Helio L.L.C. has 90,000 MySpace friends and counting—and how many wireless companies can say that?
Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s “Cingular Sounds” MySpace page only has about 35,000 friends, while the “Sprint Guy” character formerly featured in Sprint Nextel Corp. ads has a scant 203 friends. While “friends” doesn’t translate into “subscribers,” the nontraditional promotion in places such as MySpace has been part of Helio’s strategy of trying to reach its young, hip, tech-savvy demographic.
Helio’s senior director of marketing and communications, Julie Cordua, is quick to note that the company’s MySpace page was designed by an employee who is a “MySpace addict,” and that the company has people personally answering the comments on its site. “We want to have a dialogue,” said Cordua. “We’re not just about slapping our brand in the MySpace environment.”
The mobile virtual network operator kicked off its traditional advertising campaign for its service and handsets last week—and you’d better not call them phones. Helio began running two English-language TV commercials with the tagline “Don’t call us a phone company. Don’t call it a phone.” The commercials will air on cable channels including VH1, ESPN, E!, Spike TV and Comedy Central; content from several of those channels is available on Helio handsets. Helio’s commercials have also been uploaded to the popular online video-sharing site Youtube.com.
According to Helio spokesman Rick Heineman, Helio’s TV campaign is focusing on night-time programming, when its targeted demographic do most of their watching. The company also has billboard and print advertising campaigns.
In addition, Helio is taking other marketing tacks. For one, the company has put “installations” in several high-end fashion boutiques, where customers can try out Hero and Kickflip handsets while they’re shopping for clothes. They also will be able to flip through the magazine that the MVNO created, Helio Mag; the first issue features stories on actor Steve Buscemi, pranking and MySpace, plus fashion photography and a commentary on wireless technology in Korea.
Other tactics include events at high-profile nightclubs in cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Miami, where people can try out the phones. Helio also has received a judicious dose of celebrity attention; Tom Cruise carried a Hero at the premiere of Mission Impossible III and took photos with the device that were posted on the Helio Web site. Cordua said that Helio does not pay for product placement and that entertainment industry insiders also tend to be early adopters who are interested in the MVNO’s offering.
All of the effort will be crucial to a new, unknown brand, according to Weston Henderek, senior wireless services analyst for Current Analysis. Building brand awareness, he said, “is going to be very difficult, and they have to put a lot of effort behind it, but that’s the only way they’re going to be successful.”
Helio also has tweaked its rate-plan options. It added a lower-cost plan for $60 per month that offers 500 anytime minutes, unlimited off-peak calling and unlimited data and messaging. Helio also added a $60 a la carte plan with 1,000 anytime minutes and an $80 a la carte plan with $1,500 minutes. “In the long run, these pricing changes coupled with increased marketing will help generate more interest in Helio,” Henderek concluded.
