So, remember the iPhone? The gadget that few of us need but almost all of us want? Especially in the just-released 3G version, mobile “extras” like web browsing and email support are better integrated and more robust than on any other device.

    It is into this market that New York upstart Peek thinks they can throw a new winner. Their about-to-be-released mobile device has a nice, bright screen, full QWERTY keyboard, and is easy to set up with virtually any email carrier. And... that’s it. No web. No voicemail. No voice, in fact—it’s not a phone. It's just a wireless email reader.

    Now, I would have guessed that, back in the day, when the light bulb was introduced, natural gas and kerosene lamp suppliers immediately understood that their days were numbered and hoped to find some kind of niche market where their products could survive. But, in fact, the opposite happened. They refined their products and introduced new features, hoping to compete with the newer, superior technology. Of course, it didn’t work. And neither will the Peep.

    Objectively, the Peep is probably a solid little device, that does what it claims better than most consumer mobile phones with limited data capabilities. But the problem is so do BlackBerrys, smartphones and iPhones, only they do more. If there is any market left for a wireless device that only checks email, it can only get smaller. (Those of you who still have a pager may disagree.)

    At Meyer & Wallis, we believe many unsuccessful products are actually decent products that are poorly marketed. Peep needed a brand strategy that introduced them in a way that didn't compete with smartphones, since that's not what they are. A better brand strategy would have been to find a NEW market whose need they could meet. But, with their current retail marketing strategy, this may well be the first and last you hear of Peep.