Wall Street Transcript Interview with Timothy McDonald, the Chief Operating Officer of magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (CALL)
67 WALL STREET, New York - January 24, 2014 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Wireless Communications & Telecom Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs and Equity Analysts. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: 4G Infrastructure Capital Expenditures - Tower Cell Splitting - Global Wireless Spectrum Allocation - Consolidation of Components - Integrated Wireless Platforms - Increased Competition in Wireless Space - Next Phase of 4G Buildout - New Site Leasing Activity
Companies include: magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (CALL) and many more.
In the following excerpt from the Wireless Communications & Telecom Report, the Chief Operating Officer of magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (CALL) discusses company strategy and the outlook for this vital industry:
TWST: One thing you are looking at for 2014 is a brand refresh and some different packaging and marketing. Tell us about that.
Mr. McDonald: Our marketing to date has been less than user friendly. The packaging has been complex, the messaging has been complex, and it hasn't been intuitive to the consumer exactly what magicJack is. We have some great assets. One of those assets is our brand name. We are a nationally recognized brand. We have about 63% brand recognition. We spent over $100 million in advertising over the last five years, so we are a well-known brand; we have devices in all 50 states and in all 210 DMAs. However, we remain in that sort of as-seen-on-TV category.
We know that VoIP as a category has evolved in the last six years since we originally launched the product, so people are now seeking out value-priced offers, and value-priced offers in voice and prepaid offers in voice. What we are doing with the rebranding is trying to simplify our messaging, simplify the messaging around quality and value pricing. We want to simplify the way the brand presents itself in the marketplace, and we are implementing that through a new series of ads. These are an innovative, clean, clear brand messaging on television.
We have delivered ads on satellite radio to do more effective targeting of specific audiences. We are refreshing the packaging, so a more simplistic packaging, and we are looking at refreshing the industrial design of the device to present it in a way that is more user friendly and that is more consistent with a broader market appeal for the category. We have learned that we have users from a broad cross section of markets. People are seeking us out even though we are not messaging to them.
To a certain extent, this company has been marketing into an echo chamber over the last several years, selling into customers who have previously bought the product. We believe there is an opportunity to expand the addressable market by expanding who we message to and how we message to them. And again the offer is simple. It's value-priced high-quality calling, and for $30 a year you can replace what you are paying several hundred dollars a year today. So we think that value proposition is powerful and compelling, and we are just trying to simplify the way that messaging is delivered into the marketplace.
TWST: Where do you see your largest opportunities at this time?
Mr. McDonald: The opportunity falls into two categories. On the one hand it's...
For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
