So with all of the economic malaise out there in the past few weeks, and a new commercial from Virgin Mobile that slams T-Mobile USA Inc. (DTEGY) and AT&T Mobility, (T) I thought it would be a great time to comment on the state of advertising in the wireless industry because the very best thing about advertising is it does not relate to the real world. Because of that little twist, it won’t address rioting in England, war or a stock market tumble.
So back to the distraction that is wireless marketing, I think it is time to say Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) just rocks with its recent campaigns. I didn’t like the Dan Hesse ads, so maybe I am just giddy that Sprint realized the value of advertising – simply be funny, be fascinating or make people feel insecure – those are really the only options.
The Hesse ads pointed out Sprint’s value proposition, gave out Mr. Hesse’s actual email address and talked, but that simply doesn’t appeal to today’s consumers, where we all have the attention span of a gnat. (Now before you say you do not have the attention span of a gnat, who can resist the ping that an email has been delivered, or notification that someone has commented on your Facebook status? Do you know how fast I could have finished this column if not for these pings? I still find myself running to the ring of the landline telephone (to find my prescription is ready at Walgreens!) a left-over habit from my younger years, when someone might have called to ask me to hang out! How come no one calls to hang out any more?)
So Sprint’s wise marketers have dumped value and unlimited in favor of Angry Birds and cats. Now they just need to mash those videos up so the cats can play (or chase) the Angry Birds.
However, bad news for Sprint: Straight Talk has been hysterical lately, with two very funny videos showing how people act when they think they are rich. These ads, with names like “I now feel the need to carry a toy dog everywhere with me because I am feeling richer effect” and its counterpart, “ I now think I drive the same care as a hip hop music mogul because I am feeling richer effect,” are even funnier than the Virgin Mobile ones and the price is cheaper than the rest.
How do the nation’s no. 1 and No. 2 operators compare? Poorly. Simply once again proving that money does not trump funniness.
Verizon Wireless (VZ) has been running an LTE ad that frankly I don’t get. There are employees, leaving a Verizon store at night, after hours. And there is lightening. And the employees go back in the store, which apparently was not locked, (note to London looters) to see a new Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10 and see a bunch of bones on Google. (Not even a game, Verizon? I find even something as simple as Hang Man can easily claim a few hours of my life over the weekend.)
AT&T took out a four-color, full-page ad in the Sunday Denver Post this weekend (and I am sure in newspapers around the country) explaining how it is building out the best-ever network, and how its planned buy of T-Mobile USA will help that buildout effort. It’s a fine, hard-working America, you-can-trust us ad, in print, on Sunday.
They’re is no one-upsmanship, no potential for complaining to the Better Business Bureau’s advertising dvision, no slams against competitors.
I think they are planning on lulling us into something.
