As of this past Wednesday, Infone is no more. It's a shame. They had a good service -- an enhanced, on-demand operator assistance/concierge service -- unfortunately, they couldn't keep going. It was a needed, affordable, and convenient service, and they executed it very well. Unfortunately, no one knew about it.
If you don't know what it is was, consider these basic services...
- Nationwide directory assistance
- Hotel and restaurant reservations
- Driving directions
- Movie tickets
- Roadside assistance
- Flight information
- Taxi referrals
- Stock quotes
- Weather reports & ski conditions
- Sports and concert schedules & information
- Radio station recommendations
- Horoscopes
- Access your contacts and calender via phone
All of those services were available from a single toll-free number at 89 cents for any call up to 15 minutes, and 5 cents/minute after that. Try topping that. On second thought, don't bother. You can't.
In many ways Infone was similar to OnStar, but without the subscription fee, and it wasn't tied to your car. I know, Infone couldn't unlock your car door for you, but they did everything else, and more. But just for some perspective, if you want OnStar's similar concierge services, you'll need to pony up $35/month -- but good luck using OnStar when you're in the back seat of a taxi weaving through downtown Chicago.
In all honesty, I've always thought Infone was way too cheap. It's just not the kind of service you need to use all that often. Even OnStar figured that out, and as a result charges a fair subscription fee. I certainly liked Infone enough to subscribe to it.
I stumbled on Infone shortly after it launched a couple years ago, and used them several times a year; maybe a couple of dozen times in all. My heaviest usage always corresponded to my travel schedule. It's the kind of service you don't think of often, but when you do, it was very useful -- especially in a strange city. Despite the quality service, no one I talked to had ever heard of them. I don't get it. How can someone execute a business so well, yet miss the boat so far on marketing?
Infone was a spin-off of Oregon-based Metro One, a once high-flying company providing enhanced directory services to several major cell phone carriers. As carriers began dropping Metro One in favor of off-shore alternatives, Metro One launched Infone in 2003. Last year with customer growth stagnant, Infone's leadership decided to make a big national marketing splash. And what avenue did they choose to get the word out? Television commercials? Radio campaigns? Print publications? Nope. None of the above. Instead they spent $250,000 to buy advertising space on the uniform of Stewart Elliott, jockey for the race horse Smarty Jones. But get this, it was for just one race; the 2004 Belmont Stakes. That's right, they put their logo on a jockey -- for one race. Oh, did I mention that prior to that deal, the most money spent on a jockey sponsorship was $30,000? By the way, Smarty Jones lost the race.
I don't get it. There are some that contend the Smart Jones sponsorship was a good deal, but MetroOne now claims the deal was a mistake. A mistake it blames it on a lack of marketing experience in the company. Metro One says it's spent $70 million in all promoting Infone in the past two years. If that's true, then it's clear to me that the Smarty Jones deal wasn't an isolated marketing mistake. I have yet to encounter anyone face-to-face that had ever heard of Infone before I'd mentioned it to them.
Bottom line: When things got tight, Infone and Metro One leaders didn't re-examine their business model; they decided to gamble their future on a horse race. Idiots. Look for Metro One to buy $250,000 worth of PowerBall tickets next.
tags: infone, smartyjones