File format error! – A Story from a British Music Festival….
June 5, 2009
by elainehaines
File format error! – A Story from a British Music Festival….
You go to the free phone charging station and see an a opportunity to download a free GIG guide on your phone, “great” you think, just what I need, so you fumble around your new Samsung trying to find out how to switch the Bluetooth on (not being one of the 25% of people in the UK who now have it permanently switched. How could you?, on your last phone it killed the battery!)
Finally, you get the Bluetooth switched on and wait to receive the promised Festival GIG guide. You wait. You wait. Then if you are lucky you are asked for a pin code, even luckier – you may know it.
Then full of anticipation, instead of the GIG guide you get the file format error message. Not I imagine the great consumer experience the sponsoring brand planned you to have – and SO unnecessary.
This experience can be avoided in lots of ways, for example by employing accurate device detection software on the proximity device; by using uptodate handset functionality and phone fingerprint databases; by providing backup content (MP3 clips, videos, animations etc) for handsets NOT able to receive Java applications over Bluetooth and by providing clear instructions for music fans telling them what to do and what to expect.
It could have been worse…
Some providers, specifically one in Ireland, but probably not confined to the Emerald Isle, don’t care about the consumer experience, as a matter of policy! They believe that if handsets cannot receive content over more than 10 – 15 meters, tough on fans, “its free – what have they got to complain about! They’ll offer the content over 100m anyway and leave music fans disappointed when fans can’t download to their handset in the full knowledge that there is no way that handsets can receive content over this distance. Shocking but true!
Bluetooth Marketing campaigns can sometimes go wrong in a big way. You go to the free phone charging station and see an a opportunity to download a free GIG guide on your phone, “great” you think, just what I need, so you fumble around your new Samsung phone trying to find out how to switch the Bluetooth on (not being one of the 25% of people in the UK who now have it permanently switched. How could you?, on your last phone it killed the battery!)
Finally, you get the Bluetooth switched on and wait to receive the promised Festival GIG guide. You wait. You wait. Then if you are lucky you are asked for a pin code, even luckier – you may know it.
Then full of anticipation, instead of the GIG guide you get a File Format Error Message! Not I imagine the great consumer experience the sponsoring brand planned you to have – and SO unnecessary.
This experience can be avoided in lots of ways, for example by employing accurate device detection software on the proximity device; by using up-to-date handset functionality and phone fingerprint databases; by providing backup content (MP3 clips, videos, animations etc) for handsets NOT able to receive Java applications over Bluetooth and by providing clear instructions for music fans telling them what to do and what to expect.
It could have been worse…
Some providers don’t care about the consumer experience, as a matter of policy! They believe that if handsets cannot receive content over more than 10 – 15 meters, tough on fans, “its free – what have they got to complain about!” They’ll offer the content over 100m anyway and leave music fans disappointed when fans can’t download to their handset in the full knowledge that there is no way that handsets can receive content over this distance. Shocking but true!
Elaine Haines
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