Docomo’s dilemma

I have always believed, exceptions apart, the state or government should not interfere in the market and should rather let the market decide. Markets are far more efficient in leveling themselves than any government rule or policy can hope to achieve.

This has yet again been clearly played out in mobile telephony. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was trying to mandate all telecom companies to charge calls on a per-second basis instead of the per-minute basis that they were all following. Telecom companies cried foul and said TRAI was exceeding its brief and was trying to arm-twist them.

While this debate was raging on in the corridors of power, the marketplace, where it all mattered, was witnessing the emergence of something sinister. Docomo launched its services with this very promise ‘Pay per second’.

‘Why pay in minutes when life can change in seconds’ was their war cry. New subscribers and quite a few younger audience – who keep changing their provider – heard it loud and clear and started migrating to Docomo.

Docomo soon became the brand that attracted the most new subscribers in mobile connections. It even overtook market leaders like Airtel and Vodafone in new subscriber acquisition. To throw some numbers, Docomo added four million new subscribers in September alone. And it continues to march on.

Docomo’s spectacular growth has startled the existing biggies and guess what they did. They have started to charge ‘per second’ too. And we are talking all the big brands – Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, Reliance – who once pooh-poohed this very ‘per second’ manner of charging.

Market forces have achieved silently what TRAI was trying to achieve shouting. Well done Docomo!

But my marketing mind (kindly allow me to claim so) now has a different worry. More a worry for Docomo than it is to me. Docomo was clearly positioned as a ‘per second’ charger. By default and by their design, that’s how they had positioned themselves. Now that every other player is offering the same thing, has Docomo lost its only weapon? Does ‘per second’ billing makes sense for a brand when every other brand in the category is offering the same thing?
 
Agreed, Docomo was the first player to offer it. But when a brand harps on a functional benefit and a functional benefit alone, will it lose its edge when others also offer the same functional benefit?

Remember, the other brands have other stories to tell too while Docomo has just this one to scream about. And something that is not theirs alone, any more.

Is this why Docomo is trying to create a youthful personality to itself through their new ad - guys and girls humming the Docomo jingle in the friendship express? Is that sufficient reason for people to purchase this brand? What do you think?

Oh yeah yaaa ohhh. Docomooohhhhhhh!