MWC: and now the great not to be missed opportunity for Telco Marketers

Well, Mobile World Congress 2020 was “interesting,” wasn’t it?

It ended up an event that may well live longer in the memory than many of its predecessors if for entirely the wrong reasons. Epidemiologists rather than technologists dominated the field of play this year (alongside accountants) and with more and more similar events falling like dominoes and, as I write, the British Prime Minister suggesting that up to 20% of the UK population could fall victim to COVID-19, one wonders if the world itself hasn’t shifted on its axis.

Seriously. I’m not exaggerating.

The shrinking planet made possible by easier and cheaper travel and the breaking of various socio-political barriers over the last fifty years is now delivering its arguably inevitable sting in the tail to go alongside the quantum benefits we’ve all reaped from progress in recent years.

What’s this got to do with telco though? Possibly, I would argue, quite a lot.

If one aspect of the fallout from COVID-19 (and, for that matter, the climate change movement as well) is a more circumspect approach by both business and individuals to moving around the globe, it’s quite likely that telecoms networks buried under the land and sea with their low carbon emissions and lack of requirement for wearing face masks when being used will pick up the slack from abandoned jet planes. Why poison the atmosphere when you just jump on the phone?

I’m thinking out loud here (as well as laterally), but there’s a nascent opportunity for telcos to make hay (ideological and financial) out of this changing landscape.

That notwithstanding, there are two immediately salient questions beside the longer-term ones. First, whether there’s a permanent behavioural change driven by COVID-19 or not, there is beyond doubt a short term one. Event cancellations mean telco marketers are in 2020 at least are going to have to find different ways to stock their sales pipelines whether they want to or not. There’s no other option. Second, what about future planning? If face-to-face business recedes-and the guess here is that it will, the reality is that the telephone will step in to replace it.

The far-sighted marketers in the telco arena will now be looking at the changing industry landscape and asking themselves what they should be doing to future-proof their strategies as fundamental change takes root? Clearly, working closely with agencies that know the industry, have the contacts, and have proven able to generate opportunities that can be progressed without either a plane ticket or exposure to a virus will be a cornerstone of these strategies. The leading telco suppliers will be identifying prospective agency partners and building relationships with them now, then leveraging those relationships immediately.

eCS is globally known in the Telco vendor industry, having been in this niche sector over 20 years. If you’d like to discuss the ideas above and find out more about how eCS can help you re-orient your approach to marketing, content, and lead generation in the newly emergent landscape why not give us a call to learn more?

We’d be delighted to walk you through the new telco marketing and discuss how to put a next generation marketing strategy to work for your company.