Bong on Bongo
I spend a great deal of time learning about entrepreneurship. Along the way I discover an enormous number of methods for unethical extraction of money from suckers. The Internet has opened the communication channels between morally deficient soles and an unprecedented number of curious and gullible consumers. Thanks to the plummeting cost of information distribution, there are now countless ways of bringing about the separation of a few dollars from a significant number of people.
There are many ways to entice this separation, and curiosity, intrigue or plain old egotism are gold mines in that regard. One need only offer an intriguing, albeit shallow and trivial, product that meets these criteria: it must be mysterious, because people just want to believe there is a higher power that is in the know; it must be bite-size, because it's easier to digest and share; and it must purport to solve a common question since that guarantees universal appeal. Add one part any of the methods of cheap, wide-spread and viral distribution and one part a convenient, average beer or coffee cost billing method, and you have yourself a winner. The distribution is necessary because viral marketing penetrates like nothing else and a million times a few dollars is just as good as a few thousand times a few grand. The convenient billing method is a concept from the micro-billling phenomenon. It says that in general, people are happy to pay for their entertainment - but only if there is no work required on the behalf of the payer and only if the amount is less than they would consider worth worrying about.
Anyway, the concept that prompted me to write this post is called 199BONGO. It purports to answer any question sent to it by sms. In particular, there is an option for "ego texting", which is the feature that brought it to my attention. The mysteriousness of the service has allowed a viral phenomenon to propagate, as one friend after another tries it out, just to see what it will say. Bongo receives the sms and one of an army of work at home researches will consult the Internet to concoct a short response of varying degrees of accuracy. Additionally, based on previous sms's to Bongo, it is not hard to compile a list of names that would be pertinant in a response. Including some random remark about the relationship between the person being ego texted and the names associated with them is a brilliant way of adding excitement to the message without requiring any insight.
Naturally then, this is an intriguing proposal. Premium sms'es are the holy grail of micro-billing, since the payment method has zero immediate burden, and slips under the significant financial cost barrier. Engage the intrigue of a return message, the mysteriousness of its source and content, and the ego stroking nature of reading about yourself and your friends, and you're on a winner.
Why then, am I opposed to the business? Because it adds nothing to society. The entertainment value is deceptive, fleeting, trivial and represents bad value. Appealing to the impressionable gossip-bound nature of mobile phone equipped teenagers does not impact the world in a favourable way. Charging $3 for 100 or so letters, regardless of whether people are willing to pay for it, is fraudulent. Basing a business on such deceitful and trivial services is the work of untrustworthy souls. Sure enough, there is evidence that Daniel Angelini, the owner of the business, has made many enemies around his Impulse Business Solutions company in Brighton, Melbourne. I'm sure their essay download service attracts plenty of ill feeling as well.
Of course, I can't convince everyone to avoid Bongo to suit my moral ideals, and the temptation for some will be sufficient for Bongo to do quite well financially. On the other hand, I'm going to continue to try to keep my karma jar full, and will take great pride in conducting morally sound, society improving business.
Comments
haha entertaining heath and yes they are not really adding anything to society but they aren't exactly detracting a great deal either. In fact any method such as this for parting money from fools is gold! If you can't stoop to talking all the money yourself perhaps do it and donate the money to charity or something and take a percentage for your time. That would be adding something to society!
I think there are companies out there that are much more deserving of your wrath. Perhaps Arms manufactures or even loansharks.
Posted by: Ivan | March 17, 2007 6:54 AM
i find your comments, amusing, as the person who owns the business i love to read comments made by people such as youself.
A few things you may be interested to note. The ego texting aspect of Bongo i had never even thought of when i started Bongo, it was ment to be a general question answering service for trivia, sport scores, cinema times and the like, people started sending their names one day, and havnt stopped sending them, much to my amazement, to that extent your views on viral marketing are very correct and well thought. However I do find it amusing at times viewing " social do gooders" making big statements about things they know nothing about, because they have nothing more important to do at that moment in time, so perhaps you should start your career in "conducting morally sound, society improving business" by at least knowing exactly what your talking about before pointing fingers. Further perhaps stop being so hypocritical in a sense that u critise aspects of the internet and mainstream society that have allowed Bongo to boom, yet your using exactly the same tools to spread your ill informed dribble to the masses from the comfort of your life of bliss.
Posted by: bongo himself | March 18, 2007 8:03 PM
lol u r so queer do u think everything is going to add something valuable to society?? why does it matter its just an entertaining fad u goober lol
Posted by: Tara | March 21, 2007 12:21 AM
roflcopter!!!1!! Naturally the service appeals to certain crowds, and through the power of the Internet we have this wonderful opportunity to communicate. Unfortunately this medium also makes painfully clear when the necessary comprehension skills are sorely lacking, curtailing much of the hope of a discussion. Nonetheless, I welcome the comments and sympathise with the points of view.
Posted by: Heath Raftery | March 24, 2007 11:31 AM
hi i think this is odd you used too many big words in the txt above god man! and c mon i dont get it what does it actully do and cost well ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ur just freaky kk.....
COMPUTER FREAK!!! THATS WHAT YOU ARE!! C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R F-R-E-A-K!!!
Posted by: Jerry Springer | October 22, 2007 12:27 PM
Bongos sorta funny. It doesn't have to be valuable to society and stuff, its just a bit of fun for people with money to waste. Its earning someone mega-bucks so who cares? Someones thought of a clever idea and they're using it. Good on them.
Plus its really funny to see what you get back.
Posted by: Sam | October 31, 2007 6:54 PM
"roflcopter!!!1!! Naturally the service appeals to certain crowds, and through the power of the Internet we have this wonderful opportunity to communicate. Unfortunately this medium also makes painfully clear when the necessary comprehension skills are sorely lacking, curtailing much of the hope of a discussion. Nonetheless, I welcome the comments and sympathise with the points of view."
HAHA
the use of roflcopter is hilarious.
this bongo thing is hilarious. My friend recently spent $70 finding out about various kids from my school. the results were very disturbing, they know the age of the kids and who they talk to. pretty fucked up.
Posted by: annaisjesus | November 3, 2007 3:32 PM
omg r u for real, bloody hell man not everything has to be explained....ur a looser that has nothing else better to do other than write up a hole bunch of jargen on the internet!!!get a life
Posted by: Tasha Burns | November 6, 2007 11:04 AM
Interesting.
Whilst I know that is probably some group of guys sitting at home using Google, I'm still fascinated by it. I spent money on it, and I don't feel it was a waste.
I see it as a great example of how technology is changing the way we community, particularly the speed and easy access it allows us to have. If a business can work that to their advantage, then good of them.
Posted by: Marty | February 5, 2008 8:52 PM
I believe this blog is incorrect as from what I've heard, Daniel Angelini was the brains behind bongo, yet Steven Pharr ran with his idea and made a mint. Rumours have it, Pharr, sold 50% of the business for 3 million dollars. Angelini received nothing.
Posted by: John Smith | June 16, 2008 10:58 AM