Big cell phone companies like T-Mobile and Cingular Wireless have traditionally used their marketing to appeal to as many consumers as possible.
Now some upstart cell phone companies are using high-speed wireless Internet access and content such as video clips and MP3s to lure a smaller but lucrative audience: technologically astute teenagers and young adults.
The new wireless company Amp'd Mobile plans to begin testing the waters this week. Though its campaign does not officially start until December, an offbeat teaser campaign will try to persuade potential customers to wait until the end of the year to sign up for cell phone service so they do not miss the introduction of Amp'd Mobile.
The campaign, created by the boutique agency Taxi in New York, employs a macabre twist with the slogan, "Try not to die. Amp'd Mobile is coming."
The new wireless companies, known as mobile virtual network operators, will provide consumers with Internet speeds comparable to those of broadband. Amp'd Mobile uses Verizon Wireless's high-speed network, which allows users to download information much faster than they could on a standard Verizon wireless network.
The campaign by Amp'd Mobile is the latest effort by a wireless company to tap the younger market using nontraditional efforts, including Web banners and guerrilla marketing.
Playing on the death-defying theme, the Amp'd Mobile ads depict people engaging in risky behavior like skydiving or standing outside during a tornado.
The ads will run in magazines and on cable channels, such as Blender, FHM, Comedy Central, MTV, ESPN and Spike, that typically attract a younger audience.
The guerrilla marketing portion of Taxi's campaign5919387 has plans for chalk art drawings of gaping holes on sidewalks in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles adorned with the "Try not to die" slogan.
If the campaign seems morbid, the agency is not worried. "It's going to polarize a few people who don't like it, but I think that's the point," said Paul Lavoie, chairman and chief creative officer at Taxi.
The competition amps up
Amp'd Mobile will have plenty of competition in an already crowded wireless market. It joins a long list of wireless companies--among them, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, Helio and Mobile ESPN--aiming at a youth market that relies heavily on mobile communication.
In December, Mobile ESPN is scheduled to begin selling wireless service focused on a sports-driven audience. Boost Mobile has gone after a young, urban market, with its slogan, "Where you at?" and graffiti-inspired print advertisements.
The boutique agency Mother New York created a series of cheeky ads for Virgin Mobile depicting teenagers and their parents negotiating rules for cell phone use. Helio, which was formed by the merger of SK Telecom and the Internet service provider Earthlink, will introduce its wireless phone service early next year. Last month, Helio hired the Marina del Ray, Calif., office of Deutsch, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, to handle its $50 million advertising account.
Peter Adderton, the founder and chief executive of Amp'd Mobile, explained how his company was different from competitors who aim for a wide market. Adderton is also the founder of Boost Mobile, a mobile virtual network provider.
"We're positioning ourselves not so much as a wireless company but as a mobile media company," Adderton said. "We really see ourselves as going after the high-tech consumer, someone who wants a lot of multimedia on their handsets."
Mike Sheldon, the president of Deutsch in Los Angeles, said the youthful and technologically adept audience Helio is aiming at is able to juggle many forms of media easily.
"This audience is full of media savants," he said. "They want anything you put out in terms of new technology. And they become the evangelists who tell everybody else."
On the Amp'd Mobile phone, users get a Web browser to download video, music and other content. They can also subscribe to services provided by Amp'd Mobile - for instance, a Snoop Dogg fan could subscribe to a customized Snoop Dogg channel and download exclusive music and video clips.
Pricing is similar to that of cable television: subscribers can choose options ranging from basic to higher-priced plans, and can pay an additional fee for content like ring tones and downloads. (The phones are attractive to advertisers, too - according to the trade publication Advertising Age, on the Kyocera phone offered with Amp'd Mobile's introduction, ads for music or movies can fill as much as half the screen.)
Mobile ESPN plans to give users access to audio and video clips, breaking news, fantasy sports information and real-time game scores.
"The technologies have gotten to a place where cell phones have become much more than just a way to talk," said Manish Jha, the senior vice president and general manager of Mobile ESPN.
Mr. Lavoie of Taxi, the agency for Amp'd Mobile, said, "I think this phone is going to be about pop culture in your hand."
"This generation is all about mobility and cell phones," he said. "You can download just about anything you want from the Web. There are going to be no boundaries to what you can put on this phone."
http://news.com.com/Pitching+a+new+cell+phone+as+a+reason+to+live/2100-1039_3-5941561.html?tag=nefd.top
Now some upstart cell phone companies are using high-speed wireless Internet access and content such as video clips and MP3s to lure a smaller but lucrative audience: technologically astute teenagers and young adults.
The new wireless company Amp'd Mobile plans to begin testing the waters this week. Though its campaign does not officially start until December, an offbeat teaser campaign will try to persuade potential customers to wait until the end of the year to sign up for cell phone service so they do not miss the introduction of Amp'd Mobile.
The campaign, created by the boutique agency Taxi in New York, employs a macabre twist with the slogan, "Try not to die. Amp'd Mobile is coming."
The new wireless companies, known as mobile virtual network operators, will provide consumers with Internet speeds comparable to those of broadband. Amp'd Mobile uses Verizon Wireless's high-speed network, which allows users to download information much faster than they could on a standard Verizon wireless network.
The campaign by Amp'd Mobile is the latest effort by a wireless company to tap the younger market using nontraditional efforts, including Web banners and guerrilla marketing.
Playing on the death-defying theme, the Amp'd Mobile ads depict people engaging in risky behavior like skydiving or standing outside during a tornado.
The ads will run in magazines and on cable channels, such as Blender, FHM, Comedy Central, MTV, ESPN and Spike, that typically attract a younger audience.
The guerrilla marketing portion of Taxi's campaign5919387 has plans for chalk art drawings of gaping holes on sidewalks in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles adorned with the "Try not to die" slogan.
If the campaign seems morbid, the agency is not worried. "It's going to polarize a few people who don't like it, but I think that's the point," said Paul Lavoie, chairman and chief creative officer at Taxi.
The competition amps up
Amp'd Mobile will have plenty of competition in an already crowded wireless market. It joins a long list of wireless companies--among them, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, Helio and Mobile ESPN--aiming at a youth market that relies heavily on mobile communication.
In December, Mobile ESPN is scheduled to begin selling wireless service focused on a sports-driven audience. Boost Mobile has gone after a young, urban market, with its slogan, "Where you at?" and graffiti-inspired print advertisements.
The boutique agency Mother New York created a series of cheeky ads for Virgin Mobile depicting teenagers and their parents negotiating rules for cell phone use. Helio, which was formed by the merger of SK Telecom and the Internet service provider Earthlink, will introduce its wireless phone service early next year. Last month, Helio hired the Marina del Ray, Calif., office of Deutsch, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, to handle its $50 million advertising account.
Peter Adderton, the founder and chief executive of Amp'd Mobile, explained how his company was different from competitors who aim for a wide market. Adderton is also the founder of Boost Mobile, a mobile virtual network provider.
"We're positioning ourselves not so much as a wireless company but as a mobile media company," Adderton said. "We really see ourselves as going after the high-tech consumer, someone who wants a lot of multimedia on their handsets."
Mike Sheldon, the president of Deutsch in Los Angeles, said the youthful and technologically adept audience Helio is aiming at is able to juggle many forms of media easily.
"This audience is full of media savants," he said. "They want anything you put out in terms of new technology. And they become the evangelists who tell everybody else."
On the Amp'd Mobile phone, users get a Web browser to download video, music and other content. They can also subscribe to services provided by Amp'd Mobile - for instance, a Snoop Dogg fan could subscribe to a customized Snoop Dogg channel and download exclusive music and video clips.
Pricing is similar to that of cable television: subscribers can choose options ranging from basic to higher-priced plans, and can pay an additional fee for content like ring tones and downloads. (The phones are attractive to advertisers, too - according to the trade publication Advertising Age, on the Kyocera phone offered with Amp'd Mobile's introduction, ads for music or movies can fill as much as half the screen.)
Mobile ESPN plans to give users access to audio and video clips, breaking news, fantasy sports information and real-time game scores.
"The technologies have gotten to a place where cell phones have become much more than just a way to talk," said Manish Jha, the senior vice president and general manager of Mobile ESPN.
Mr. Lavoie of Taxi, the agency for Amp'd Mobile, said, "I think this phone is going to be about pop culture in your hand."
"This generation is all about mobility and cell phones," he said. "You can download just about anything you want from the Web. There are going to be no boundaries to what you can put on this phone."
http://news.com.com/Pitching+a+new+cell+phone+as+a+reason+to+live/2100-1039_3-5941561.html?tag=nefd.top
