During the past 11 years, Nextel Communications Inc. has carved out a healthy niche for itself in the wireless market while using a proprietary network technology and infrastructure provided by a single supplier, diverse spectrum holdings and a laser-like focus on the business market at the expense of the larger consumer segment.
Despite those perceived shortcomings, the Reston, Va.-based carrier ended the recently completed second quarter as the fifth-largest wireless carrier in the country with more than 11.6 million subscribers, a strong customer churn rate of 1.6 percent and more than $69 per month in average revenue per user. Such results would seem to indicate that Nextel has found a formula for success that would be foolish to change.
But following conventional wisdom has not been Nextel’s claim to fame, and with a number of its competitors ratcheting up their efforts to garner a portion of Nextel’s almost monopolistic hold on the business market, the carrier is ready for a change in the form of a new marketing campaign designed to strengthen its image as a can-do carrier.
The carrier said the campaign, which includes an eye-catching yellow background supporting bold and simple wording like: “I Do, Therefore I Am,” “Do You Do?” “Start Doing,” and “Now Means Now Now,” is designed to get the attention of those users who emphasize getting things done and will include the new “Nextel. Done.” tagline.
“It’s the re-launch of the Nextel brand,” said Mark Schweitzer, senior vice president of marketing for Nextel. “The focus is around doers and doing.”
Schweitzer said the campaign, which it has been teasing in several markets during the past weeks, distances Nextel from the rest of the industry and targets customers who don’t have time for the warm and cuddly side of wireless.
“It will stand out in the category as not soft,” Schweitzer explained. “There will be no peace symbols on a phone, no mMode, no triplets talking on a phone. Our research shows that people use Nextel to get things done. Not to chat, play games, surf the Web, send SMSs to girlfriends or vote on American Idol.”
The campaign also will not include pricing information, though Schweitzer acknowledged Nextel will continue to provide competitive pricing options for its customers.
“It’s not appropriate or necessary to make pricing the strategy,” Schweitzer explained. “It’s a very competitive industry, and we need to be competitive on pricing, but the campaign supports our brand and not just the latest 5,000 anytime option.”
Nextel’s campaign also reigns in the importance of the carrier’s Direct Connect walkie-talkie service, which many industry analysts have linked directly to Nextel’s business market success. Schweitzer noted that while Direct Connect will not be in the spotlight in the new campaign, the service will still continue as a focus for the company.
“Direct Connect will continue to be a focus, but not the single voice,” Schweitzer said.
Despite the de-emphasis of Direct Connect in the new campaign, Nextel is in an all-out advertising battle with Verizon Wireless over their competing walkie-talkie offerings. Nextel’s push has been in targeting Verizon Wireless’ higher latency with phrases such as “What part of `instant’ don’t the other guys understand?” while Verizon Wireless has targeted Nextel’s smaller network coverage.
Analysts have noted that the advertising war emphasizes the importance carriers are placing on the push-to-talk services and shows that Nextel is beginning to realize its once unique hold on the business segment is in danger. In addition to Verizon Wireless’ push-to-talk launch, Sprint PCS and Alltel Corp. are expected to introduce similar services by the end of this year, and GSM-based carriers are expected to join the fray beginning early next year.
Smaller PTT players are also excited by the increasing attention being placed on walkie-talkie services, including Fastmobile, which launched a software-based multimedia messaging platform that includes a walkie-talkie service.
“The publicity has been helpful for us,” said Harry Eschel, founder and executive vice president of Fastmobile. “It saves us from having to spend millions of dollars to tell people about the features.”
Eschel said Fastmobile has seen thousands of downloads of its platform from 48 countries since it was launched earlier this year, and it currently has more than 1,000 paying subscribers to its service without having to employ an expensive advertising campaign.
Some industry observers also cautioned that while Nextel’s marketing approach is destined to attract attention, past history has shown mixed results for such non-traditional campaigns.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. was widely criticized when it originally launched its branding campaign in support of its “Self Expression” tag line that included people dancing instead of information on handsets or pricing. The carrier quickly modified the campaign to include more information on its service offerings and pricing plans.
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. received similar criticism for its mLife initiative, which used random images to ask people if they had an “mLife” and initially caused more confusion by not making a link back to wireless service.
Whatever the reception, Nextel’s campaign shows the carrier is content on remaining true to its unconventional roots.
