With celebrity endorsements becoming common in advertisements for wireless carriers, Cingular Wireless knew it needed a recognizable figure to kick off the advertising campaign promoting its nationwide service.
The country’s second-largest wireless operator, formed by the combination of BellSouth Corp.’s and SBC Communications Inc.’s wireless assets, figured who better to turn to than Jack. No, not Jack Nicholson the movie star. Jack, Cingular’s emblem so named because of its resemblance to jacks that kids play with.
Jack made its television debut during the National Football League’s Conference Championship game and will be used in Cingular Wireless’ advertisements with the tag line: “What do you have to say?” in hopes of getting the word out that Cingular is the wireless operator looking out for the consumer.
“We don’t believe people choose a wireless carrier because they think the technology is better,” explained Stephen Carter, chief executive officer of Cingular Wireless. “People choose a wireless carrier because it can connect the people they want to talk to.”
In hopes of simplifying the choice of rate plans for consumers, Cingular launched nationwide calling plans divided into home, regional and national plans.
Cingular Home is marketed towards customers looking for wireless service geared around their local calling area. Cingular Region provides customers needing a larger coverage area a single-rate calling plan with no roaming or long-distance charges in surrounding states. Cingular Nation includes no roaming or long-distance charges for calls to all 50 states and U.S. Territories.
Carter said the move to simplify rate plans was needed because consumers were becoming jaded on rate plans offered by competing carriers.
The company will also offer “Chat All You Want,” a service with unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling and unlimited mobile-to-mobile text messaging for Cingular Home plans of $30 or more.
In addition, the company announced the “Cingular Promise” to provide superior customer service and allow subscribers to update their rate plans at anytime with no charges and automatically receive promotional rates on new phones every two years. Verizon Wireless offers a similar plan to its customers with rebates on new handsets every two years if they renew their contracts.
The advertising campaign is also being used to introduce customers to the Cingular name in markets where the service will replace regional carriers who are currently part of SBC or BellSouth.
Cingular said it would honor all current contracts customers may have through the carriers and provide a seamless transition to newer contracts when customers want them. The transition also includes paring the company’s current 11 billing services to one centralized system.
“We want to serve our customers, not technology,” Stephens added.
Perhaps realizing that Jack might not be a big star yet, Cingular Wireless invited actor and comedian Dana Carvey to emcee the unveiling of the company’s headquarters in Atlanta wrapped with photos and quotations submitted by company employees.
Virginia Vann, chief marketing officer for Cingular, pointed out that Carvey, who is famous for his impersonations on Saturday Night Live, would not provide the voice for Jack in its television advertisements. Instead, Jack would remain gender neutral and only communicate through thought bubbles.
Don’t feel bad if you missed Jack’s debut. Cingular plans to run television commercial spots featuring Jack during the Super Bowl, and the television show Survivor: The Australian Outback, as well as print placements in Sports Illustrated, People and USA Today.
