Roger Desai asserted that the mobile is the first object since the key that people carry at all times. He also said that traditional advertising is dead and that to be effective, sellers need to be aware of the new buy cycle: discover-learn-try-buy-recommend. In this context, Roger’s company Rave Wireless takes a holistic approach when designing its products. Their products are created after understanding the entire customer experience.

For instance, they interviewed 1000 students on their cell phone usage and emerged with 200 insights on why the mobile phone matters to them. The primary insight was that students live unplanned lives and want the power to know all of their choices at anytime. They found that as soon as students come out of a classroom they make at least one call. Who were they calling and about what? “Students want to know what had happened in the outside world while they were in the classroom. By this I don’t mean stuff like weather reports, riots in faraway countries etc. They want to know who is going out with who, who broke up, are there any special offers at the movies or at the pizza shop and such other information that helps them evaluate all their choice”, said Roger. He added that this understanding of the type of information desired by users is what differentiates Rave’s products from other information update providers such as yahoo.com or msn.com.

Essentially, the key lies in how close and directly relevant the information is to the individual. Rave has 4 main products – Rave Social allows students to create buddy lists to share moods and recent events. Rave Local enables users to search for near-term events and deals such as real-time traffic information, discount deals etc. Rave University allows students to track down the location of buses using their mobiles. Another insight was that when students are lonely or in a state of fear, they call home and like to talk to their parents. Drawing on this, Rave Guardian allows students to simply double click a button to automatically send their profile and location to the nearest police station.

The effectiveness of Rave’s approach to product design is proven by its success. Rave has 1600 students using its system. 10 Universities have signed a deal with Rave. Within the first year of inception, Rave’s revenue is $3 million.

The Rave case provides good insight into what differentiates internet information from mobile information. Rave is exploring opportunities within India but faces significant challenges due to poor infrastructure and slower acceptance by Indian communications providers.

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