Comviva NewsLetter The Futurist - September Edition, 2019 | Page 17

17
DIGITAL DISRUPTION
SEPTEMBER 2019
We believe that the time is now right for telcos to break out and
reassert their claim by creating digital consumer ecosystems of their
own. There are three reasons for this
A
The “how to” recipe for creating winning digital
products is much better understood and replicable
B
The advanced analytics techniques that digital
natives use to create magical targeting are
now widely available, and
C
The risk capital that is available to digital
natives can also be made available to
digital ventures spawned by telcos.
Creating winning digital products:
Learning from digital natives,
there are a few ground rules for
building great digital products:
(a) start with the user and design a disruptive
experience that’s markedly better than
existing offerings (e.g., don’t just aggregate,
add value) (b) rapidly test and learn - don’t
try to get it right the first time, (c) partner
wherever possible for components/
solutions or entire services, (d) spend
disproportionate time and energy on
generating and improving traction.
Leveraging Advanced Analytics:
The most sophisticated digital natives can
create surprisingly targeted campaigns
that seem to pop up just at the right time
and the right place with the right message.
“Clicking” on these seems almost natural
and their success in generating new
registrations or new sales or usage of their
services is several times what is achieved
in conventional campaigns. These brilliantly
targeted campaigns are the outcome of
using sophisticated analytics techniques
as neural networks, automated through
“machine learning” methods, to continuously
improve their “hit rate”. The techniques work
on data sets that include basic customer
profile information along with every other
kind of data that can be collected including
location, surfing and social behavior. Their
success depends less on the extensiveness
of the underlying “data lake” and more on
the quality of algorithms used to design,
track and improve campaigns.
Inviting Risk Capital:
Often the costs of customer acquisition
and retention for new digital services can
be high. At the same time, the services
need to be promoted aggressively until
they achieve critical mass and network
effects, or word of mouth, take over. While
telcos access to subscribers gives them