One year before rolling out its service, it had hired CEO Neil Montefiore, a leader who turned the company into a challenger brand par excellence. M1 nabbed 10 per cent of Singapore�s mobile market share within three weeks of its launch, with Montefiore mocking sector leader SingTel in its ads.
Under Montefiore’s guidance, M1 became the second-ranked company in its industry, and the man in charge was named Outstanding Chief Executive of 2002 at the Singapore Business Awards. But fast-forward to 2009 and the fairytale has turned sour. M1’s problems began in earnest in 2005, when StarHub outpaced it to become the second-ranked telco in Singapore following an aggressive expansion plan that included the adoption of cable TV. That gave StarHub a bundled offer M1 could not compete with.
M1 has tried to reclaim its past glory by launching faster broadband speeds of up to 100mbps - though both SingTel and StarHub had identical offers by the time M1 managed to roll out the service last August. It also promised to introduce the 3G iPhone by the end of 2008, then retracted its promise in November after seeing it couldn’t be achieved, citing a change in the distribution schedule.
The company has also been losing key personnel. Last July saw the resignation of head of marketing Sharon Tan, after 12 years with M1. On 2 January, Montefiore, still known as ‘the face of M1’ by industry friends, suddenly relinquished his role. His decision came as M1 became involved in a tender to build a next-generation network. While the executive shake-up could give M1 the chance to reinvent itself, analysts say it will more likely put M1 in a tailspin in 2009.
And after the company posted a sharp downturn in profits for its 2008 financial year, it more than ever needs to devise a strategy to differentiate itself in order to compete in the market.
Guillaume Pagnoux, group regional planner, Bates141, Southeast Asia
The telco category has experienced radical change over the past couple of years. Mobile number portability has freed people from operators, but, most importantly, the recent convergence of mobile, TV and wireless broadband has repositioned SingTel and StarHub as media companies, while M1 has remained a traditional telco.
Unless M1 becomes significantly cheaper or starts to offer IPTV to match its competitors’ triple-play offerings, paying the market price for M1 will actually mean one is paying a premium for less.
Aside from this shift in business model, the economic climate offers M1 an opportunity to regain its lost ground by making the most of its optimistic brand platform. In the context of the recession, M1 can push for ‘brighter’ communications and content aimed at providing people with a comic release.
The current bleak environment is an opportunity for M1 to activate more consistently its brand idea and bright colour palette to present existing offerings and old assets in a context of joy. To get people to look on the bright side, M1 could, for example, come up with ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ discounts or ‘Beat the Monday blues’ promotions.
Dannie Francis, CEO, Cellcity Mobility Unlimited
The overwhelming reason that M1 suffers in Singapore’s more-of-the-same mobile market is that it is just another operator with no differentiation, and importantly, unlike its two opponents, does not possess an extended services offering through which to bundle or cross-sell mobile services.
While SingTel has the traditional landline and corporate space, and StarHub has the island’s cable network sewn up, poor M1 has no platform at all.
Outgoing CEO Montefiore kicked off the M1 offering with some serious attitude when the telco first launched. A lot of people saw it as a great chance to escape the SingTel monopoly, but since the heady early days, its marketing campaigns have descended into the realm of boredom.
How much intestinal fortitude would it have taken to do something different, attack a sector that is clearly emerging (such as data usage) and create a campaign that was compelling with long-term benefits for the customer?
But it didn’t. What it should have done was bite the bullet, take a sector of the mobile market and deliver a compelling value where it has a chance to make money in other ways. And there are plenty of opportunities.
Got a view?
E-mail [email protected]
Under Montefiore’s guidance, M1 became the second-ranked company in its industry, and the man in charge was named Outstanding Chief Executive of 2002 at the Singapore Business Awards. But fast-forward to 2009 and the fairytale has turned sour. M1’s problems began in earnest in 2005, when StarHub outpaced it to become the second-ranked telco in Singapore following an aggressive expansion plan that included the adoption of cable TV. That gave StarHub a bundled offer M1 could not compete with.
M1 has tried to reclaim its past glory by launching faster broadband speeds of up to 100mbps - though both SingTel and StarHub had identical offers by the time M1 managed to roll out the service last August. It also promised to introduce the 3G iPhone by the end of 2008, then retracted its promise in November after seeing it couldn’t be achieved, citing a change in the distribution schedule.
The company has also been losing key personnel. Last July saw the resignation of head of marketing Sharon Tan, after 12 years with M1. On 2 January, Montefiore, still known as ‘the face of M1’ by industry friends, suddenly relinquished his role. His decision came as M1 became involved in a tender to build a next-generation network. While the executive shake-up could give M1 the chance to reinvent itself, analysts say it will more likely put M1 in a tailspin in 2009.
And after the company posted a sharp downturn in profits for its 2008 financial year, it more than ever needs to devise a strategy to differentiate itself in order to compete in the market.
| FACT BOX |
| - In the month following M1’s launch in April 1997, the operator captured 10 per cent of Singapore’s market share. - By the time the company went public in 2002, M1 was the second-ranked telecoms company in Singapore with 34 per cent market share. However, that figured slipped to 31.7 per cent by May 2003, and M1 lost its second-place hold in the market to StarHub two years later. - M1 posted disappointing results for 2008, reporting a 4.5 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit to S$150.1 million. |
Guillaume Pagnoux, group regional planner, Bates141, Southeast Asia
The telco category has experienced radical change over the past couple of years. Mobile number portability has freed people from operators, but, most importantly, the recent convergence of mobile, TV and wireless broadband has repositioned SingTel and StarHub as media companies, while M1 has remained a traditional telco.
Unless M1 becomes significantly cheaper or starts to offer IPTV to match its competitors’ triple-play offerings, paying the market price for M1 will actually mean one is paying a premium for less.
Aside from this shift in business model, the economic climate offers M1 an opportunity to regain its lost ground by making the most of its optimistic brand platform. In the context of the recession, M1 can push for ‘brighter’ communications and content aimed at providing people with a comic release.
The current bleak environment is an opportunity for M1 to activate more consistently its brand idea and bright colour palette to present existing offerings and old assets in a context of joy. To get people to look on the bright side, M1 could, for example, come up with ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ discounts or ‘Beat the Monday blues’ promotions.
Dannie Francis, CEO, Cellcity Mobility Unlimited
The overwhelming reason that M1 suffers in Singapore’s more-of-the-same mobile market is that it is just another operator with no differentiation, and importantly, unlike its two opponents, does not possess an extended services offering through which to bundle or cross-sell mobile services.
While SingTel has the traditional landline and corporate space, and StarHub has the island’s cable network sewn up, poor M1 has no platform at all.
Outgoing CEO Montefiore kicked off the M1 offering with some serious attitude when the telco first launched. A lot of people saw it as a great chance to escape the SingTel monopoly, but since the heady early days, its marketing campaigns have descended into the realm of boredom.
How much intestinal fortitude would it have taken to do something different, attack a sector that is clearly emerging (such as data usage) and create a campaign that was compelling with long-term benefits for the customer?
But it didn’t. What it should have done was bite the bullet, take a sector of the mobile market and deliver a compelling value where it has a chance to make money in other ways. And there are plenty of opportunities.
Got a view?
E-mail [email protected]
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