Tara Seals Blog: World Cup's USA Success Offers a User-Experience Blueprint

I’m going to miss the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I don’t know if it’s the addition of ESPN/ABC coverage and commentary that I can actually understand (my previous experience was all “muy cerca!” and “Goooooooooooaaaaaal!” on Univision), or the fact that there seems to be a collective effort to bring what is arguably the world’s top sport to the previously uninterested heathen American masses, through licensing, soccer-themed ads, viewing parties and general buzz. But I admit it. I’m one of the converted. I used to mildly enjoy the odd soccer match. Now I’m one of those people who expectantly shows up at the pub on game day, ready for 90 minutes of being on the cusp of a heart attack at any given exciting moment. I know who Ronaldo, Kaka, Messi, Rooney, Gerrard, Torres et al are, even. It’s not just about Landon Donovan. Though I heart Landon Donovan.

It’s also a rich source of pop culture goodness. It’s brought us legions of American jocks in Euro-style “football jerseys,” looking faintly bewildered at what they’re doing there. It’s given us Paul the Psychic Octopus, the addition of “vuvuzela” into the everyday lexicon, trophy replicas made of cocaine, even sordid tales of English captain Stephen Gerrard impregnating his wife’s sister during the ramp-up to the event. Nevermind that she doesn't have a sister. And, natch, it offers a million opportunities for snark (i.e.: “you can bet that Holland has their wooden-clogged feet up watching this match, snacking on Edam and reaching into the fridge for a Heineken, or maybe an Amstel Lite.” Aww yeah. Stereotypes are fun).

And hey, what can I say, soccer players tend to be pretty damn hot.

The World Cup has also proven out the first principle that any service provider should have at the core of its mission: Loyalty and uptake is all about managing the user experience during the acquisition process. Unlike the Univision-broadcast days of yore, this year’s World Cup is largely in HD television, with proper production standards, good camera angles, replays, fun little South African graphics and even interstitials featuring lions and those cool flat-top African trees that I don’t know the name of. It’s easy to find out when to flip on over to ABC or ESPN to catch a game. Mobile apps for following the matches and the standings and for understanding how the scoring works rounded out things, with MobiTV for iPhone even announcing the event spiked an unheard-of 250 percent increase in paid subscriptions, with average viewing sessions running about 30 minutes. This is mobile TV, people—you know, the perennial heartbreak kid of the industry, always failing to break out? All it takes is the right user experience.

As telcos strive to find their next World Cup success story, i.e. new sticky innovative services that aren’t over the top, or that blend with over the top, the urge is to just rush new things into the marketplace. But there needs to be a clear mission of success, a clear idea of how subscribers are to be wooed, from both marketing and customer support perspectives.

It seems so very obvious that attracting and keeping customers for new services while driving usage has a lot to do with the managing the user experience and perception at every point along the way. Unfortunately, much like billing, these efforts tend to be less focused than they could be, giving way instead to general branding efforts. For instance, Comcast this year rolled out Xfinity in my neighborhood. What is Xfinity? How much does it cost? What does it do for me? I have no idea, because they’ve never told me. They’ve shown me a few ads that seem to indicate that the TV has more on-demand, and the broadband is, well, broadbandier. But beyond that, it’s darksville over here as to what, exactly, Xfinity does for me. There’s just a lot of talk about residential services being “reinvented.”

One reason for my ignorance also: I don’t take a paper bill anymore. I don’t use Comcast’s provided home e-mail either. So there is no consistent customer touchpoint they can hook me with. And call me crazy, but I would suspect I’m not alone on that score. So where are the alternatives?

The there’s AT&T, forcing users to take an entirely separate bill for the iPad. That’s not convenient. That’s annoying. It’s also using its quite confusing online portal to miss an opportunity to up-sell people like me (heavy mobile data and text, baby) to new things.

That’s all okay for right now. But as the competitive landscape just gets crazier and more complex, network operators will be forced to “reinvent” nearly the entirety of their service portfolios in order to keep up. And they’ll have to reinvent their customer experience efforts, too. It will make the difference between having a World Cup success on their hands, or being saddled with arena football and junior tennis. Believe it [cue annoying vuvuzela serenade…now].

Think service providers already do a good job? E-mail me at HeyBOSS@vpico.com and let’s talk. I’ll put the tea kettle on. Or, just comment below.