I got an interesting email yesterday in response to my recent post about mobility in Canada. It seems that Rogers Wireless has partnered with a word-of-mouth marketer call Matchstick, to promote the Nokia 6682 through bloggers in Toronto and Vancouver. They plan to give away phones to people who meet this criteria….

• Hosts a popular blog with 400+ hits a day
• A current Rogers cell phone subscriber (phone only supported with the Rogers network)
• Between the ages of 22-35
• Keeps his/ her blog updated on a regular basis with pictures and video
• Very socially active

So this is a wonderful idea but I have a few suggestions for them—specifically for the Canadian market.

Beware the Data Plan Dilemma

I’m assuming this promo will come with a data plan—otherwise what’s the point. Data use in Canada is very low (if you don’t count Blackberrys) so you really can’t assume that participants will have a plan. They’re also marketing this as a ‘multimedia smartphone’ (I’m surprised they were allowed to use the word ‘phone‘) so they will probably encourage participants to upload photos, video etc.

But here’s the thing. If you give them the largest Rogers plan (100MB,) they may still (very innocently) go over their monthly limit and be stuck with a large bill at the end of the month. If you give them an unlimited plan, you’ve opened Pandora’s box, because at the moment—Rogers/Fido doesn’t have such a plan. Be prepared for the fact that, if this promotion is successful, consumers may start to ask for unlimited data options!

Involve Teachers

There are a lot of students and teachers blogging around the world. Canada is no exception. Your 22-35 age cap may sound reasonable from a marketing point of view but do consider that by involving a few teachers (some may be under 35 but many won’t be,) you’ll get way more participation and word of mouth. And, it’ll be more relevant to parents who may start to consider a smartphone as a family purchase (see the comments in this post about the ‘pass-back’) or school-boards, who are already experimenting with handheld devices in the classroom—with great results (American study).

And while you’re at it, why not involve some older, high profile professionals (TV celebrities, musicians, designers, authors etc.)

Give them a Bit of Support

This is not the Nokia Blogger Relations Program (no link available that I can find but we all know it exists Your bloggers are obviously internet literate but in this market, they maybe not handset literate. If they lived in the UK, Malaysia, France etc. they would likely walk over to their local bookstore, pick up a magazine and discover all sorts of applications and services to try out on their new phones. Here, they may be hard pressed to find information and as most Nokia devices for sale in Canada have historically been lower end series 40 devices, they may not even be able to turn to a more experienced friend for advice.

So give them a starter kit. A list of (useful! or fun) applications and lifestyle/personalzation tools—Life Blog, Shozu, Widsets, Habbo Hotel etc., links to some non-traditional technology bloggers, moblogers, etc. You’ll get way more out of this (and so will they) if they don’t spend their first week fussing with settings and trying to figure out exactly what they can do with this new device.

Feel free to pass this information on to bloggers in Toronto or Vancouver. For more information, or to participate, contact Yvonne (yvonneATmatchstickDOTca.)