Luke,
The idea of a superior microprocessor inside is a lot easier to explain and define than CDMA inside.
I think it's easier to explain CDMA than a microprocessor. Imagine a few Qualcomm ads on national television showing the frustration of people who didn't purchase CDMA. A guy on a phone says, "Hello? Hello? Darn. Another dropped call. Should have gotten CDMA." Or he's talking to his friend, saying, "I can't hear you. Can you speak up? I didn't get CDMA."
This is the EASIEST sell in the world. Easy to explain. Easy to convey. Because it's easy to understand.
It's certainly theoretically possible for QCOM to pull off a marketing coup like Intel, but it's not likely IMHO.
My point is that it wasn't a coup. It was simple. Convey the reliability of your product and at the same time scare the pants off anyone thinking of buying the competitors' products.
How man other companies have been able to do this?
I'm not really sure what you mean by "this." I know you're aware of all the consumer-oriented brand names that have been built and leveraged successfully just as Intel did.
Also they were smart enough to start doing this when almost all PC's had an Intel chip,giving repetitive exposure. This is hardly the case with CDMA and QCOM.
That's why it's important that it be done -- to ensure more handsets sold with that little Qualcomm thingy on it.
Building and leveraging a brand isn't easy or cheap, especially if the consumer doesn't have the vaguest idea what it means and there's already a recognizable brand name on the phone.
If the consumer knew what it meant, the marketing campaign wouldn't be needed. The fact that the consumer doesn't have the vaguest idea of what it means is the reason the campaign is needed. The fact that there was already a recognizable brand name on a computer didn't prevent the sucess of Intel's marketing campaign and for the same reasons won't prevent the success of Qualcomm's campaign.
Why would the cell phone maker dilute it's own brand this way unless it thought the Qualcomm brand was stronger?
The cell phone maker wouldn't consider it dilution any more than Compaq, IBM, Dell, Gateway or any other computer manufactuer considered it dilution of their brand name to have "Intel Inside." Just the opposite, it enhances their brand name because it associates it with dependability, reliablity, and customer satisfaction.
All just my opinion. However, in this case I know I'm right. :) Tee hee.
--Mike Buckley |
