Lately I’m finding myself reading a lot about new media marketing, the use of blogs, podcasts, and other interactive means to sell products and services. I’m sure it’s because I’ve been exposed to a number of new media marketing types on Twitter*, then I’ve read their blogs, checked out what they do… cool stuff. It just hit me that, again, I’m drawn into something similar to what I did in my “prior life.”
I was in marketing for cellphones back when they were called “mobile phones” and you had to chose between the traditional mobile or “car phone” installed into the vehicle, the “transportable” which was a giant box phone that typically stayed in the car, but could be removed and used on battery power, and the “portable,” which was the very large, ugly precursor to what we use now. A big part of my job was explaining the differences between the models to potential customers, who for the most part were high-powered executives and the occasional celebrity. I was very excited about selling a phone to Susan Lucci… until a friend sold one to Stevie Wonder.
Another big part of my job was making it clear to these potential (and disgruntled current) customers that cellular phone service was a huge asset, despite the enormous amount of down time in the new network, and the high cost. I couldn’t afford to have one myself at the time! Our customer service reps spent half their day scanning customer’s invoices for calls to the same number repeated within a couple minutes, evidence that the first call had been dropped by our service. We’d credit back the per-minute charge on these “drop calls” to those customers savvy enough to ask us. Trust me, a lot of them were, I suppose that’s how they became high powered execs in the first place.
I see some similarity in what I did then, try to sell a flawed but exciting and potentially very useful product and service, to what those in new media marketing are doing now. Blogs and podcasts are new and traditional businesses are probably not so interested right now, but I think the businesses that take a risk and start a blog or get a podcast going are going to see it was a risk worth taking. In just another year or two I bet interactive marketing explodes.
I didn’t know you worked in the mobile/cellular world. I left 9+ years of working for a wireless service provider to join Jeff Pulver on making Video on the Net. Small world. : )
annie
Oops, sorry, link fixed! Yes, I was a cellular pioneer, boys and girls. It was a wild world back then. 75 employees in the entire company that served the NYC metro area!
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan…
So you know what I’d love to see?
What’s the BARE BONES of marketing something? Maybe you’ve even posted that in the past. But educate me. I have no idea what marketers do.
http://www.twitter.com/conniereece Connie Reece
Ah, memories of my first mobile phone — portable model in a zip-up leather bag with a shoulder strap.
Nice meeting you on Twitter, by the way!
annie
Connie, you were a trailblazer! Thanks for stopping bye .
[...] was published in an online ‘zine. Before having babies I worked for a cellular phone service as I mentioned previously, and I used to manage a record store that actually sold records. That was [...]
New media marketing ain’t all that new to me
Lately I’m finding myself reading a lot about new media marketing, the use of blogs, podcasts, and other interactive means to sell products and services. I’m sure it’s because I’ve been exposed to a number of new media marketing types on Twitter*, then I’ve read their blogs, checked out what they do… cool stuff. It just hit me that, again, I’m drawn into something similar to what I did in my “prior life.”
Another big part of my job was making it clear to these potential (and disgruntled current) customers that cellular phone service was a huge asset, despite the enormous amount of down time in the new network, and the high cost. I couldn’t afford to have one myself at the time! Our customer service reps spent half their day scanning customer’s invoices for calls to the same number repeated within a couple minutes, evidence that the first call had been dropped by our service. We’d credit back the per-minute charge on these “drop calls” to those customers savvy enough to ask us. Trust me, a lot of them were, I suppose that’s how they became high powered execs in the first place.
I see some similarity in what I did then, try to sell a flawed but exciting and potentially very useful product and service, to what those in new media marketing are doing now. Blogs and podcasts are new and traditional businesses are probably not so interested right now, but I think the businesses that take a risk and start a blog or get a podcast going are going to see it was a risk worth taking. In just another year or two I bet interactive marketing explodes.
*for example, Chris Brogan, Jason Calacanis, C.C. Chapman, Chris Penn