Regional cellphone carrier U.S. Cellular, outspent by major national carriers and facing an onslaught of competition from wireless offerings from cable companies, has hired a new advertising firm for its $100 million-plus advertising account. The carrier’s new firm is Publicis & Hal Riney and Publicis Groupe media sibling Starcom.
Alan Ferber, U.S. Cellular’s VP of marketing, said Riney won the account following a review that included the carrier’s former advertising firm, Doner. “Our challenge is to make our message relevant to the customer,” said Ferber.
Although he indicated the carrier’s ad budget will be increased, U.S. Cellular’s spending is just a fraction of the $1 billion or more each of the top-tier carriers put into advertising each year. U.S. Cellular spent $75 million on advertising in 2006.
“I’m not hung up on outspending somebody,” Ferber said.
Jamie King, Riney’s managing director, said that on a regional basis “the budget goes a long way.” He said the major carriers are basing their selling strategies on network performance and price, both of which have become commoditized. “We can go against the pain point-customer service,” he said.
U.S. Cellular, with 6 million customers-making it about one-tenth the size of AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless-operates in 150 markets in 26 states primarily in the Midwest, Northwest and New England and Mid-Atlantic states.
The win brings Riney back into the telecom category following the loss of the business-to-business portion of the $1.2 billion Sprint Nextel Corp. advertising account.
Alice Z. Cuneo is a reporter with Advertising Age, a sister publication to RCR Wireless News. Both publications are owned by Crain Communications Inc.
