyitong in some provinces and cities is not optimistic, because the price of CDMA mobile phone terminals is still high and the styles are backward. ).
China Unicom can continue to position Ruyitong as a low-end customer, and should take GSM 130,13, 132 as the main development models, so that users can choose more GSM low-end mobile phones to use, and at the same time, it can meet the relatively low-end network positioning of Unicom's GSM network; The CDMA 133 Ruyitong should be transformed into a higher-end prepaid brand, or it should be cancelled directly and undertaken by Unicom New Time and Space.
(4) World wind
World Wind is the unique secret of China Unicom. But so far, the corresponding brand strategy of China Unicom is not very clear. The world that users know is just a dual-mode mobile phone, not the dual-mode service of G/C network that Unicom itself said.
The world trend of China Unicom should include dual-mode mobile phones and dual-mode cards, while the ultimate goal of China Unicom is to open dual-mode cards. However, it is said that there are still some technical problems that cannot be solved. It is estimated that number portability and switching between GSM and CDMA networks, as well as corresponding billing and accounting issues.
During the Athens Olympic Games, China Unicom successfully launched the "Connect Athens" world wind publicity campaign, which achieved good social effects. It is said that the audience's response surpassed that of China Mobile's I Can. In the actual market sales, the global demand for mobile phones exceeds supply, which shows that its strategy of positioning high-end customers is correct and meets the potential psychological and use needs of such customers.
Before China Unicom officially launched the dual-mode card, Worldwind brand will always be in an awkward position: it can't correct customers' concept that Worldwind is a dual-mode mobile phone, and at the same time it can't advocate the technical concept of G/C network switching on a large scale, because there are still technical problems such as call transfer charges that have not been solved. Therefore, China Unicom can only help the world wind brand to strengthen its brand connotation with more foreign telecom services.
After the introduction of dual-mode card, the pattern is expected to change greatly.
Third, the continuity and relevance of customer brands.
1. Continuity and relevance of customer brands
The customer brands of China Mobile and China Unicom basically have clear customer groups and corresponding strategies, and each brand basically covers the needs of high, medium and low-end customers. Take mobile as an example, starting from the lowest end, it is Shenzhouxing (which can be subdivided into low-end, mid-end and high-end customers); Then there is the m-zone (overlapping with Shenzhouxing, which can also be divided into low, medium and high-end users); Finally, GSM (which can be divided into low, medium and high end). These three brands overlap with each other. Even the lowest-end Shenzhouxing, its high-end customers may be compared with the high-end customers of Global Connect (the monthly phone bill is as high as 1000 yuan); The ARPU value (average monthly phone bill) of low-end customers of GSM may be similar to that of Shenzhouxing.
This brings a question, is there migration and association between various customer brands? The answer is, of course, yes. After the demand of Shenzhouxing customers grows to a certain extent, they will find that some tariff packages or services in M-Zone or GSM are more suitable for their own needs, thus generating the demand for switching tariffs or services, and then generating brand switching. Similar customers have similar reasons for switching from high-end to low-end or even leaving the network. Pay attention to the conversion of tariffs and services, rather than the customer's initiative to request the conversion of customer brands.
Therefore, when making customer brands, operators should not simply divide user groups to design completely independent and irrelevant brands and corresponding strategies, but should fully consider the changes and migration of customers, leaving customers with the possibility of transformation and upgrading, thus ensuring customers to be online for a long time.
2. For example, the growth process of a mobile customer.
Suppose a mobile customer's online life cycle is his life. Then during his 15-23 school days, he may choose to move Shenzhouxing, gradually rising from its low end to the high end, and may eventually enter the dynamic zone; 2-3 years (even the first year) after graduating from college, you may enter the white-collar class and need to switch to global communication, gradually changing from low-end to high-end; After retiring, the communication demand is reduced, and it is possible to return to Shenzhouxing again.
Because there are two mobile operators, there is the possibility of quitting the network and going to another operator in the process of promoting to other brands.
As can be seen from the above example, if operators make a detailed analysis of customer needs and formulate a customer brand extension plan suitable for their lifelong needs, users can stay in the network for a long time; An appropriate advertising slogan for this brand extension strategy is "China XX, life partner".
Four, China Unicom dual-mode card after the launch of the pattern forecast.
After China Unicom officially launched the dual-mode card, the pattern of the domestic mobile market will be greatly changed, and it will also change the unfavorable position of China Unicom to mobile.
1, the whole network is upgraded to a dual-mode card.
After solving the technical problems of dual-mode card (network switching, number portability, billing, etc.). ), China Unicom wants to upgrade the whole network to support dual-mode cards. That is, the dual-mode card service can be used in the area covered by the original GSM and CDMA networks. Users only need a mobile phone number (a card) to easily switch between Unicom's GSM and CDMA networks: using GSM mobile phone will access Unicom's GSM network; Access Unicom CDMA with CDMA mobile phone; If you use the World Wind dual-mode mobile phone, you can switch freely at any time. Accordingly, the billing and bills are all borne by one number, and there are no more problems such as call transfer fee and number monthly fee.
The dual-mode card of the above mode will greatly facilitate customers, make Unicom's roaming coverage become the sum of GSM and CDMA networks at home and abroad, and the network coverage will be turned upside down; At the same time, China Unicom does not need to worry about the balanced development of G/C network, but only needs to vigorously develop CDMA network; The original Unicom GSM mobile phone users can also change their cards (dual-mode cards) without changing their numbers, and may use the colorful value-added services of CDMA, thus solving the long-term dissatisfaction of Unicom G network users that Unicom does not provide value-added services similar to mobile GPRS/WAP.
2. Brand integration
After the launch of China Unicom's dual-mode card, "Unicom 130" and "Unicom New Space-Time" can be completely replaced by world-style brands, and the technical differences of G/C networks will be gradually diluted, but it is necessary to control the discretion. The technical advantage of G/C dual-network coverage of dual-mode card is precisely the leading killer of China Mobile, which must be vigorously promoted and disseminated; If the differences between G/C networks are diluted too much, it may be counterproductive.
World Wind brand will be the unified customer brand of China Unicom against GSM. The original Unicom 130 and Unicom's new space-time can be absorbed, and can also be diverted to other brands.
3. Migration of Unicom's original customers
After the dual-mode card is launched, different promotion channels can be set UP for the original Unicom 130 and Unicom's new space-time users, and gradually diverted to UP new forces and Ruyitong, as well as integrated world-style brands. During the publicity, the advantages of using dual-mode cards were especially publicized, such as: the original G network users can enjoy the value-added services of CDMA network by switching to CDMA or Worldwind mobile phones.
4. How does China Mobile cope with the World Wind Dual-mode Card?
At present, China Mobile still operates GSM network, and Unicom's dual-mode card may not have a good technology-leading solution. However, mobile can continue the brand advantages of good network coverage, accurate billing and good service (these factors are still weak for China Unicom for a period of time), emphasizing that "enough is the best" and will still retain most users, which is evenly matched with China Unicom; It should also be noted that domestic 3G licenses will be issued soon. If China Unicom does not launch the dual-mode card in time, it will seize the market opportunity before, and may once again stand on the same starting line with China Mobile. Coupled with the involvement of other domestic operators, it is difficult to predict how things will develop.