Hi guys!
Today’s blog will be a review
of a marketing analysis myself and my teammates did of the app Wickr.
For 30% of our overall grade
myself and my group had to come up with a product or service, conduct a marketing
analysis and show it through PowerPoint. The presentation consisted of a vox
pop, background, founder key points taken from the 4 P’s, key issues arising
internally and externally through a SWOT and PEST. A competitive analysis, key
trends and ended with an evaluation and strategic recommendations we could
offer the client. We chose to look into the app Wickr.
Wickr
is
an instant messaging app that allows you to send encrypted texts, videos and
pictures to whoever you want with only the sender and receiver viewing the information. It is available on iOS, android and desktop.
I came up with the idea
because my boyfriend was at the web summit 2015 and told me all about Nico
Sell's talk about Wickr. Intrigued by it I started looking up interviews about
Wickr. When it came to picking an idea for our marketing analysis I had the idea
in mind. When I told my team mates about the app they were extremely interested
and we decided we would run with my idea and learn everything we could about
it. Wickrs main goal is to become the most trusted
provider of secure data and communications technologies in the world.
I researched the founders and
background, the SWOT resulting in key issues arising and the overall strategic
recommendations we would give to Wickr if they were our client. Wickr was
developed in 2012 by security and technology professionals with the idea of
privacy for all in mind. All founders are parents and one of their main aims
was the protection of their children. They wanted to protect their children's pictures,
videos and messages they send and receive. Making sure that the NSA, data
brokers and big companies who trace information could not find anything on
them.
Nico Sell and Gilman Louie are
the co-founders and co-chairmen of
the app. Nico Sell was the CEO of Wickr up until May 2015 when she handed her
position over to Mark Fields. Nico Sell is the main face of Wickr, doing
interviews, talks and promotion of the app. Nico has described herself as an
extremely paranoid individual. The founder admits she is turned off by people
who invite her things through email as she doesn’t want anyone knowing any of
her business! There is no pictures of Nico’s face without sunglasses on any
social media what so ever. She wears sunglasses as an element to further
protect her identity. After I looked into the
founder and background of the app I then went onto a SWOT of Wickr.
From my
analysis I came up with the following key issues arising. Their aim is to Protect high-value confidential data and communications with the
strongest multi-layered encryption technology. And they are successful at this
being the only app of its kind to encrypt messages from one sender to another.
A weakness in the app is safety. Nico Sell has said “Back door
for the good guys can always mean a back door for the bad guys.” This is a sad
truth there is good and bad in everything and Wickr is not free from this.
There is bullying on the app and terrorist activity and no one can be charged
with it. This is because the proof of the message between the sender and
receiver is deleted after a certain amount of time and is not traceable. The time
of destruction can be from 3 seconds – 6 days max.
Wickr is
used by the majority in US mainly businesses and activists. This app is a great
opportunity for activists and others
like them in society fighting for their rights and freedom. Wickr has a chance
to change the world and give people back their freedom of thought and speech
especially in dictatorship countries.
One of the
key threats facing the app is
competition. Social media is everywhere, when you sign up to any social media
there is an invite that can be sent to your friends, gaining more followers
through your contacts. Whereas Wickr does not have invites to friends. The app
is spread from Nico Sell’s talks and word of mouth. While privacy is great there
is a need to reach more consumers worldwide
With regards to the strategic
recommendations we came up with an information campaign to document its
security and design to allow potential users to understand Wickr. The campaign
promotion worldwide will be called #winningwithwickr. The promotion will be
done through the Wickr app as well as talks from Nico and the other founders in
the main cities worldwide. We will use traditional media such as radio, news
and TV because social media like Facebook and twitter is not something the app
wants to be associated with. We also want to add more languages to the app to
make it even more appealing. This campaign then feeds into the expansion of Wickr
in businesses and with consumers since Wickr is mainly circulating around the
US.
I really enjoyed undertaking the
researching and learning about the internal and external factors surrounding the app. The vox pop section was completely new to me and I had
never made one before! I think the overall presentation went well. I was a
little nervous at the start but once we started talking about the app I became more comfortable. I think Wickr has the potential to be extremely successful in the future.
Clara
You can view our presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1psL56LxQO8l_omWrz3fXUvtRx7d0E1hH-H3CqA1yRg8/edit#slide=id.p
