Today Radio Euskadi interviewed Jonathan Ledesma, director general of Ideus, on the Boulevard programme, coinciding with the opening of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“The power of Ideus in competing lies in the concept of service and in differentiation”
Ideus manufactures and sells telephone accessories which, I imagine, always go hand-in-hand with the latest models of mobile phone and tablet. But what is the augmented reality concept that you work with?
For several years we have been observing the needs of our customers and of the end user and, from the evolution of the packaging to the design of the sales point, now we have taken a new step with the arrival of augmented reality. Essentially, this involves downloading an app which provides the user with more purchasing power, as they can use their own phone to manage the device which automatically appears displayed on the shelves.
We can rotate the product, zoom in, look at it from different angles… It’s almost as if you are holding it.
Yes, the user can interact with the product and has access to all the information about it. This allows them to learn much more about the product they are taking home.
So, once we have downloaded the app, we focus on a product without taking it out of the box, and can we obtain all the information about the product?
Yes, yes. That’s it.
It seems like something out of the future, that’s why it’s a bit difficult for us to understand the concept…
We have designed an app which downloads quickly, in less than 30 seconds, and then with a photo of the packaging you can automatically see all the product specifications, you can move it and look at the smallest details, because it’s as if it was not in its box.
This is one of the new ideas offered by Ideus, but now you are there, Jonathan, would you mind acting as our correspondent and telling us a little about your expectations of this edition of the MWC.
Above all, people are looking for new concepts. The market is changing, everything is moving towards the online channel and we are trying to protect our distributors and our end customers to encourage them to go to the shelf and interact with the product. A new purchasing concept is being presented at this Mobile.
Listeners are asking us if this app is only for technological products or for anything… People want to know if they can see clothes or shoes…
Our app is exclusively designed for our product category, which ranges from mobile phone accessories to landlines, adapted for the elderly, computer accessories, etc. The whole Ideus range. The concept is ours, we developed it, and for the moment we have not prepared it for use in other sectors.
Do you see any business opportunities for Basque companies at this MWC? Do you think you can extend objectives or compete against the firms from Asia which, I imagine, continue to be the main enemy in terms of sales?
Without a doubt, but to do so we have to keep ahead of them. They have the power of the price and we have the power of the concept and the differentiation. That’s the key. If you want to compete against them in terms of prices, as a Basque or European company, you won’t be able to. If you offer a different service, a different concept, that’s where we can be more powerful.
