Free Mobile Phones from QMobile for Bloggers, But...

No! It is not a clickbait title, because yes! QMobile did give every blogger and social media influencer a free mobile phone at the launch of KaiOS running mobile phone, the QSmart 4G Plus.

I got one too. I should be pleased, and I was at first. But then I saw a business practice that is not very fruitful for the future of blogging in Pakistan, not useful enough for consumers, and definitely not effective for brands.

That made me unhappy. It's not personal and I am here to tell you why.

"Easy" rather than the "Effective"

Most of the brands are treating bloggers like a traditional advertising medium, only for forwarding their promotional messages, posting press releases or to display what was provided by them where bloggers can do much more than that. They are doing it in other countries but we are not willing to learn from them.

Because most of us wants it easy.

I repeatedly pointed on how Brands (in Pakistan), as well as many of the Digital Agencies and PR people play clueless when it comes to obtaining maximum outcome from campaigns involving bloggers and influencers. The people who are supposed to educate brands are not helping either. No surprise when I got an angry response, I am questioning the credibility of highly-educated ^professionals^ after all.

The thing is, I have been in the field long enough to understand the reasons behind this safe approach. But this ^safe approach^ is harming an industry that has yet to bloom properly in Pakistan. Let me show you what I mean...

QMobile introduced a new 4G enabled mobile phone. It is not a smartphone, but it can run apps like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, even YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Assistant on 4G connectivity. It is made for users who may never afford even the cheapest smartphone to access these apps otherwise. A feature-rich operating system, KaiOS made it possible.

Very neat, isn't it? As a Tech lover and reviewer, I instantly started to imagine the possibilities this mobile phone can unlock to its users. I could not wait to showcase the apps in action on this handset.

Because seeing is believing.

It was a big event. Traditional and digital media aka bloggers, vloggers, and influencers were invited there to witness this new handset from QMobile and talk about it on their platforms. At the end of the launch, after a fine course of refreshments, mobile phones were distributed among everyone. That part came as a good surprise. Other than the two hours late presentation, thanks to the corporate officials for not being on time, it was a well-organized event in every other way. I was in my element too and I had a great time there.

Where was the Problem then?

A Free Mobile Phone for All

Wow! was my first reaction. "Finally a mobile company in Pakistan doing it 'right'", I thought. Hat's off to QMobile for reaching this far, even for a feature phone.

My first impression, my joy did not last long, unfortunately. As mentioned earlier, I was excited to explore more of this new KaiOS based mobile phone to share my findings with the audience it was meant for.

Turned out, no! I can not do it because the mobile phones we were given was not the same phone the company announced. It was an older model. Most importantly, it was without KaiOS, which means none of us reviewers could talk about any of the new features of the device we were supposed to be talking about.

Basic information was delivered through the press releases and the presentation, which in my opinion was not enough in this case. The company distributed dozens of mobiles to content creators. Imagine them showing modern apps like Google Maps to a non-smartphone user, on a mobile phone they are comfortable using. The temptation of buying that mobile would be real.

As a tech reviewer, I really wanted to dive into the KaiOS Store. There was so much we could show to its ideal market. Tech bloggers would produce better and effective content for promoting the handset.

There were only two demo units of announced mobile phone available at the launch. And they were not connected to the Internet for us to try any of the highlighted features, the 4G, the App Store, the Facebook, Whatsapp, YouTube, Google Maps, the Games...

They were placed there to look at and to be photographed with.

Tell me if it was not a missed opportunity?

This particular event of QMobile did push me to write this but the situation has been the same across many of the brands I have seen over the years. I thought brands will learn the role of influencers with time but I guess they need a harder push or a stronger dose of tough love.

I was hoping that by now, the companies would learn the difference between reviews, marketing, and promotions. No luck on that end either so far. And the tradition of clueless exploiting of digital media is in-fact keep on growing.

So can I help the brands in this or will I be just lashing out without doing anything practical about it?

Yes, of course, I can. I will be more than happy to do something when an agency or brand is open to listening.

Just connect me on @MunirRahool