Hideous marketing strategy by Classic Tech
Imagine you are walking on a street with a flyer glued on your forehead which has the category and price tag of rice that you consume daily.
It screams in big bold letters “ I eat Sona Masoori Rice — Rs 65 / kg”. Picture walking daily with this flyer and a lot of new faces passing by are staring at you, scanning through the label and prejudicing your class.
This is exactly what I felt when I came home after quite a while and noticed that my WiFi network SSID reveals the name of my ISP, what bandwidth I’ve opted and how much I am paying every month. The most depressing part of it? Yes, you’ve guessed it correct. You can’t change it as desired.
WorldLink used to be our ISP which was doing a pretty good job for regular surfing but my parents decided to switch the ISP for lower tariffs after I went to Bangalore, as there were no heavy uses. So it was Classic Tech and came along a tenacious label of the bandwidth and the price tag that you must carry along your contract period. (Unfortunately, they had already prepaid for the service for a year.)
While my parents were least bothered, I can’t pretend to unsee it, and just thinking about the impression that others within this network range perceive is quite gawky.
This may help the company to reach more prospects with their “Better speed at a low price” tag, but on the other side, they have failed miserably when it comes to providing brand value to their existing users. As a growing service company of the country, it should strive to provide enriching experience and support to the users so that they convert into influencers and promote the brand to eventually help it grow. This is one proven organic long-term approach for most of the established brands in the world.
Upon doing a quick exploration, it turns out that even the famous service provider, World Link appends its name “Wlink” in its SSID, but at least there is no showy bandwidth and price tag along with it. Nevertheless, under the threshold of acceptability.
There is no debate on how you market affects majorly to brand perception for your users and prospects. For instance, consider teaser videos of any Apple products. These ads always tell stories aesthetically without flashy and pointless gimmicks: content straight to the point which results in healthy engagement of their users, and prospects instantly fall in the love with the product. The most commendable part is that the message is conveyed very subtly which spikes the sales without saying, “Buy my product!”
Contrary here, my ISP is making users feel like donkeys carrying their marketing burden on the back. Like it or not, carry it, else look for another master! I am well aware that opposing Classic Tech with Apple is not a rational analogy from any space. I am just trying to highlight how healthy marketing strategies help companies score more brand value.
Adding more on customer experience, I’d expect an instant chat support channel like other big players in the industry; WorldLink and Vianet. It’s much more convenient compared to traditional phone support with long waiting times and expensive call tariff rates in an underdeveloped country like ours. There should not be a large cost to integrate the chat support system for a comparatively small user base.
With this being said, I look forward to Classic Tech amending this awful marketing approach and give users the flexibility to rename the SSID as they desire in the near future. Don’t hijack the liberty of your users; you don’t own it.
If at all, you happen to be the decision-maker in Classic Tech, try going to office one day with price tag unremoved from your formals, and see how people around you respond.
