Ways we can promote the WP7 platform

The more I use my Trophy the more I love the phone and more specifically the WP7 platform. I think almost everyone in this forum would agree that it's a great OS that will only get better after the release of Mango. I really want to be an evangelist for WP7. I want to get the word out about how it's already at least as good as iOS and Andriod and will only get better. I want people who are new to smartphones or who are thinking of switching from their current one to give WP7 a look and to at least compare it to other platforms with an open mind.

I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with ways that we can promote WP7. Short of fanning the WP Facebook page and plastering reviews of the phone on different web sites, does anyone have any other good suggestions for how we can promote it?

Accepted answers

unknown

hopmedic wrote:
Show it to people! SHOW them how slick the UI is. SHOW them how quick IE is (and that it'll be better with Mango). Tell them that Marketplace hit 20,000 apps last week (it took 219 days. Apple took 216 days and Google took 419 days, to hit that same mark). Yes, your ideas are good, but showing it to people will be the best way to convince them!

Thank you, for doing your part to spread the word!

Yes! Spread the word! Thank you everyone! We appreciate the word of mouth!

All comments

hopmedic

Show it to people! SHOW them how slick the UI is. SHOW them how quick IE is (and that it'll be better with Mango). Tell them that Marketplace hit 20,000 apps last week (it took 219 days. Apple took 216 days and Google took 419 days, to hit that same mark). Yes, your ideas are good, but showing it to people will be the best way to convince them!

Thank you, for doing your part to spread the word!

opmaco71

I agree. I Love this OS platform. Everyone I know, knows I'm a gadget guy and usually will pick the latest and greatest. I show it off every chance I get. I get all kinds of teenagers staring at it when I show it off. My kids friends are the most impressed and say I should become a sales rep...lol. The verizon staff are very limited and only really know stuff about Android. Very disappointing.

hopmedic

LOL - yeah, my wife has been telling me for months now that Microsoft should be paying me. :smileywink:

I can't complain, though... In the past three weeks, here is what I've gotten in merchandise from Microsoft, having to do with events I've attended and giveaways I've registered my app(s) for:

1. Samsung Focus (unlocked) - it's a shame this thing won't work on Verizon - it's beautiful

2. Another Samsung Focus (unlocked)

3. Zune HD

4. 1 month Zune Pass

5. Laptop sleeve

6. Sport water bottle (2)

7. T-Shirt (3)

So I've gotten over $1200 in (retail value) merchandise from Microsoft. If no one ever used my app again, and I didn't make another dime off the ads, I've done well, IMHO. :smileyhappy:

chudster94

Showing it off as much as possible is certainly a good idea but I was thinking more along the lines of ways to get the word out on a larger scale. I've shown the phone to a few people so far and they've been very impressed with it but there's got to be a relatively easy way to have a larger impact.

unknown

hopmedic wrote:
Show it to people! SHOW them how slick the UI is. SHOW them how quick IE is (and that it'll be better with Mango). Tell them that Marketplace hit 20,000 apps last week (it took 219 days. Apple took 216 days and Google took 419 days, to hit that same mark). Yes, your ideas are good, but showing it to people will be the best way to convince them!

Thank you, for doing your part to spread the word!

Yes! Spread the word! Thank you everyone! We appreciate the word of mouth!

boe

I think the best way of spreading the word is to convince Verizon to get a better WP7 phone when Mango comes out.

I'm in IT so the end users are very curious about what I use. The first thing they notice is

1. the size of the screen - most want bigger screens, then they notice the contrast of the screen - most get excited about the super amoled screens on Samsung phones but the Super LCD on HTCs isn't bad.

2. The thing that nearly ties with the screen size is the thickness of the phone. None of my clients want a bulky phone - even those that insist they want a physical keyboard get turned off by the bulk of the physical keyboard phones and often get a slimmer unit with a bigger screen anyways.

3. Then they ask about battery life - most do not for any reason want to put their phones in chargers throughout the day.

4. Then they ask about 4G - even though they probably wouldn't notice it much other than the effect on the battery, 4G is very important to them. The buzz is out and they want it. Nothing wrong with wanting it either but it is now a standard they expect.

5. The last thing they seem to care about is the OS - most of my clients don't know if they have a "Google" phone (android) or WP7 or Web OS. The only ones that seem to know what they have are people with iphones.

The Trophy isn't going to get most of my clients as it has a small screen, small battery life (yes WP7 doesn't drain as much battery as android until mango comes out when it multitasks and then the battery life will go down), the lack of 4G (yes WP7 doesn't support 4G until mango but they could have just given it with 4G hardware and not enabled it til Mango). And what is the deal with BT 2.x??? Let's skip BT 3.x and go right to BT 4.0 - it is out and is great for conserving battery life - a signficant improvement in pairing, battery life and throughput over BT 2.1.

The Trophy may not be a bad phone and WP7 is great but the trophy is not a great phone by hardware standards and Verizon will have to get a flagship WP7 phone for end users to notice WP7. It is OK for Verizon to carry a low end to mid-range WP7 like the Trophy but if WP7 to gain attention it needs to come on a flagship phone as well. You don't see a lot of repeat articles in BGR or engadget or cnet or ZDnet about low end phones - it is the flagship phones. People didn't switch to ATT to get a low end phone - they switched to get an iphone. People didn't switch to Sprint to get a low end android phone, they switched to get the EVO. Not everyone switches to get a high end phone but people do switch to get high end phones and high end phones get the press.

chudster94

boe wrote:
I think the best way of spreading the word is to convince Verizon to get a better WP7 phone when Mango comes out.

I'm in IT so the end users are very curious about what I use. The first thing they notice is

1. the size of the screen - most want bigger screens, then they notice the contrast of the screen - most get excited about the super amoled screens on Samsung phones but the Super LCD on HTCs isn't bad.

2. The thing that nearly ties with the screen size is the thickness of the phone.   None of my clients want a bulky phone - even those that insist they want a physical keyboard get turned off by the bulk of the physical keyboard phones and often get a slimmer unit with a bigger screen anyways.

This seems contradictory to me. They don't want thick phones but they dont mind wider phones? To me, I want neither. I love the footprint of the Trophy. I love it that it fits comfortably in my pocket. I'm not even going to buy a case for it because I just don't need one. Now if you made the phone wider to include a larger screen I would most likely need one.

I do agree that the display quality is excellent on the Trophy, it blows away my old Omnia I. I think it's nearly as good as Super AMOLED ones.

hopmedic

I'm in IT as well, and would have to agree with you on everything you've stated. Well put, Boe.

EdW_VZW

opmaco71 wrote:
I agree. I Love this OS platform. Everyone I know, knows I'm a gadget guy and usually will pick the latest and greatest. I show it off every chance I get. I get all kinds of teenagers staring at it when I show it off. My kids friends are the most impressed and say I should become a sales rep...lol. The Verizon staff are very limited and only really know stuff about Android. Very disappointing.

Thanks to everyone for your continued feedback and interest for WP7. Also, I appreciate your opinion Opmaco71. However, we are not limited in pointing you in the right direction for checking into any official news about new software programs, services and product updates. A good available suggestion offered is to sign up for email updates. This avenue is opened as a valid resource of outgoing communication to have official new information. Others are always welcome to comment in other ways about having more information that what was released. I would caution someone to always verify the information by comparing it to what was officially released by Verizon Wireless via our website and/or the email updates.

The link is: http://search.vzw.com/?market=53520&q=email+alerts&p=null&ss=null&b2eFlag=N