http://www.incentivemag.com/msg/content_display/marketing/e3i3eebab3a25f070800bc9308b6fc22cc7
By Peter P. Roosen
Tatsuya Nakagawa
December 27, 2006
Road-weary traveling sales professionals are among the growing number of
Wi-Fi leeches, attaching to open wireless networks often without the
owner's knowledge or permission in order to access the Internet. The
practice has evolved from latching onto a cafe's free wireless service
from a car in the parking lot, to drive-thru circling in hotel and motel
parking lots. A free no-fuss way to check e-mails, confirm travel plans,
obtain business information from the net and otherwise communicate
efficiently is the desired result. Great for the leech, but what does it
do for the host? It depends on how the host responds.
Wirelsss Internet service is generally a nuisance to establish with
significant costs involved is setting up and maintaining wireless
routers, especially for a larger hotel or motel where multiple broadcast
points are needed. There are special staff training issues and the need
to have someone available who can troubleshoot problems as they
occurfrequently in most installations.
However, having Internet services available is no longer simply optional
for most operators since many modern travelers are finding Internet
services more important than having a telephone or television in the
room. Some will base their decision of where to stay on the availability
of quality Internet service, stating they require such service as a
condition of booking into a room. The incremental cost associated with
bandwidth lost to leeching is small or negligable in most cases.
Most places that offer Internet service present one or more of the three
common types of barriers to prevent unwanted "leeching" by people not
booked in as hotel guests, or buying something from one of the cafes or
other retail businesses that provide Internet access. The three common
barrier types are:
1. Requiring users to pay for the service.
2. Putting in a login and password system and asking users to obtain
access from the proprietor.
3. Soliciting user information prior to granting access.
These barriers tend to discourage the most common types of leeching and
in the cases where the systems are regional or national by chain, after
a while, the people who would otherwise be leeching tend to avoid these
businesses altogether.
There are some businesses that have taken an entirely different
approach. In a few cases, Internet access is granted without any
restrictions or fuss and users can simply attach themselves quickly and
easily with no cost and go about their business as they see fit. A
notable example is the Best Western hotel chain, presently the largest
in the world, which has many of its properties established with no-cost
and no-fuss Internet access. This reduces the administrative burden of
having to help each user gain access every time they book into one of
the hotels. Travelers in need of Internet access begin to look for these
Best Western signs along the roadways and identify them not only with
the hotel brand but as a place to normally obtain hassle- and cost-free
Internet access.
Naturally, if someone is seeking Internet access in the early part of
the day while driving along the roadways, they are not likely looking
for a room and by pulling into the empty parking lot alongside the
building are easily identified as Wi-Fi leeches by proprietors.
Proprietors often have different views on the subject, with some being
openly hostile to non-paying guests obtaining free access at their
expense. Most proprietors ignore these unexpected visitors with some at
the opposite end of the spectrum offering a free coffee and otherwise
welcoming these travelersa more enlightened approach from a marketing
perspective.
Experienced travelers are often creatures of habit who are looking for
consistency, ease and simplicity in many aspects of their day-to-day
travel activities. This is true whether or not cost is an important
aspect of the travel. There is evidence that the Best Western open
access policy is resulting in increased room stays from the road-weary
Internet-hungry travelers. For example, the habit of checking e-mails
and messages at least once a day while on the road will have these
people pulling into parking lots at various times of the day or night
and for various lengths of time. In some instances, such as late in the
day when seeking accommodation for the night becomes a priority or when
changes in travel plans become apparent from checking messages while on
line, results in them needing to book a room. Sometimes reading and
writing e-mails takes longer than expected, hours on occasion, and when
the task is completed driving off to another location for a hotel
becomes unappealing compared to getting out of the car and booking a
room on the spot. Let's face it, the Internet access worked and value
was derived so that has the road warrior in a positive frame of mind
when walking up to the front desk. Similarly at a cafe.
What about local leeches? There are people who look for such convenient
access places in their own area. Kids with laptops sneaking around to
avoid parental controls or low-end hackers wanting to upload their
latest trial virus across town could be among them and that is the last
thing proprietors would want to be involved with. These concerns are
likely exaggerated since most libraries have open access, and it has not
become an insurmountable problem for them.
The savvy marketer would suggest try selling them something they are
willing to pay for. The internet cafe concept was built largely on this
idea. Maybe a drive-thru version is what is needed. Send people back out
on roller skates like in the 1950s to offer stuff to people parked there
food and beverages. Better yet, the solution could be as simple as an
introduction web page that promotes the business services offered
through the hotel and welcomes visitors to come in for a free cup of
coffee. In any event, there are not likely to be many locals wanting or
needing to hang out in hotel parking lots to gain wireless internet
access. However, there is still an opportunity to incorporate a
drive-thru model of the Internet cafe for locals and travelers alike.
Proprietors can choose to become frustrated chasing road weary traveling
Wi-Fi leeches from their properties or view it as a marketing
opportunity. Best Western does not appear to have advertised or
publicized their widespread convenient and free Internet access. This
gives a market savvy competitor a chance to capture some publicity if
one of these chains was to create a branded drive-in Wi-Fi zone catered
to these new aged road warriors. Install it in part of the existing
parking lot, perhaps marking and marketing this special space. Welcome
users who may become interested in spending a night there. Turn the
leeching relationship into a symbiotic one.
-=-
Peter P. Roosen has an engineering background and founded numerous
companies including firms involved in locomotive and plastics
manufacturing, computer software and marketing. Tatsuya Nakagawa is
president and CEO of Atomica Creative in Vancouver Canada, a strategic
product marketing company. He has assisted numerous companies in diverse
industries with their early stage deployments and product launches in
North America, Europe and Asia. Atomica Creative Group is a specialized
strategic product marketing firm positioned to help companies assess
their R&D processes relative to market drivers and establish a marketing
strategy led approach so that R&D spending can be applied rationally for
greater returns on these important investments.
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Received on Dec 28 2006
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