A little poke at all those commenters who thought we were full of crap the other day when we suggested that the empty Helio flagship store reflected the disastrous decision to take the current advertising and branding approach – an approach which simply fails to connect with consumers.
Well, there have been billboards ads by Deutsch LA on Lafayette and West Broadway announcing the store for a while now, and yesterday (Sunday) and today the store remained empty – bar a friend of one of the sales clerks who had stopped by for a chat.
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I’ve been in two of their stores (Santa Monica and Palo Alto) twice each, day and night, and all four times I was the only customer in the store.
October 29th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
You’re still begging the question. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they’re not doing well, but saying “I’ve been to the store twice and it’s been empty, therefore their brand positioning is a disaster,” is assumptive and irresponsible. It’s even more disappointing given your supposed expertise on the topic. Where’s your market data? Where are your outside sources? Keep beating the “empty store equals bad position” horse all you want, but you’re still not making an argument that anybody with a vested interest in the topic can take seriously.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Also, FWIW, your last post on the topic got beat up on more because of the quality of the writing and editing than because of the thin argument.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:10 pm
5000-
It’s not “I’ve been to the store twice and it’s been empty, therefore their brand positioning is a disaster,”
Rather, the brand positioning is wrong, ergo; the store remains empty…
C/
November 1st, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Do not underestimate Helio, they have great handsets and they have great phone plans. Only area they need improvement is the call center staff and once their staff is educated and trained, helio will be a premier wireless provider.
Austin Daly
http://www.heliobuy.com
November 4th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Just because the Helio store is always empty doesn’t mean anything. They also have the ability to buy a phone and get hooked up with a plan online. These days a lot of people are finding that if you can do something like shop via the internet without having to put any pants on there’s no point in going out and spending more time on something that can be done in minutes from your own home. Every Apple store I’ve ever been in is packed almost to the point of not being able to move…. however whenever I’m in there it seems that everyone in there is only there because they’re waiting for their appointment at the Genius Bar to get their crap fixed. Chew on that for a while. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Apple and their products…. however if they worked as well as they claim it to their Genius Bar would basically be one guy standing there with nothing to do all day. Instead it’s a team of guys who are busy as hell all day long. So if you want to look at it from that perspective you could assume that Helio’s stores are so empty because their devices are so reliable that no one needs to come in and add their name to a concierge and wait three hours so someone can fix their product.
….or maybe everyone would rather handle things online and over the phone and save the trip, time and gas. Helio’s devices seem very targeted towards teens and the younger crowd…. most of which probably don’t have a license to drive to these stores since kids are getting “trendy” and receiving expensive gadgets as young as 7 now. ….seriously. I saw a 7 (or 8) year old kid at the mall with an iPhone…. would you really trust a $400 phone in the hands of someone who just recently learned to tie their shoes?
December 6th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
I have Helio, and I bought the phone from FYE because I didn’t feel like driving 40 miles to their store in Palo Alto. I LOVE my “device”, I’ve had it for nearly a year, and though I want to upgrade to the Ocean, I’m really happy with my Drift. No dropped calls, and everyone who watches me work this thing is in awe. And it’s not complicated at all. I realize that it’s marketed toward those under 25, so I’ve made a few suggestions when it comes to their browser content (just because I’m female doesn’t mean I like Pop Sugar), but really, I recommend the service to everyone.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:22 pm