WASHINGTON-After months of being publicly pounded on antenna siting, health concerns, unsafe cell phone drivers and blocked E-911 calls, the wireless industry is responding with an approach that relies on good corporate citizenship and uses the power of advertising to stress the public-safety benefits of wireless technology.
In the nation’s capitol, where federal wireless laws and regulations are made, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has been running print, radio and TV ads emphasizing that safe driving-not yakking on the mobile phone-is the first priority of consumers and that wireless technology saves lives of ordinary people every day.
The ad campaign was created by Porter Novelli with CTIA input and cost about $2 million. CTIA members have access to the ads and can individualize them. Carriers are responsible for the local ad buys.
Last Thursday, the Personal Communications Industry Association ran a full-page ad in USA Today that trumpeted, “The Wireless Industry is Committed to Quality and Public Safety.”
The day before, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Ericsson Inc. officials joined with Federal Communications CommissionChairman Bill Kennard, Washington D.C., public school head Gen. Julius Becton and Treasury Secretary Richard Riley at Washington’s Alexander Graham Bell Multicultural Senior High to launch a national school safety program that involves donating wireless phones and airtime to needy schools.
More and more, wireless carriers are aiding their communities and securing good will in the process.
“The wireless industry knows your wireless phone has given you the freedom to communicate anytime, anywhere,” reads the PCIA ad copy. “It has also empowered you to report crimes and emergencies, and even save lives. We are committed to making certain you always have that peace of mind.”
Today, while the 50 million subscribers who make 20 million emergency calls each year on mobile phones may have greater peace of mind thanks to versatile wireless technology, the industry is squirming as it takes hits week after week as a result of siting moratoria, health-risk allegations, billing snags, dropped calls, irresponsible cell phone drivers, E-911 roadblocks and financial troubles.
The success stories of wireless-including stories of saved lives and property-are not heard by all. That the wireless industry is the most competitive sector of the telecom industry and could one day become a substitute for local landline service is drowned out by setbacks at City Hall, Capitol Hill and Wall Street.
The wireless industry is hoping it can inject some balance into its reputation with advertisements.
Jeffrey Nelson, a CTIA spokesman, said the trade group’s ad campaign was in the works for months and was not a reaction to ABC newsman Sam Donaldson’s recent expose on blocked E-911 wireless calls in a nationally telecast interview with CTIA President Tom Wheeler. Nor was the ad campaign a response to bipartisan bills in the House and Senate to keep antenna placement regulations in the hands of state and local officials.
Nelson said the idea of an ad campaign came up during the summer as the industry neared the 50-million mark-what he calls a critical market milestone-in mobile phone subscribership. While an ad campaign might not have been effective or even practical when subscribership was lower, Nelson said the marketing tool works well now that wireless penetration constitutes a good chunk of the country.
“Now our subscribers are America,” said Nelson. He said safe driving tips will be included in bill stuffers and at the counters of wireless retail outlets. There also is a toll-free telephone number providing information on hands-free wireless products that can be purchased.
PCIA President Jay Kitchen wrote Donaldson last week and said his Nov. 12 Primetime Live segment on E-911 wireless lacked balance because it “failed to address the wireless communications industry’s efforts to improve public safety beyond the 20 million calls that are received by 911 and other emergency operators every year. Wireless has clearly helped make America a safer place.”
