how operator-sponsored rcs can win consumer hearts and brand … · to discover if rcs is a viable...

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Can RCS possibly stand up to messaging apps? In short: yes, absolutely. Recent focus groups of US consumers, and an ethnographic study of select, major global brands, sponsored by Synchronoss, reveal a market seemingly primed for an operator-sponsored RCS experience and ecosystem. And there are plenty of discoveries and insights for operators to pay careful attention to when considering their next move in the messaging arena with RCS technology.

To discover if RCS is a viable competitor in the broader messaging marketplace, we asked focus group participants a broad range of questions regarding their use of different messaging apps, their perceptions of brand inclusion into a messaging app and a host of other subjects. That’s when something big jumped through the two-way mirror. Messaging is a term reserved for messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, Hangouts and others. But interestingly, “texting” was considered to be almost a different activity entirely.

How operator-sponsored RCS can win consumer hearts and brand budgets

https://synchronoss.com

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Why is this so important? There are two primary reasons:

01 EVERYBODY TEXTS

While consumers use multiple messaging apps. Nearly everyone texts, and they text a lot.

TEXTS ARE DEPENDABLE02

Expectations of peer-to-peer (P2P) communications are higher in texting than in messaging.

This means that RCS, the heir apparent to text messaging, has an applicable market outside the arena of messaging apps. When considering the relative importance of the text messaging business inside of an operator, it’s easy to overlook just how much consumers rely on and trust good, old-fashioned texting—the messaging we reserve for the people we know and care about. And this is the behavior and allegiance RCS can claim.

Come together!

Synchronoss Advanced Messaging Platform was selected by a joint venture comprised of

AT&T, Sprint , T-Mobile and Verizon.


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Is the market ready for RCS? In June 2019, Synchronoss conducted a series of seven focus groups with 50 US consumers across a variety of demographics (see methodology section for full details). The most commonly used messaging app for these consumers was the native, pre-loaded application that integrates both SMS and device-centric messaging services, such as iMessage or Android Messages. While 51% preferred the native app as their primary access point to messages, it was used in tandem with other apps by almost all participants. Driven by the “free” international capabilities of the platform, WhatsApp claimed second-highest preference (31%) as most commonly used mes-saging app while Facebook Messenger came in third with 14% of the vote.

So, I compartmentalize… depending on who I’m talking to… For the most part, it’s the iMessenger app… I don’t have to go looking [for it]... But [also] WhatsApp, because I have a lot of friends that don’t live here in the States, it’s international and so it’s free….”

iMessage/ Android (n=25)

What's App (n=15)

Messenger (n=7)

iMessage/ Android (n=25) What's App (n=15) Messenger (n=7)Textra (n=1) Insta (n=1)

“

”

iMessage/ Android (n=25) What's App (n=15) Messenger (n=7)Textra (n=1) Insta (n=1)

Messenger

iMessage/Android

What’s App

Insta

Textra


MOST COMMONLY USED MESSAGING APPS


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Messaging Apps vs TextToday, US consumers compartmentalize their messaging app usage. Every messaging service has a set of upsides and downsides, as described by our focus groups:

WhatsApp scores highly for enabling free international messaging, the fact it works well across Apple and Android operating systems and because it’s encrypted. It suffered because it hogs storage space and has a clunky interface.

Facebook Messenger is popular because of its integration with Facebook, group chats and a series of useful features integrated in the app. Its negatives include concerns around Facebook’s security and the use of advertising.

The native messaging app (integrating SMS with iMessage and Android Messages) remains the primary app because it’s easy to use, has a variety of emerging features and there’s no requirement to download the app. It’s there when you turn your device on. The downsides were that it creates a perceived barrier between Apple and Android users (“blue bubble” vs. “green bubble”), and it has poor search capabilities.



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Participants were asked to assess their messaging habits between apps and time spent with each.

Across the groups, the usual suspects, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. were discussed heavily, with not a

single mention of “texting.”

When asked what percentage of time they spent texting vs. messaging, subjects overwhelmingly gave

texting the highest amount of use (note, this is generally due to the use of iMessage). And it almost

seemed to surprise them. It seems that texting is far more than a reliable utility. It’s almost like a

human/analogue dial tone that’s so primary and essential that consumers don’t always think about it

when they use it. It follows that “texting” can’t really be replaced by any other messaging app. Why?

RCS – it’s what US consumers want Through this primary research, Synchronoss – the Messaging as a Platform and Messaging Marketplace technology provider behind the RCS-based +Message service launched in May 2018 by the three major operators in Japan – introduced a range of use cases for the capabili-ties of RCS, from basic person-to-person chat communications to multiple brand ‘mobile-app’ experiences, such as booking/scheduling and the purchasing of goods and services to increase convenience and add value to their daily lives. The findings are fascinating and lead to a series of lessons for operators introducing RCS.

Gartner puts open rates as high as 98% (vs. 20% for email) and response rates at 45% (vs. 6% for email)1. And this stat is for brand-sponsored texts. P2P texting is even stickier.

WHYTHE

IS OBVIOUS:

Top Bots

Top Brands

ADVANCED MESSAGING APPLICATION


1https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/tap-into-the-marketing-power-of-sms/


https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/tap-into-the-marketing-power-of-sms/

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/tap-into-the-marketing-power-of-sms/

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CONSUMERS UNDERSTAND RCS AND WANT “A ONE-STOP-SHOP” FOR FRIENDS AND BRANDSAfter seeing demonstrations, consumers understood the idea of RCS as an upgrade to standard texting.

Not unexpectedly, younger groups grasped the concept and its potential faster than the older groups.

Those in the younger groups (mostly under 35 with a few in their early 40s) noted they were looking

forward to experimenting with the platform when it hits their phones.

CONSUMERS ARE EXCITED FOR RCSConsumer interest was especially stimulated around the enhanced functionality of RCS. The ability to

more seamlessly handle appointment setting and scheduling within the app was well-received, as the

current equivalent experiences across multiple apps are clunky and inconvenient. Being able to pay for

goods and services, as well as being able to settle-up with friends and family, directly through RCS

using a variety of payment methods, was embraced as a particularly useful feature. The quick and easy

functions were the ones participants seemed most willing to try.

In fact, the more participants discussed the potential for what RCS may make possible, the more

excited they became.

“ I never thought that I would be able to communicate with…a school, or a salon or anything like that through [messaging]. I’ve never thought like, Oh! I wish my school could communicate with messenger. But, like once this comes out, it’s going to benefit me in ways that I didn’t know that I wanted.”



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CONSUMERS DIFFER IN THEIR MOTIVATIONSThe idea of RCS becoming a kind of ‘super app’ was seen as positive by many consumers, especially iPhone users, because it would allow them to eliminate some other apps and free space on their devices. However, the idea of complete consolidation into one app was somewhat contentious. Some participants, especially those in older demographics, like using separate apps for separate activities. Younger users, however, were thrilled at the convenience of integrating multiple functions in a single app.

CONSUMERS WANT TO ENGAGE WITH BRANDS… ON THEIR TERMSConsumers were generally warm to the idea of interacting with brands on RCS with some important and understandable conditions:

Fred’s such a mooch. Really? Again with the spot?

Now I can remind him how much he owes me as I send him money.

All in the same app.

01 They want to be treated with respect. If they engage with a brand, they don’t want to receive an avalanche of spam messages.

02 They want better control than they have today when it comes to giving brands access to personal information. Although negative sentiment in this area mostly came from older participants, all participants were clear that brands – and operators – had to keep their personal information safe and secure.



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04 They want something in return. If they engage with a brand and share information, they want an offer or deal in exchange.

05 They want personal contact. Overall, customer service use cases were viewed positively. However, older participants indicated they generally preferred to interact with humans rather than bots.

Overall, many aspects of RCS were positively received by the majority of the focus group participants. They don’t see it as ‘SMS 2.0’, rather as something more exciting. Not unexpectedly, those in younger demographics were generally more predisposed to using and experimenting with the different capabili-ties that RCS will offer. At the same time, it’s important to note that these US consumers do not seem quite ready to embrace the super app lifestyle enjoyed by Asian consumers who daily go into apps such as WeChat and LINE and stay there all day. This is understandable. In Asia, WeChat and Line users have gradually embraced more integrated features as they have become more familiar with the platforms. RCS, like Rome, wasn’t built in a day.

03 They want to be able to separate brand and personal conversations to avoid cluttering and help manage their feeds.



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Is there a natural operator advantage? Yes, but it has to be earned.How will the operators sway consumers into using an RCS messaging application vs. OTT applications like Facebook Messenger, Snapchat or even iMessage? Operators need to find an angle of differentiation apart from great distribution.

RCS SUCCESS STARTS WITH TRUST“Trust” was a prevalent issue in the focus groups. Platform providers such as Facebook, Google and even Apple scored low on the participant trust meter, declining further as the age of the participants increased.

PARTICIPANTS’ MOBILE OPERATOR

Verizon28.6%

AT&T26.5%

T-Mobile24.5%

Sprint16.3%

Metro PCS2.0%

Other2.0%

28.6% of focus group participants were Verizon customers, 26.5% AT&T,

24.5% T-Mobile and 16% Sprint.



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I’m concerned about Facebook.

I don’t utilize it unless I absolutely have

to now, but before I was heavy-duty

into it. But I’m concerned about safety

measures because they’re just not

intact. It’s all over the news that there

are infractions and [the] creepiest

things happening in regards to

people’s personal information.

“

What about operators? Are operators better positioned to earn the trust of consumers? Yes. THE BASIS FOR OPERATOR TRUSTThe major drivers of customer satisfaction were service quality, special offers/bundles and customer service. Despite reasonable levels of satisfaction, willingness to switch operators is generally high – especially amongst younger consumers, who were agnostic rather than loyal towards operator brands and made their decisions based on cost. Providing decent mobile access, therefore, is not a basis for trust.

Instead, the area in which operator-sponsored RCS services can win trust is the other messaging platform providers’ Achilles heel—privacy and security. Participants felt that, operators are more trustworthy than other companies (especially the platform providers) when it comes to managing data security and privacy. This insight provides an important lesson to operators in the design, build, branding and launch of RCS services.

“I’m with [my operator] because I’m secure with the privacy, …I’ve been with them for a long time.”


”


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What does this mean for brands? WeChat and Line have combined texting and more advanced, brand-oriented functionality to claim billions of users. Originally starting life as messaging apps, these super apps now enable consumers to do everything from making payments and transferring money to booking rides, flights and hotels – all within the app.

The launch of the Japanese +Message in May 2018, showcases RCS done right. Per their business strategy, services started as a pure P2P messaging app, now reaching 13 million subscribers. At the time of writing (December 2019), +Message will have enabled A2P messaging, and early moving brands are starting to learn how to use RCS in new ways to create powerful consumer response. Early RCS marketing trials in the US have demonstrated some incredible results for brands. Subway, for example, created real-time, image-rich AI-driven conversations to make order personalization and checkout easier than ever before. As a result, Subway enjoyed a 146% lift and a 50% to 60% increase in conversion rate2.

“ I don’t know what there isn’t to like about RCS. I just wish there were more carriers that would adopt the technology – because consumers are there, they’re waiting for it…”

Carissa Ganeilli, Chief Digital Officer, Subway.

Ms. Ganeilli may soon get her wish. Operators around the world are starting to follow the example that is being set in Japan. This will create a unique channel for consumer marketers by combining the immediacy and reach of SMS, the content richness of the mobile apps and a raft of other capabilities that have attracted billions of Asian consumers onto advanced messaging platforms.

2 https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/rcs/partner-spotlight-subway-ganelli/

I like that with iMessage you can

use Apple Pay, you can send money

directly to people. It’s just the

easiest. You can voicemail, all in

one…It makes it [all] accessible.

“ ”


https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/rcs/partner-spotlight-subway-ganelli/

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Industry-watcher Mobilesquared anticipates that more than 2.5 billion A2P RCS messages will be sent in 2019 and expects that number to scale to more than 69 billion by 2023. It’s becoming increasingly clear that RCS will be of real interest to brands. But mobile operators have to get the experience right to ensure maximum reach. This means:

Brand marketing dollars follow audiences, and

RCS: lessons for operatorsFocus groups are imperfect, but in this case, they have provided a useful indication of consumer reactions to, and opinions of, RCS. RCS has the potential to increase engagement between operators and consumers and creates new revenue streams. So, what lessons can operators learn from this research?

CONTROL THE CLIENT, CONTROL THE EXPERIENCERCS is not just an upgrade to text messaging. It’s much more than that, and consumers understand this. Consumers do not consider texting an ‘app’ – more a feature of the device. It’s therefore important that operators take control of their RCS client. Service design is going to be critical, and the experience will be everything. Operators won’t have a ‘clear run’ with RCS, and all the other popular messaging services will be constantly upgraded. But strong service design, enabled by client control, will help operators compete for users.

the more fragmented and slower to build they are, the less brands will invest. But if operators get distribution right, brands can take the lessons learned from SMS marketing and start experimenting with RCS. Brand marketers will soon experience not only substantially higher open rates, response rates and engagement, but realize sales and commerce interactions all within a single marketing channel that is in the hands of virtually anybody with a smartphone. RCS will become a valuable, primary market-ing channel.

Although RCS seems like no brainer, remember that we’re in a very different world today than we were when SMS marketing started. Consumers are more demanding and more sensitive than ever before.

■ Ensuring interoperability between operators from the very beginning

■ Updating the existing native messaging app experience on Android and simplifying app discovery on iOS

■ Enabling A2P immediately



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“ By being the default, it would increase the likelihood that I use it, because it’s bonded already, and I would try it and if it does the job well, then I’d stick with it.”

Consumers – especially those in younger demographics – understand the convenience of having app functions centrally located within RCS. This is something for operators to emphasize in service design and promotional communications. A lot of consumers also stated that they would want to be able to separate interactions with friends and family from interactions with brands.

“ I like the idea. I think it would simplify things. It’d be great to have everything in one place instead of having to do every-thing from a whole bunch of different apps. I would just use it to basically have a hub for everything that I do.”

ADD NEW FEATURES TO BUILD USER DELIGHT AND VISIBLY PROTECT PRIVACYConsumers will take time to fully understand all the capabilities of RCS. Operators will be better served by rolling out more limited capa-bilities initially and introducing new ones regu-larly, rather than launching them all at once.

“ You don’t want it to be under-whelming. You don’t want it to be overwhelming. So you want to be right there in the middle, just the sweet spot.”

Additionally, operators must be careful not to overload RCS with brands too soon. There will be immense interest from brands, but if RCS is seen as a ‘brand’ space, consumers will be more cautious about embracing and experimenting with the service. This insight speaks to the critical issue of protecting security and privacy – a core aspect of building consumer trust. The launch of brands on an RCS client must be permission-based to maintain the position of strength operators start from in terms of the ubiquitous nature of text messaging today in the US. The research suggests that consumers are much more willing to embrace brand presence on the platform if there is something in it for them. So, encouraging early mover brands to offer concrete deals will be welcomed, as will ‘deal-finder’ messaging bots, again, as long as it is permission-based.

“ I think I would want the normal messages from like the people that I know separate from the brand messages.”

Operators should start using RCS to improve their own interactions with consumers early. There are any number of customer care use cases. they can also track improvements in their own customer experience. This will help operators looking to sign up brands to use RCS for customer services purposes.



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Brand carefullyRCS platform naming and branding will be critical. Operators should avoid overtly branding RCS with their own names. Loyalty to operators varies, but trust in the services they offer – such as texting – and their role in safeguarding security and privacy is relatively high. Using operator branding upfront will more likely be a ‘turn off’ for consumers – especially the younger demographics to whom RCS is most exciting.

“ My [operator] does not have that much credibility with me to begin with. But, I don’t know. I don’t trust anything on this phone. So, like it wouldn’t matter where it came from.”

Additionally, chatbots and bots were received nega-tively by many consumers – especially in the older demographics. While operators understand the potential of bots to augment human interactions, and consumers interact with a lot more bots than they understand, perception is important. When the capabilities of bots were described as widgets or add-ons to focus group participants, they were received much more positively.

“ Within a couple of days of usage, they [bots] know so much about you. They would know so much more about you than any other one app would ever know about you in a lifetime.”

“ If it’s a real person who responds to you, it’s perfect.”

Consumers fear RCS becoming a channel full of spam. Marketers fear RCS becoming a ‘broken channel’ due to poor brand behavior (like email). Operators need to lead from the front. Establishing ‘brand behavior charters’ early on will be critical in ensuring acceptable brand behavior and safeguarding consumer privacy. Policy and enforcement will be essential, and consumer rating and reporting should be integrated from the start.

BUT THERE IS SIGNIFICANT ALIGNMENT BETWEEN BRAND AND OPERATOR OBJECTIVESSavvy brands are well aware of the pitfalls of poor digital marketing experiences. They have had more than a decade of learning from declining impressions and banner ad open rates and have been trying to find ways of having meaningful, relevant, personalized interactions with consumers. So, the policy and enforcement of the permis-sion-based marketing that operators must launch for a new RCS experience is in complete alignment with what brands are looking for in a new digital channel.

In addition, because an operator’s purpose in launching RCS is so fundamentally different than any of the existing platforms today, they have an opportunity to provide levels of analytics that are incredibly desirable to the brands. Operators can create methods of sharing more precise and accurate data with brands to help improve the value of the engagement with consumers across the channel, while also protecting their subscribers’ interests.

BE AWARE OF STORAGE AND IDENTITY OPPORTUNITIESAs described, one of the reasons US consumers, especially iPhone users, were excited about RCS, was because they perceive it as a route to helping them manage on-device storage (by removing apps with capabilities that will be replaced by RCS). As devices get more expensive, people are increasingly buying them unlocked with lower amounts of storage. RCS creates a clear opportunity for operators to offerfreemium automatic cloud storage models to drive usage and revenue.

Additionally, there’s an interesting opportunity for an ‘identity wallet’ within RCS. This could be prepopulated with basic consumer information by the operator to enable opt-in to brand deals. Consumers benefit from centralized information storage and being able to set and manage finite contracts with brands, protecting their privacy. Brands benefit from knowing that, in return for a special deal, they will gain access to important, personal information governed by set, clear agreements.


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Next steps for operatorsMessaging of all flavors has grown at an astonishing pace since its inception nearly 30 years ago. RCS represents the next stage of this phenomenon, enabling operators to offer a new service that creates genuine excitement, subscriber engagement and new revenue opportunities.

So what do operators need to do next? Beyond ensuring interoperability, our focus groups and brand interactions offer three primary lessons for operators launching RCS services. They must:

■ Prioritize P2P communication functionality to ensure this is the app they use to “text”, not just message

■ Quickly deliver A2P functionality in a way that makes it easy for consumers to interact with the brands they like when they like, not when the brand likes

■ Prioritize privacy and access to consumers so RCS is “the” app they use for everything

This research provides a series of insights and lessons for operators that, if followed, will create an operator-controlled platform that could be worth many billions of dollars. Based on a series of conversations between Synchronoss and dozens of major brands at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, no shortage of brands will be dipping their toes into RCS. If operators set up RCS correctly from the beginning, brands will be ready to embrace this new marketing platform.


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02 Millennials with normal technology acceptance (ages 20-35) defined as consumers who still use smart phone products but who do not consider this technology as being an important factor in their lives. Annual household income: $35,000+

01 Tech-savvy millennials (ages 20-35) defined as consumers with smart home products, high-end phones and computers, etc. Annual household income: $50,000+

06 Tech-savvy and interested in technology (ages 18-24). Annual household income: $50,000+

04Older adults (ages 35-55) with normal technology acceptance defined as consumers with smart home products, high-end phones and computers, etc, but who do not consider this technology being an important factor in their lives. Annual household income: $55,000+

05 Senior adults (ages 55 and up) of varying levels of technology acceptance and income

03 Older tech-savvy adults (ages 35-55) defined as consumers with smart home

products, high-end phones and computers, etc. Annual household income: $55,000+


Methodology Synchronoss partnered with SIS International Research to conduct a series of focus groups during May and June 2019 to test consumer responses to advanced mobile messaging services. Hosted in New York, a total of 50 US consumers from a variety of demographics participated across seven 90-minute sessions. These consumers included:

Participants were asked about their current messaging behavior, introduced to a series of advanced messaging demonstrations, and queried about their interests and reservations about the capabilities of advanced messaging. Moderators used a variety of techniques to gain understanding of rational, irrational, conscious and subconscious consumer insights, behaviors and decision-making processes.

07 Tech-savvy and interested in technology (ages 21-30). Annual household income: $50,000+


how operator-sponsored rcs can win consumer hearts and brand … · to discover if rcs is a viable...

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