Stuart Elliot
Mar 2, 2010
The seemingly continuous commercials during the coverage of the Winter Games on the networks of NBC Universal gave a new meaning to the term “snow job.”
It was as if every spot showed snow, or ice, or both, in which skiers, skaters and snowboarders cavorted. That made it difficult for ad-weary, ad-bleary viewers to distinguish the commercials from the actual coverage of the Vancouver Olympics.
Perhaps that was the sponsors’ fiendish intent: to perpetrate the ultimate blurring of the line between advertising and content.
Feb 14, 2010
Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, will include Skype Technologies SA’s Internet- calling software on phones to stave off competition from AT&T Inc., according to two people familiar with the matter.
The service will let customers make Skype calls over the company’s 3G data network, said the people, who requested anonymity because the agreement hasn’t been announced. Verizon and Skype said yesterday that they will hold a joint press conference Feb. 16 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The companies gave no further details.
Feb 11, 2010
Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday was part of the frenetic stretch, which continues this weekend with the Winter Games and other sports programming, like the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and the Daytona 500. The TV marketing blitz, which began with the coverage of the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 17, is to run through the Academy Awards on March 7 and conclude with the finale of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament on April 5.
All those events have something in common other than high prices for commercial time: They are all broadcast live, part of a trend known as big-event television, which prizes programs that can attract large, involved audiences at a time when consumers have generally been atomized into tiny niche markets.
Feb 9, 2010
It used to be that a basic $25-a-month phone bill was your main telecommunications expense. But by 2004, the average American spent $770.95 annually on services like cable television, Internet connectivity and video games, according to data from the Census Bureau. By 2008, that number rose to $903, outstripping inflation. By the end of this year, it is expected to have grown to $997.07. Add another $1,000 or more for cellphone service and the average family is spending as much on entertainment over devices as they are on dining out or buying gasoline.
Feb 8, 2010
Johnny Mercer, in my opinion, was the best lyricist of the 20th century, but I'm sure those words on a piece of paper, even repeated millions of times, would not have made "Moon River" famous.
It was the music that made the words "Moon River" famous. Advertising needs visuals in the same way that lyrics need music, if you want to drive your words into the minds of your prospects. Without a visual hammer, an advertising campaign is almost certain to fail.
Feb 4, 2010
Remember the Great Sling Spat?
A year ago, Sling Media, a subsidiary of EchoStar, introduced a nifty application for the Apple iPhone that allowed users with a Slingbox at home to watch and control their home television signal from their handsets.
The only problem: AT&T said that such a bandwidth-intensive video service would overwhelm its network, so it limited the application to work only over an iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection. TV lovers and techies worldwide cried out in anguish.
Jan 29, 2010
AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network.
During its fourth quarter 2009 conference call, Chief Operating Officer John Stankey said AT&T plans to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 upgrading its wireless and backhaul networks to handle the onslaught of new traffic. This is roughly $2 billion more than the company had invested in the previous year.
Specifically, Stankey said AT&T will add 2,000 new cell sites and upgrade existing cell sites with three times more fiber links than it had in 2009. This will increase capacity for the backhaul network that connects the cell towers to AT&T's main network. The backhaul portion of the network is a critical component to AT&T's network. With these upgrades in place, Stankey said the company will be able to easily upgrade in the future to 4G wireless technology.
Jan 28, 2010
We have seen several epic marketing wars: The Cola War of Coke vs. Pepsi, The Beer War of Budweiser vs. Miller, The Mouthwash War of Listerine vs. Scope and The Battery War of Duracell vs. Energizer. But they all fail in comparison to the money and firepower currently being expended in the Cellphone War between AT&T and arch-rival Verizon Wireless.
Last year AT&T and Verizon Wireless spent a combined $4 billion in advertising to blast consumers with 615,000 television commercials. Yet, despite the incredible sums spent and the enormous volume flooding the airways, most consumers are still confused.
Jan 15, 2010
As marketers scrambled to assemble donations and matching programs for relief in Haiti, Twitter users began scrambling their announcements. By this morning, the airwaves were so flooded with news about who was making a donation, and how to participate, that consumers became understandably confused -- and it spread.
Jan 15, 2010
Verizon Wireless introduced lower wireless-pricing plans Friday, a move that's likely to force rival AT&T Inc. to follow and could pressure margins on the carriers' high-end business. Verizon Communications, which jointly owns Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group PLC, slashed pricing on some of its contract plans, dropping its nationwide unlimited voice plan to $69.99 a month from $99 and offering a nationwide unlimited voice-and-text plan for $89.99.
Jan 6, 2010
As we all rub our eyes from the social-media explosion of 2009, you might think that brand marketers have all (forgive the pun) gotten the message: Ignore Web chatter at your peril. Domino’s got it—publicly, infamously—back in April, when a gross-out vid popped up on YouTube showing employees placing various mucosal toppings on the pizzas. The company took a glacial 24 hours to respond—23 hours after the damage had already been done. And who can forget Dell’s own Road to Damascus back in 2005 when Jeff Jarvis’ “Dell Hell” blog undid millions in “Dude” advertising goodwill?
Arik Hesseldahl
Dec 17, 2009
Verizon Wireless made clear from the start that its Droid smartphone was designed to put pressure on Apple, the maker of the iPhone, and AT&T (T), the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier. As part of a $100 million marketing push, Verizon Wireless enumerates several ways it believes the Droid outperforms the iPhone.
Yet analysts say the Droid and other devices that sport the Android operating system may also take a toll on Research In Motion, the maker of another smartphone, the BlackBerry. "It's clear there's been a lot of marketing at Verizon around the Droid, so that is going to hurt RIM," says Raymond James (RJF) analyst Steve Li.
Dec 16, 2009
McDonald's Corp. said Monday that it will soon offer free wireless Internet access at most of its U.S. fast-food restaurants as it tries to broaden its appeal still further. "We're not just about hamburgers," said Dave Grooms, chief information officer for McDonald's USA. "We are about convenience and all kinds of value." The company, the world's largest fast-food chain, has offered Internet access for about five years.
Dec 14, 2009
Accenture, the giant consulting firm, ended its six-year marketing relationship with Tiger Woods on Sunday, showing once again that in advertising as in sports, there are no sure things. Mr. Woods had been featured in Accenture campaigns with the tagline, “Go On. Be a Tiger,” splashed in business magazines and airport waiting rooms since 2003. Since most consumers have no idea what a company like Accenture does, Mr. Woods became the human face of the corporation and a means to extol the corporate virtues of performance and risk-taking.
Dec 8, 2009
iPhone owners may love Apple’s sexy mobile device, but they absolutely can’t stand AT&T. It ranks dead last in customer satisfaction for dropped calls and spotty 3G service, a sore spot that Verizon has been poking at with new ads. Now the U.S.’s second largest wireless provider is looking to turn things around, hopefully before it loses iPhone exclusivity rights. Its newest strategy is especially unique, though, because it comes in the form of an iPhone app called Mark the Spot [iTunes Link].
Dec 2, 2009
Even as his advertising offensive against arch-rival AT&T continues to be the talk of the industry, Verizon CMO John Stratton took to the podium to explain why the "Maps" campaign was necessary. In this seven-minute video, he recaps Verizon's entire nine-year marketing history. In its latest move, the company abruptly threw out its prepared holiday ad campaign to replace it with the results of a data survey it commissioned of its own and AT&T's national G3 footprints.
Dec 2, 2009
Telecom giant AT&T has partnered with NYC & Company, the official tourism and marketing organization for the city of New York, on a two-year advertising agreement. The deal provides AT&T with various platforms to promote itself and its Yellowpages.com and YPmobile brands to the market, while sponsoring some of NYC & Company's latest efforts to tout the city's attractions.
Nov 23, 2009
The ongoing dispute between Verizon Wireless and AT&T over advertised coverage area -- coupled with a new phone for Verizon-- looks to be a buzz benefit for both companies. According to YouGovPolimetrix's BrandIndex, which takes the measure of positive vs. negative talk about a certain brand, buzz for both companies has increased in the two weeks between Nov. 2 and Nov. 19. At the beginning of the period, AT&T's buzz was at about 7.7, while Verizon's was around 21.3. By the end of the time period, AT&T's had risen to 14, while Verizon's had risen to 32.3.
Nov 18, 2009
Through the decades, marketers have veered between “Think global, act local” and “Think local, act global.” At one point, someone even coined a portmanteau word, “glocal,” which sounded like a variety of the Glo-Coat brand of floor wax sold by S.C. Johnson. Now, the pendulum seems to be veering toward marketing that is focused locally. It is particularly true as new technologies like local search make it easier to concentrate on the grass roots in a hyperlocal way. An example of the trend is a campaign being introduced for the Christmas shopping season by NYC & Company, the city’s tourism organization.
Nov 6, 2009
More than a hundred people were lined up at midnight Thursday outside a Verizon Wireless store in midtown Manhattan to be among the first people to buy the new Motorola Droid. About 65 eager shoppers lined the south side of West 34th Street across from Macy's in Manhattan at 11:30 p.m. Thursday waiting for the store to open. Verizon opened the store from midnight to 2 a.m. to give people in the Big Apple a head start on the morning cell phone rush. By midnight, when the doors officially opened, about 100 people stood in line as Verizon officials ushered in customers 25 at a time.
Nov 3, 2009
For the third year in a row, Apple's iPhone will enter the holiday shopping season as the smartphone to beat. But this year, it actually has some respectable challengers. Perhaps the best rival will be the new Droid phone by Motorola for Verizon Wireless. Running the newest version of Google's Android operating system, Droid includes an improved web browser, free turn-by-turn navigation, a gorgeous screen, a slide-out keyboard and a super-fast processor.
Nov 2, 2009
Yes, there's a bit of a circus going on with real-time search, and a new player seems to appear weekly. Meanwhile, we get predictions of how Google and Bing had better do something soon with it -- or else. Let's try to rein it in a bit, starting with, just what is real-time search? You know what web search is -- do a search, get web pages. Image search? Search, get images. So real-time search gives you -- real times?
Oct 26, 2009
In the past few weeks, Verizon Wireless has fired a pair of loaded torpedoes at rival AT&T—and more notably Apple, a company often viewed as a sacred cow in both the marketing and technology spheres.
Telecom experts say that such an Apple offensive is long overdue, though not without risk. Still, most observers doubt that Verizon’s attacking posture indicates that the company has given up on the ultimate prize—being able to offer Apple’s iPhone on its network once AT&T’s exclusive contract expires.
RIta Chang
Oct 26, 2009
With Apple posting record profits last week, thanks in large part to brisk sales of its iPhone, it may seem downright crazy to mount a smartphone challenge at all, let alone one that takes direct aim at the iPhone. But that's just what Verizon, Google and Motorola are doing. With a teaser ad from Verizon zeroing in on the device's perceived shortcomings, such as its lack of a physical keyboard, the triumvirate is beginning a big push for Droid, the flagship device of the Google-backed Android operating system. So far, industry observers are unmoved by the buzz and give the Droid long odds in its bid to become the next ubiquitous handset.
Oct 20, 2009
Whatever rumors were brewing a few months ago that Apple would break its exclusivity with AT&T and take its iPhone to other carriers, it's a good bet they can be put to bed for now.
Less than two weeks after Verizon Wireless aired a TV commercial that takes aim at AT&T's network service, it's now going straight for the iPhone. The teaser campaign, which plugs the new Android device and debuted Saturday night during the playoff game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels, is, however, causing some head-scratching.
Oct 5, 2009
For AT&T, the small-business owner is so key a customer the company needed more than regular marketing tactics to reach it. Its solution? Original content.
To create it, AT&T turned to an outside firm called Associated Content -- a startup with a network of 300,000 freelance content creators -- to produce over 100 how-to articles. Topics range from setting up a wireless network and building a marketing strategy to writing a business plan. The material will appears on the AT&T Small Business InSite destination.
"The ability to distribute content offers us a credible way to connect with small business owners," said Chris Schembri, vp of media services for AT&T. "We're able to provide valuable information that comes from a third party that will be a little more believable" than brand-created content.
Sep 10, 2009
AT&T knows its iPhone-burdened network has become a public relations mess, with a number of major news outlets recently recounting how heavy iPhone use has resulted in spotty service. But the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier's latest effort -- meant to address its network and explain why it took so long to turn on a long-awaited multimedia message service for Apple's iPhone -- isn't helping.
Sep 5, 2009
"We're sorry."
That's what you say when a large number of your customers are upset with you. AT&T customers have been complaining for months about dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and slow download speeds for the iPhone.
So, AT&T released this video on YouTube.
Aug 2, 2009
The Federal Communications Commission late on Friday entered the fray over consumer calling choice on mobile phones, sending letters inquiring into Apple’s recent decision to reject Google Voice applications on its iPhone.
The FCC’s letter asked Apple to detail any influence AT&T, the iPhone’s exclusive US carrier, may have had in its decision. Google’s applications would have allowed users to make less expensive international calls.
Jul 28, 2009
Although the world of business development partnerships can be complex, rife with epic contracts with tie-ins and promises, expirations and penalties for all parties, when relationships are struck that reduce customer choice, it is a telltale sign that the product or service being provided is well below acceptable standards. You see, customers aren’t stupid. They will be your product and company’s loudest advocates, more than willing to spread the word on your behalf, if you have a game-changing offering. But if you have to rely on bundling and exclusive contracts just to rope customers in, you probably don’t have something they want all that much anyway.
Jun 22, 2009
A growing chorus claims that Apple’s questionable approval policy for its iPhone application store raises issues with net neutrality.
Free Press, a group that advocates the idea of an open internet — that is, one in which consumers have the right to browse the web and run internet applications without restrictions — is the latest of several organizations to call out Apple for its inconsistencies.
Ryan Singel
May 8, 2009
If you think Google, Microsoft and Apple are bad-ass, cutthroat, take-no-prisoner companies, you should meet the nation’s wireless carriers, who have collectively convinced those intensively competitive software giants to cripple their products.
Need any more proof that the nation’s four largest wireless carriers - AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile - have too much control over the airwaves, what phones you can use and what applications you can run on them?
Apr 28, 2009
Amid all the talk about what the iPhone has done for AT&T, Verizon is also delivering -- without a killer handset.
Apr 1, 2009
AT&T is addressing the economic gloom head on with a campaign that references the current hard times, but notes that the country has emerged from stronger from similar trials in the past.
Mar 8, 2009
Slowly but surely signs are emerging of a
long-awaited creative infusion into the woebegone banner ad.
Technology constraints are lifting, more top agencies are focusing
their creative energies on building display ads and publishers are
giving advertisers a larger canvas.
Feb 24, 2009
AT&T wants to give aspiring musicians
a chance to realize their dreams. With help from Microsoft, the telecom
carrier has launched the Lips Open Mic Contest, named after the Xbox
game, Lips. The grand prize winner's song will be turned into a free downloadable
karaoke tune for the Xbox 360 game and an original score for the Zune
MP3 player.
Feb 24, 2009
There are ads that live and ads that die. Some ads get more
interesting in rotation. Other ads get old and die before our eyes.
Before long, these ads are an agony. Without the blessing of TIVO,
we're obliged to watch them like someone out of Clockwork Orange.
Feb 16, 2009
You might recognize Sprint CEO Dan Hesse from those black and white
commercials. When I met with him last week at a hotel bar in Oakland,
Calif., two women at the next table certainly did. They treated him
like a celebrity. I wouldn't go that far, but he does appear to have a good handle on the
mobile industry and what Sprint--the No. 3 cell phone service provider
behind AT&T and Verizon--needs to do. It's
too early to know for sure, but it seems as if Hesse could be Sprint's
come back kid.
Dec 30, 2008
The retailer is selling the phone, but not at the steep discount previously reported. Instead, it's AT&T that will be the low-priced leader, selling $99 handsets -- albeit refurbished and for a limited time.
Dec 3, 2008
As part of a multipronged effort to develop novel new marketing tools,
AT&T is exploring the use of audio and video chips in its print
media advertisements.
Davis Thinking
