INTERVIEW: O2 Marketing Manager

Allison Carruck, Marketing Manager of xda at BT Cellnet, tells Wired Up how the O2 xda, a PDA to be launched next year, will change the way marketers communicate with customers forever.

BT Cellnet has high hopes that its new PDA, the O2 xda, will change forever the way marketers communicate with their customers while on the move and in meetings. Reality or fantasy? We’ve been here before after all, not least with the abortive WAP platform, so Wired Up decided it had to investigate.

Wired-Up: What is the O2 xda? What are the core benefits?

AC: The O2 xda will be launched next year in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland. It is a PDA with a built-in mobile phone, Microsoft Pocket PC tools including Excel and Word and a personal organiser. It allows you to check and change documents, look for news on your client while on your way to that important meeting with them, and access your company intranet for the latest stock info and pricing. You can also access any website in full colour, send and receive e-mails from anywhere with GSM or GPRS coverage and receive calls, send and view SMS messages.

Wired-Up: How will the new O2 xda enable marketers to communicate better with customers?

AC: Full colour "go anywhere" internet access and audio capability will provide the ideal showcase for a marketing message. The ease of response via web or phone accessible on a touch sensitive screen delivers the immediacy marketers need to close the sale.

Customers can see and/or hear about that special offer on flights and click to purchase straight away no matter where they are, or view a demonstration of your service and interact with it. Of course, all the personalisation functionality of the internet will run on the xda just like a home or work based PC, so solutions can be tailored to individual customer needs in the same manner the xda can be personalised to different customers’ needs.

Wired-Up: Could you provide a marketing scenario where the O2 xda would be used?

AC: David is a sales rep selling a new range of electronic products around the UK. He uses his xda to take the client through a promotional video presentation of his company’s brand values. The presentation went well and he receives a large order and is now unsure he can meet it. He accesses his company’s intranet for up-to-date stock information and places the order through his xda while at the customer’s premises. He is also able to provide a delivery date on the spot and email the invoice to the customer.

Allison Carruck
Allison Carruck is Marketing Manager of xda at BT Cellnet, now part of the O2 group of companies. which has developed its new O2 xda in alliance with Microsoft. It will be the first PDA to include Microsoft Pocket PC tools.

New reader? Click here to subscribe at Frontwire's homepage.

Subscription changes

Wired-Up! is published by Frontwire Ltd www.frontwire.com
Frontwire and its agents have used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the informaton published herein. However, Frontwire does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other causes.

Frontwire's privacy policy