Strive Notes

There is no doubt that the mobile phone proliferates in modern life. Everyone has one.  In fact, it’s not uncommon for people to forego having a land line all together so that they depend solely on their mobile to keep in touch with the world.

Recent studies show that in Europe, there are more mobile phones than there are people.  And with the price of smart phones coming down this is a trend that seems set to continue.   Thanks to 3G technology, people can browse the internet, place a video call, download streaming media and multi media messages with their handset.

The most popular mobile services include music, picture downloads, adult entertainment, games and videos.  SMS, or texting, remains as popular as ever with new services such as news, job search alerts and incentive coupon message being pushed to the mobile phone regularly.

While most industry experts do not predict that land lines will become completely obsolete, it’s clear that they no longer hold a central role in daily life for many people.  One thing that may have contributed to this demise is the ever increasing sophistication of telemarketers over the years.

The rampant growth of the UK’s National Do Not Call list is evidence that people do not like to receive sales calls in their homes; yet it remains a primary marketing tactic for many companies.  The Direct Marketing Association reports that telemarketing now has the highest response rates of any direct marketing channel.

So when a company called Connectivity announced the launch of a new service, the 118 800 phone directory, the consumer backlash was unsurprising.

 

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