The following was posted almost 2 years ago. I wonder how much has changed at LIME since then. What do you think? Hope you can understand the Jamaican dialect.
It is Friday August 10. Penultimate day of competition at London Olympics 2012. We are all excited for Jamaica has already won 10 medals with 2 more in sight. Time to glean new insights from the greatest philosophers in the land of 1, 2, 3.
“Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain with grammar and nonsense and learning, good liquor I stoutly maintain gives genius a better discerning.” But that was before GCT on white rum. Big up the Jamaican Barber!
The shop is busy. There are 5 chairs, all occupied, and three of us waiting. And watching CVM TV carrying live coverage of Olympics, sponsored by our friends at LIME. Victims and philosophers are having fun prophesying Ja’s 4 x 100 men’s relay team will bust that 36 sec. barrier tomorrow. Great time for quick research!
How many of you gentlemen have a LIME phone. Silence. A pin drops. Someone hears and picks it up.
How many of you having watched Olympics coverage sponsored by LIME are considering switching to that network? A murmur begins. One friend says he’s switching because LIME is now cheaper. Pure economics. Nothing to do with Olympics coverage. Jus’ business, man. Price!
How many of you think LIME has a better network? The pace picks up. Most agree LIME is superior. One philosopher (Barber Chris) enquires why aren’t more of you switching if LIME is better?
Bwoy… is just a vibes, chimes philosopher Shaw. An’ LIME nah seh nuttin. Yeah, come to think of it… why? Is jus a vibes! Yeah… fi real… is jus’ a vibes. An’ dem saaf. Mi nuh know why… But me will keep my Digicel.
Ries & Trout were correct. Marketing is a battle for the mind. And marketers should remember that brand awareness doesn’t count for much. We’re all aware of LIME. But it’s brand preference that counts. Ask Digicel. We prefer. They count. In US$ x millions!
LIME is against the ropes, but fighting back. Time to revisit the brand strategy. And give the brand a new footprint.
The Caribbean School of Sales Management 
Very interesting article Herman. I recently shared similar sentiments with two executives at LIME. LIME needs to win the hearts and minds of the Jamaican people and the time to embark upon that mission is NOW! Momentum is with them since the recent drop in call rates…take the cue and ride the momentum!
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Thanks! Riding the momentum (my ageing typewriter wanted to ride di rydim). Note that the fist 6 letters of momentum spell “moment.” Fleeting.
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The “how” is the all important question ,,,,,,,, or is that what they’ll have to pay Herman to find out. Was it Digicel genius marketing that won them the hearts and minds of Jamaican’s & catapulted them to their position of “super dominant” player as LIME has annointed them or was it disgust with an arrogant vendor that offered a poor service (poor coverage / dropped calls / high call rates) coupled with poor general customer service and compounded it by aggresively trying to ADD users to that failing network. Do the vast majority of us know why we support one political party or another?
Hasn’t LIME been demonized like Edward Seaga and the JLP was? What percentage of our cellphone users even had a phone pre-digicel? Was anybody under 40 ever consciously governed by Edward Seaga? By the JLP until their recent abreviated stint? ,,,,,,,,, if they can’t buy our patronage, then what?
Are our hearts and minds LIME’s to win or Digicel’s to lose?
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Correct again Gavin! The “how”??? Changing a brand footprint is a tough strategic exercise. And Digicel will never surrender. Should WE (yes, you and me) tell LIME how to do and what to do? And will they even listen?
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…..”tell them? not unless they are paying…and besides, with a poor history of listening, will they start now?
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The old adage “anything free has no value” might apply here – and if they really believe their own press they might posit same as evidence that they are on the right road http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/LIME-s-prepaid-traffic-up-71-_12296543
Traffic Up 71% – no word of “net /new activations”
21% increase in mobile revenue , 18% increase in average revenue per customer – (this despite having reduced their on network rates by 63%, their across network rates, adding free nights, 100 free texts after the first 3 & only charging for the first 3 minutes of calls over the corresponding period ,,,,,,, the beauty of numbers?)
Herman, maybe they need more than a marketing strategy,,,,,,,,, from where I sit not armed with the numbers they have, this path looks ominous, a whole new game plan might be in order.
As a purely academic exercise it would be interesting to corral opinions and come up with an alternative to address your original point, the business model, that’s a whole other story.
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Look at ‘marketing highlights’ in the last annual report posted on their Website.
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Remember Halli Button? Who wuk fi nuttun? Wasn’t me!
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OK we get the picture. LIME is a loosing proposition unless the reposition their product and really renew themselves. Bu with even those gymnastics the will certainly not surpass Digicel
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Gymnastics?
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Rome (like C&W) at one time seemed invincible. Question is, is Digicel as successful as they are as a result of something they’ve done or despite themselves. It might be instructive to see how they fare against LIME in markets other than Jamaica.
IMSCO LTD
37 Shortwood Road
Kingston 8
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Hmmmmh. I wonder…. Have you any contacts in, for example, Trinidad, who could shed some light on this?
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Reblogged this on alvarangaconsulting.
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