MOTHERWELL FC: QUITE A LARGE METAPHORICAL BLOG ABOUT PHONES AND FOOTBALL
Originally I was going to write this week's blog comparing the Old Firm and Motherwell and the lack of acknowledgement motherwell have had in ebing second in the SPL, with the launch of the new iPhone. Then Steve Jobs died and I thought it would maybe be a little disrespectful. Then Steve Jennings got arrested and I considered blogging my thoughts on that, but with no real facts other than that he got sent off and bets were made, I thought it would maybe end up a little libellous. So I went back to my original idea of ragging on the iPhone.
I've worked in mobiles for 6 years and the impact that the iPhone has had on the industry is staggering. However, it does split opinion due to it's blanket appeal to an initial niche market. The way that it has taken over the mobile world is testament to the genius and innovation of Steve Jobs who passed away this week. While using an iPhone myself, I am by no means an Apple enthusiast, but make use of the varied things it is capable of doing. I know that other phones can do the same things I use it for, but I got a fairly good discounted staff deal on it, so price was a factor in my choosing. the following blog may make me seem hypocritcal, but i stand by it.
So, working in the mobile phone industry like I do, the most frustrating time of year is nigh upon me and my colleagues. Each year Apple release their latest wunderkind of a phone, leaving Applephiles and technophobes frothing at the thumbs in anticipation of it.
From first look at the iPhone 4S, it is not as impressive as some were hoping for. Indeed a number of current smartphones are doing similar, if not better things than the new iPhone, with the 4S looking to be an intermediary phone before the inevitable iPhone 5 next year.
In the mobile sales industry, it is very easy to sell the iPhone. Everyone has one, so everyone else wants one, regardless of the cost, what they need it for and what it does. In my role, I am encouraged to find the customers needs over their wants, usually resulting in me trying to get them away from thinking Apple.
It is only because the iPhone is such an iconic bit of kit, that most people want it, without understanding that there are many phones that can do what the customer needs the phone to do that would be cheaper and better suited to them. Alas, they all want iPhone.
Where does this tie in with Motherwell FC? Well, it's a tenuous link, but here goes...
All the focus of last weekend's SPL results was on the fact that Rangers would go 10 points clear of Celtic if they were to win and their green and white foes lost. That, indeed, is a fact. While Celtic's defeat to Hearts perhaps wasn't a shock, it certainly wasn't expected either. Off the back of a decent performance against Udinese, and with Tynecastle being the sight of the attack on neil lennon last season, Celtic should by all accounts have been more up for the fight. Already 10 points behind Rangers form the previous day, they should have gone at Hearts to show some mettle.
But they didn't. Fat Kris Commons got himself sent off for being a twat and they got beat 2-0. At this early stage in the season, Celtic have a huge 10 point deficit to make up to catch Rangers in the battle for 1st and 2nd. Celtic are certainly coming off second best so far, being so far behind Rangers in 3rd place.....that's right 3rd place. 10 points behind in THIRD. Not 10 points behind in SECOND place.
That's because Motherwell are sitting proudly in 2nd, only 9 points behind the leaders. This is down to Motherwell having more points than Celtic, and getting a crucial 3-1 away win at Tannadice last weekend to keep them there. This is where the first bit starts to make sense.
The Old Firm are like iPhones. They have a core, staunch fan base that will do anything to prove their love for their brand. They attract followers who have the philosophies, whether positive or negative, ingrained in their fibre. They can not see past what they believe in. At the other end of the spectrum, they attract fans which like to take the easy route, they like the status of associating themselves with the particular product over it's functionality. Every year there is a new version of both teams and phone and for all the hype surrounding them, the performance is markedly similar.
Both the Old Firm and iPhones/Apple can do very little wrong in the eyes of the media, even when underperforming. The signal issue that dogged the iPhone 4 threatened to tarnish Apple's reputation of releasing premium handsets, but a clever marketing ploy to sell more accessories glossed over this. The problems of the Old Firm, while by no means glossed over by the media, do have a certain bias leaned towards them. Indeed, very little praise was heaped on Hearts for their win at the weekend, as the focus shifted to Celtic's shortcomings, such is the nature of the coverage of our league.
All of this is understandable. As the most popular brands within their field, they will attract a large share of interest based on what they produce, whether good or bad. What this then creates is an unbalanced playing field for their competitors, where ignorance and poor judgement takes over.
Very few people have congratulated Motherwell on getting to this stage of the season splitting the Old Firm. Likewise, not many people are hailing the advances in mobile technologies that don't come from Apple HQ. The majority of conversations I will be forced to have with customers at work in the coming months will centre on the iPhone 4S. Regardless of how much I tell them that they can have a less costly phone that does the same thing, sometimes better things, they will revert to wanting Steve Jobs' last creation.
It's the same when talking to Rangers and Celtic fans about why they support their side of the division. I don't have exact figures, but I would imagine that Celtic and Rangers have as many, if not more fans, who never go to see there teams at home or away. they support from afar, happy to see a team that they perhaps support because their Grandad did, or because they think it's cool to be a gloryhunter, without actually experincing it for themselves. In know way am I being ignorant to the costings of being a football fan, as it is an expensive sport to follow, particularly if you are a follower of the Old Firm.
Again this is a similar thing I speak of with customers re their choice of phone. If you want premium, you pay premium. What many of them don't understand, is that while they want the premium because it is premium, they don't need it. They want an iPhone for Facebook. Get a cheap Samsung. They need a 64GB iPhone for emailing. Get a Blackberry. Cheaper, better suited alternatives are available. If you can afford to not take advantage of all the benefits of it that is fine too. The point I am making is that people who see success in something they don't particularly require can be blinkered to other things that do the job just as well.
The appeal of always being on top is there for those who like the easy, safe option. For everything else there are alternatives, and as such, they should be acknowledged just as much. At my previous place of mobile phone employment, I got in a shedload of trouble for not getting fully behind the iPhone, as I had the viewpoint that we had other better performing phones that we could sell just as well if given the same backing by the company. I am not sorry for it and still hold to that philosophy.
Maybe I just love an underdog story, being a Motherwell fan, I am well versed in it. But all I am asking is for people to give credit where it is due. You take Rangers and Celtic out of the SPL, which they are forever saying they wish for, and Motherwell are running away with the league. The football from not only Motherwell (in patches this season), but from Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, St Mirren (earlier stages), has been very good, and not enough credit has been given to them for it.
While the focus of the SPL will always be on the plights of Rangers and Celtic, merit needs to be given to the teams who stand toe to toe with them. While they may not have the brand awareness or the award/trophy winning history of their more dominant competitors, Motherwell offer an alternative to the norm, a different operating system but performing the same function. Just like phones these days all do the same thing but with little tweaks here and there, the SPL consists of 12 teams not 2. Consider them every now and then.
I could go on and on extending this metaphor, but I think that will do. The SPL frustrates me just as much as my job as so much focus is put on on particular brand or product, that it makes it hard for anything else to get noticed. hopefully, come the end of the season, the underdogs will be making themselves just as noticed as the old familiar ones.
KJ
Up The Well!
Sent From My iPhone
