LIME, A Sinking Ship! Maybe Not...

Jump ship! Ok, maybe not yet but LIME is now operating on fumes as I have been told by an insider close to management. The company is scrambling to find ways to boost its income and to regain a dominant enough foothold to sustain itself, but as you all can see, this isn't working out too well.

The Sour Taste of LIME

It would appear that there is still somewhat of a bitter taste in the minds of most people who find it hard to forget the monopolistic carrier that raped us all financially, you know, similar to what JPS is doing now. In addition, the slow pace at which LIME moves to implement new technologies is another thing that causes it to seem so unappealing. Next is the flawed marketing and business intelligence LIME seems to pull out of the air. LIME, if you are launching a new service do not launch it for the corporate area alone, in this business environment that is simply not good enough, better you wait until you can cover at least 60-70% of the population (which includes all major cities and towns) and then you launch.

LIME's parent company describes Jamaica as a difficult market, but this really isn't true. Anyone old enough can recall the tyranny that was provisioned to us by TOJ / Cable & Wireless (Now LIME) when Digicel came along almost immediately everything as far as telecoms is concerned began getter better. LIME is suffering from consumer negation syndrome. Ok I just made that up, but subconsciously most who consume telecoms services try, sometimes without even knowing it, to avoid LIME.

So what is LIME to do?


This would require a two pronged approach. 

To survive, LIME must eliminate these negative notions from the minds of the Jamaican population, easier said than done but it is possible. Start focusing sensible marketing efforts towards the young teenage crowd, those who weren't born or too young to recall the monopolistic days. Engage them with cheap phones that look great and have features sufficient for that age group, mp3 player etc. Ride the $8.99 wave that Digicel currently offers, same price no matter where you call. Appeal to the parents of these kids, after all a parent will think about the well being of his or her child over company brands. Utilize the same talk packages but put them forward in a different light, as in, "make sure your child gets in safe, want to talk to her the entire trip home?" stuff like that, highlight cell coverage, if possible, a way to track your child via his or her cell phone. Also, encourage education, partner with schools and PTAs, create online work havens for collaboration via desktop or phone specific to our Jamaican education climate. Diversify by selling advertising as well through these newly implemented mediums.

Next, be a step ahead of the competition, research new technologies and implement tactfully and sensibly.  These technologies must support the major target market, as discussed above. 

Ok, that's it, Oh, and stop blaming others for what is happening to the company, man up and learn from your competition.