Bluebook by O2, a cautionary tale
What a disappointment. I was driven to the O2 website by an advert for their new Bluebook service.
Curious, I watched the demo and so I signed up. Seemed a nice idea to keep all you sms updates, photos and phone numbers backed up.
and then having gone through all the registration process, received a text with a unique code I got the immortal message
You must be an O2 customer to use this service.
Thanks for your interest in Bluebook. The service is exclusive to O2
customers. The easiest way to become an O2 customer is to visit an O2
shop or click here to shop with O2 on line. (link to http://shop.o2.co.uk/shop/)You may also try the following options:
- Go back to the previous page
- Go to the O2 Homepage http://www.o2.co.uk/
- Go to the O2 Sitemap http://www.o2.co.uk/sitemap
How blooming irritating is that? you do the whole registration - they could have told me before that it was only for O2 customers.
I reckon that opening the service up for non-O2 customers would draw a much wider 'net' around potential customers who then might be persuaded to swap carriers because of the fantastic add-on services like Bluebook offered.
Why is this good?
- Offer a new service that other providers don't yet offer
- Show prospective customers the 'inside' line on how wonderful it is to be an O2 customer
- Create a uniquely receptive audience to switching offers
- Undermine offers from other carriers by direct communication with their customers
Oh goodness, when will big brands realise that offering something online / digital for free to a wider audience than your own customers gives you an unique opportunity. But they threw it away.
And so if you are in a competitive marketplace, can you set up a service to attract new customers who might be persuaded to defect from the competition because of the excellent service you offer (particularly if the net cost to you is low) this could be a winning strategy.
Go for it.
Tags: , bluebook, o2, rebecca caroe
March 31st, 2008 at 4:31 am
[…] no way around this so I have to start over with my O2 handset. Not impressed - and I’m not the only one. On a second try it completes, but not without a few odd […]
April 8th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I agree it’s irritating bluebook won’t work for non-O2 subscribers, and that they don’t make this fact clear before you sign up. However, in O2’s defense, making it work for subscribers on another network wouldn’t be easy. How could O2 intercept Text Messages going from a Vodafone to an Orange subscriber…
What I want is for all phone companies to offer this service, which they should have been providing for years imo!
April 17th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Jon, well said!
there are now nice little apps being written that aggregate feeds from a range of sources. This one Alert Thingy came out last week from Howard Baines, a client of mine. http://alertthingy.com/
And surely it’s only time before someone gets the mobile operators onto the same page….. (triumph of optimism over experience!)