Wireless Branding In A 3G World? Ask 3

We certainly haven't been shy in the past year or so tweaking Hutchison's "3" effort. They pretty much messed up everything they could in trying to build a brand around 3G services. Over at 3G Portal, there's an excellent editorial giving a good explanation for some of the reasons why 3 blew it, and is now relegated to trying to be a low cost service. The first mistake was going for such a broad launch - trying to be all things, to all people. With new technologies there's a reason why you target the early adopters first, and 3 didn't bother. More importantly, though, is the issue of what consumers are looking for. When it comes to mobile phones, consumers care about the device - not the service. So, as much as you try to brand 3's service, people go into shops looking for a "Nokia" phone first, and the particular service offerings second.