By Lorene Yue
CHICAGO—Hello Moto Michigan Avenue, again.
Motorola Inc. is reopening its so-called “pop-up” location at 666 N. Michigan Ave. at 10 a.m. Friday to tout its newest product, a red Razr V3m, after shuttering the store following a nearly eight-week summer promotion with Verizon Wireless for its Q smart phone.
MOTO (RED) Chicago, this time operating in conjunction with U.S. Cellular Corp., will open for two weeks as the only location where the red Razr will be sold in the United States during that time.
The phone, part of a global (Product) RED campaign that raises funds to fight AIDS in Africa, will be sold to new and upgrading customers for $80 with a two-year contract, a $30 premium over the current gun-metal gray Razr that U.S. Cellular sells in its Chicago outlets.
For every red Razr sold, Motorola and U.S. Cellular will each donate $7.50 toward the (Product) RED campaign.
“It’s a new color,” said Jay Ellison, chief operating officer of U.S. Cellular. “There is going to be strong demand for that color.” He added that it would be unlikely for the price on the (Product) RED Razr to drop at U.S. Cellular.
Motorola said it is not charging carriers a premium for the red Razr.
“Part of (Product) RED is not to charge a premium,” said Leslie Dance, Motorola’s corporate vice-president of global marketing.
Sprint Nextel Corp. said it will package the phone with a stereo headset for $65 after a two-year contract and mail-in rebate when it begins carrying the phone in early November. Sprint Nextel does not currently sell Moto’s ultra-thin phone models, but will begin selling them next month.
The crimson-colored Razr is the latest product Motorola is tying to the global (Product) RED campaign founded by rock star Bono and Bobby Shriver to provide funding to help those affected by HIV and AIDS in Africa.
Motorola, along with Gap Inc. and Converse Inc., is kicking off the U.S. component of the campaign on Friday, which includes celebrity appearances along Michigan Avenue.
Motorola has been involved with the U.K. (Product) RED campaign since May, when it rolled out a red Slvr phone. Ms. Dance said the phone has outsold all other Slvr products in the U.K. and Motorola is in the process of offering a second (Product) RED phone — a black Razr V3i with red accents.
“Our ultimate goal is to have a suite of RED products,” Ms. Dance said.
Lorene Yue is a reporter with Crain’s Chicago Business, a sister publication of RCR Wireless News. Both publications are owned by Crain Communications Inc.
