As carriers try to attract churners and new subscribers at the onset of the holiday season, they’re relying on the strength of their marketing messages and reputation to get shoppers thinking-and potentially onboard.
Sprint Nextel Corp. is busy running a new advertising campaign while also mocking rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C., and Cingular is responding with potshots of its own as it continues its fewest-dropped-calls promotion. As for Verizon Wireless, it’s still publicizing its network and the goofy-glasses spokesman-although he’s eased up on the “Can you hear me now?” bit. Meanwhile, T-Mobile USA Inc. dropped spokeswoman Catherine Zeta-Jones in favor of a campaign with the tagline “stick together.”
In general, according to Kirk Parsons, director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates, carriers are shifting their advertising emphasis onto network quality rather than particular rate plans, features or applications.
Sprint Nextel has made significant changes to its ad strategy, joining Verizon Wireless and Cingular in trying to push a good-network message. However, the carrier may struggle to make an impression on customers because its message hasn’t been consistent, according to Parsons.
“There’s no sense of what Sprint is,” Parsons said.
Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. had different marketing tactics when they were separate companies, and the combined carrier started off with a “Yes, you can” campaign. However, Sprint Nextel recently changed that to a new campaign with the “Power Up” tagline, and also added a new face to its television ads: actor Ron Livingston.
Robert Garfield, an ad critic for RCR Wireless News sister publication Advertising Age, described Livingston as “a cult figure in the 20-something generation. The young professionals worship him” because he represents “someone who confronts authority.”
“He’s just there as a heroic face with a sense of irony. But maybe it’ll work,” Garfield said.
Sprint Nextel, noted Iain Gillott of consulting firm IGR, has traditionally fashioned itself as a technology leader. However, Gillott said, “when they hit problems, it’s for boring old stuff like credit checks and perceived coverage.”
In contrast, Cingular has pushed up its gross adds and cut its churn rate by emphasizing its “all-over network.” The operator continues to run variations on its fewest-dropped-calls theme, although lately it has also been promoting its push-to-talk capabilities.
“They’re competing, and they’re doing it by boring old coverage and boring old rate plans,” Gillott said.
John Caddell, president of Caddell Insight Group, questioned the effectiveness of ads that pit Sprint Nextel and Cingular’s networks against one another. Such comparative advertising, he said, has some of the same risks that negative political campaign ads do.
“It gives you the same feeling: Why are they focused on this?” he said.
Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless continues to promote the reliability of its network. A recent Verizon TV spot lampooned the network-promoting ads by the carrier’s rivals with an unnamed, wanna-be competitor backed by a crowd of network technicians. The bespectacled network guy and his supporting crowd look much like the characters in Verizon Wireless’ own advertisements, until a customer nudges one of the technicians and they are revealed to be life-size, cardboard cut-outs.
“From a consumer perspective, I think being consistent in your message is key,” said Parsons. “I think Verizon has done a very good job of that. They’ve been hitting home the quality of the network for years now. People tend to believe you if you say it long enough. (Verizon is) very solid in that respect.”
T-Mobile USA has not traditionally emphasized its network-and that doesn’t seem to be changing. However, the carrier did jettison Zeta-Jones in favor of a more man-on-the-street advertising approach. T-Mobile USA also tinkered with the font of its tagline, replacing its “get more” serif font with one that’s more bubbly and casual.
T-Mobile USA typically promotes itself as the value carrier, with more minutes at lower price points than the other three national carriers. However, its newest campaign “really doesn’t communicate value, but a sense of communication and connection,” Parsons said.
