The latest Alcatel-Lucent product is based as much on the advice of a bunch of teens and twenty-somethings as on the company’s noted engineering expertise.

The enhanced Alcatel-Lucent 5965 Mobile Content Platform, touted as a powerful software platform that changes the way mobile content is delivered to mobile phone users, was developed after AlcaLu research showed the target market for mobile commerce was not happy with how it was being delivered.

The company has a group of about 40 young people, from their teens to early 20s, who every month try out some new techno-gadget and provide their assessment, said June Bower, vice president of marketing for consumer and entertainment in converged business group at Alcatel-Lucent. When that group took on mobile commerce, they weren’t happy.

“They told us the experience today just isn’t easy enough,” Bower said. “They want it to be easier, and they want it to be relevant to them. They have grown up in world of the Internet – they are looking to connect with brands and people they care about. What sometimes is difficult is finding the brands, finding the people. From that, we decided to create a complete IP experience where you can find and connect with the brands and people you care about.”

The new mobile content platform enables service providers to target subscriber groups based on individual interests/behavior and provides content management, merchandizing and delivery of both mobile advertising and entertainment, Alcatel-Lucent announced. The platform, which can be added to existing mobile networks, allows service providers to use their existing content systems, such as video, music and games, to put together marketing campaigns that deliver relevant content to the end-user so that it can all be seen at one time, regardless of where the content resides, either on or off network.

It also enables an operator to track purchases and use that intelligence to target advertising or special offers.

“When we asked our research group to tell us what they would do differently, the recommendations we got were to put things in color, show the stuff not based on technology but based on the brands they care about,” Bower said. “If they are interested in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ they want to see ringtones, the full track download and pictures of Johnny Depp all in one place. They are looking for those brands, not the way Java might be organized on the carrier’s network.”

Alcatel-Lucent also released some of its research today, in conjunction with the new mobile content platform.

“Our research has shown that teens and young adults want to find and interact with the brands they care about,” said Margaret Norton, vice president of mobile content platforms at Alcatel-Lucent, in a prepared statement. “Subscribers continue to be surprised at the lack of visible, relevant brands on their mobiles. They want to be marketed to as they are on the Internet, at the mall and on TV. With the new release of the Alcatel-Lucent 5965 Mobile Content Platform, mobile operators can take advantage of this market demand and revenue opportunity.”